Rumoured to be hidden in this region and long sought by explorers and adventurers is the buried gold of the last Inca warrior emperor, Atahualpa. Clues to where his gold is hidden are contained within this book and any reader finding his treasure must share it with the author and the publishers (they made me put that last part in).
Sumaco-Napo-Galleras National Park has an area in excess of 205,000 hectares (506,000 acres). It contains the Napo-Galeras mountain range, cut across by numerous rivers and deep valleys. with its highest peak being the Sumaco Volcano at 3,900 metres (12,792 feet), which itself is surrounded by lowland forest and set well apart from the rest of the Andes mountains. It is a wilderness and has largely been left to its own devices, fortunately ignored by loggers and prospectors and this means it has remained a hidden region, potentially full of secrets and long may it be so. Endemic species are sometimes found there by the occasional visiting scientists and there is obviously much still to be discovered. A number of the mountains, not being of great height, seem never to have been climbed and this means again many creatures will probably be living around them in isolation and seclusion. This offers the exciting concept that the pristine forest and jungle areas here have provided wonderful opportunities for creatures of all kinds, as well as indeed exotic flora, to flourish untouched and unmolested for centuries. The regular tree types in the forest are rubber, cedar and canelo and the wide-ranging creature species include spectacled bears, armadillos, marsupials, eagles, bats, reptiles and many kinds of amphibians. Near to the Park there are several indigenous Indian tribal communities also living in isolation and nearby are various archaeological sites of the Cosanga Culture.
Podocarpus National Park has over 146,000 hectares (350,000 acres) and is over 700 kilometres (435 miles) from Quito, sited in Loja and Zamora Chinchipe Provinces. It includes over 100 lakes also containing many cascades and crystalline currents. The extensive fauna includes spectacled bears, tapirs, sloths, pumas, toucans, parrots, tanagers, hummingbirds, woodpeckers and many kinds of reptiles. There is also what is known as the Andean wolf, although it is actually a fox. Whenever a chicken is taken, the real culprit will blame it on the Andean fox, which in turn will blame it on always being misunderstood, because of the misnomer and will hope to just get off with a caution. That’s what’s known as being foxed. The Park is also brimming with sumptuous orchids of every colour and size, overwhelming everything with their heady fragrances. Podocarpus is the official name of a kind of very large conifer tree, native to Ecuador and can grow up to 40 metres and may have a trunk circumference of three metres. It was in danger of being destroyed by over zealous loggers but fortunately the remaining specimens in the park are well protected. The mining operations once very active in this area have now also been drastically scaled back.
San Jorge Botanical Reserve is only 4 kilometres (2.5 miles (away from Quito along the old road which goes to Nono (yes it does). It comprises 150 hectares (375 acres) of virgin Highland tropical rainforest containing over 250 native plants, some 80 species of birds and numerous mammals, marsupials and rodents. It also contains 15 natural waterfalls. There are some worthwhile ancient Incan trails leading to Nono (I’ve already done that joke), to Mindo and to Calacali where the second official Monument to the Centre of the World stands.
Limoncocha Ecological Reserve is located 370 kilometres (229 miles) from Quito in Napo Province and covers over 4,600 hectares (12,000 acres). An indigenous Quichua tribe lives in the Reserve which contains vast tracts of jungle vegetation, primary and secondary forests and majestic rivers. The reserve includes the Laguna Limoncocha. It is home to approximately 350 bird species, many mammals and reptiles and it’s famed for being the home of the black caiman.
Pululahua Geo-Botanic Reserve is in the Pichincha Province and is just 40 kilometres (25 miles) from Quito and its area covers 3,400 hectares (8,400 acres). On the mountain, using the Mirador de Ventanilla (small window lookout) there is a spectacular view of the Pichincha Crater. In the Reserve the many varieties of birds include hummingbirds, tanagers, toucans, owls, flycatchers and gulls. The animal species include ocelot, gazelles, páramos wolves, armadillos and spiny rats. A large variety of trees can be found including walnut, palm, alder and laurel. There are also many varieties of orchid and of course the páramos grasses and various ferns.
Cuyabeno Fauna Production Reserve is in the Sucumbios Province, 314 kilometres (198 miles) from Quito. It is another of the largest reserves covering over 655,000 hectares (1,600,000 acres). It includes parts of the Cuyabeno and Aguarico Rivers and is between the basins of the San Miguel and Aguarico. There are numerous lagoons, swamps and flooded areas where the Siona indigenous Indians prefer to live and there are supervised opportunities to visit them. Extensive bird varieties including macaws, trumpeters, herons, fisher eagles and king buzzards. Exceptionally noteworthy is the pink dolphin. The larger creatures include jaguar, ocelot, boar, monkey, otter and manatee. In the rivers and around them are caiman and snakes and various fish species and the insects are particularly plentiful and varied. The flora and fruits include ivory nut, chambira, chonta palm, wild roses and grapes. Within the reserve are huge tracts of tropical rainforest and massive lakes including the Zancudococha.
Cayambe-Coca Ecological Reserve is approximately 100 kilometres (60 miles) from Quito and has an area of over 400,000 hectares (950,000 acres) and contains the snow-capped Cayambe Volcano and other smaller mountains including Cerro Sara Urco, Cerro Negro Rumi and Volcano Reventador. There are condors, hawks and caracaras. It includes the Cayapas, Santiago and Esmeraldas Rivers and Lake Cuicocha. North-east from Cayambe is Laguna San Marcos, which is naturally well-stocked with trout and because of this is a popular haunt of fishermen from all over the world. Nearby, closer to Caymbe it’s possible to see the elusive mountain tapir and also in the same vicinity are deer, foxes and the Andean spectacled bear. You can find, although with difficulty, armadillos and without difficulty large numbers of rabbits. That’s why the foxes are so happy. The primary forests and páramos provide support for the fauna and also the extensive vegetation. The Reserve contains the larger Laguna Puruhanta, also extremely popular with fishermen.
Chimborazo Fauna Production Reserve is approximately 175 kilometres (109 miles) from Quito and covers an area of 59, 000 hectares (145,000 acres). It naturally contains the tallest mountain, Chimborazo at 6,310 metres (20,703 feet). There are now in operation important new llama and vicuna and alpaca breeding programmes. There are also sword-billed hummingbirds and condors. Also pumas, wolves, deer and rabbits as well as marsupial rats can be found, if you look hard enough but you probably want to give the rats a miss. The sacred plant of the Incas, Quinua, also grows in this region and is part of the staple diet of the local Indian tribes.
The Galapagos National Park and Marine Recreation Reserve is in the Archipelago and has absolutely the most astounding fauna and flora of all. It is 1,000 kilometres (622 miles) from the mainland and you can get there by ships, boats or planes or by any other means you can conceive. Just get there.
APPENDIX 4
ECUADOR’S MOUNTAINS
The Andean mountain range as it is now known was created at the beginning of the Pliocene period around five million years ago, which makes it relatively ‘young’ in geological terms. There is even an older rock history prior to the creation of the existing range which dates back a further 20 million years and forms a substrata. The Andes stretch the full length of the South American continent from Panama and Venezuela to Patagonia and Cape Horn, covering in total 7,250 kilometres (4,500 miles). They contain the highest mountains outside Asia. There are volcanoes, active and non-active, huge rock monoliths and ice-capped mountains, all testing rock and ice climbs, magnificent to view and experience on all levels.
Ecuador is divided north to south by its Andean Cordillera (Cordillera de Los Andes), so dividing the mainland of Ecuador into three major zones, the Andean and Sierra middle section itself, the Western coastal region and the Orien
te (Eastern) jungle and rainforest region. The Galapagos Archipelago is considered the fourth region or zone of Ecuador but is of course set entirely apart from the three connected mainland regions. The Cordillera divides itself within the Loja Provinces and splits into the Cordillera Occidental on the west and the Cordillera Oriente to the east, the higher and wider parts. The two Cordillera mountain ranges flank within them a relatively narrow land region which was named by the explorer and traveller Humboldt in 1802 as ‘The Avenue of the Volcanoes’ and has ever since been referred to with that evocative description. The Highlands experience their rainy season mainly between November to April and the remaining months are ‘dry’ but the weather patterns throughout can be unpredictable, so it’s necessary to go prepared.
Ecuador is a totally challenging country whether travelling in its valleys, across its plains or climbing on its high mountains. There are 280 volcanoes, 18 of which are potentially active and some 25 mountain peaks over 4,000 metres (14,000 feet), 10 over the snowline, 5,000 metres (16,000 feet), all of them difficult and tough, particularly because of the necessity to climb at altitude. Chimborazo at over 6,000 metres (over 20,000 feet) is higher than any point between Alaska and central Peru. I knew it would be an extreme testing of my resolve and fitness and I needed to climb at lower altitude first to have a chance of summiting ‘the big one’. The valleys and rivers inside the Avenue of the Volcanoes (also known as the Highland Basins) promote some exceedingly rich flora and fauna, helped previously with their evolving because of the special mountain protection provided. No rivers run down the length of the Avenue of Volcanoes, most of them running to the East and the Amazonas, although a few run to the West and the coastal region. The Andean highlands and moorlands (the páramos) are covered with pillow-like grasses and all kinds of interesting vegetation. It is also a place to beware of bears and to be concerned of cougars. The mountain or woolly tapirs are also found there but will usually leave you alone, unless you try to remove their jumpers. They are cleverer than they look and you will find it hard to pull the wool over their eyes.
The Sierra region houses the Andean Cordillera and is probably regarded as the most dynamic of the three mainland regions, as its mountains have a collective powerful image which literally stands out in contrast to everything else. A mountain always has a spiritual element to its being and has invariably been worshipped or portrayed within most religions of whatever kind, as the place on which the words or messages of all the gods were created or where they could be found. The Ten Commandments brought down from Mount Sinai are probably the greatest influences that have shaped the behaviour of Mankind. The Andes are a set of jagged peaks which have not existed long enough to be rounded by erosion, so that their climbing is always difficult and is usually a painful though hopefully rewarding experience. Although it is said ‘there’s no gain without pain’ sometimes there’s just pain and the gain is illusory. Still it’s the trying that’s the most important, as in everything we do and attempting to climb a mountain personifies that act more than most things. Set your mind towards the mountain and you will be surprised what it has in store for you. I won’t try to describe what that can be, a surprise is a surprise.
As the Earth in recent years has continued to get progressively warmer, one of the benefits (though there are more disadvantages) is that more vegetation grows on what was once barren scrubland and it’s always a delight suddenly, climbing on the lower rock slopes, to come across some colourful mountain flowers. However, it also means the lower ice slopes are receding and where you might have only found snow and ice, stalactites and crevasses, there are just huge areas of scree and naked rock to cross. It is tougher on the feet and the legs, although possibly slightly safer but this can make the climbing more difficult and hazardous. In 1880 when Edward Whymper tried to climb El Altat he reached ice seracs in the Collanes Valley; Hans Meyer of Kilimanjaro fame sketched Altar showing huge glaciers; other mountaineers as recently as the 1970s practised ice climbing of the Antizana glacier; all the ice has now disappeared and only rock and scrubland exist there. There is an imperceptible but seemingly unstoppable upward advance of vegetation, also bringing with it a variety of insects, hummingbirds, bats and many other creatures. Even farmers have started planting their potatoes and other root crops at heights undreamed of only a few decades earlier. Where will it end? Will the last snow-caps continue to shrink and disappear altogether? The retreat of the glaciers changes the face of mountaineering and perhaps climbing will eventually be over rock and lava faces only? The repercussions for the planet as a whole are enormous and way beyond the challenges mountaineers may have to forego. Every time I climb I learn from my guides or fellow climbers, that this route has changed, this pass is now impassable or that this ice couloir has become a dangerous rock face instead. Of course the harm and devastation caused to the jungles and the mountains are inextricably linked and no where is that more apparent than in this country where both are continually at risk.
A number of volcanic eruptions have continued to occur amongst the Ecuadorian mountains, mostly minor but also one or two big ones, which can cause death and destruction to people as well as the extraordinary fauna and flora that is such an integral part of this country. Reventador (3,562 metres) in 2002 erupted with a fury that saw the nearby capital city of Quito completely engulfed in black smoke and ash. Quito had also suffered previously in 1999, when Guagua Pichincha (4,794 metres) sent eleven-kilometre clouds of ash spiralling skywards only for a large part to fall onto the city itself. In that same year Tungurahua (5,016 metres) also sent a stream of lava bubbling down its mighty flanks, forcing locals to flee and evacuate their homes. Sangay (5,230 metres), the most active of all the volcanoes, is likely to blow its top at any time and local guides themselves are always extremely reluctant to lead anyone more than onto the lower slopes. The lava spills and outcrops are black and red and all combinations of the two colours and cover the underlying rocks and terrain as if springing from a Martian-type other world. Nothing can live in the path of lava and the sulphur gases emitted from the volcanoes can suffocate all those unfortunate enough to be forced to breathe in their fumes.
All the mountains in Ecuador are high and the conditions on them, as with most other mountains throughout the world, are becoming more treacherous because of global warming. There are many new, exposed and extensive rock stretches visible amongst what used to be ice sections only, which can cause tremendous dangers even to the most experienced climbers and no one should ever climb here without experienced guides and back-up. The effect of global warming is a tragedy on so many levels and the rate is escalating at an enormous rate and may even now be too late to control. The rainforest similarly is also under threat from global warming and some consider this to be as terrible a danger as the threat from the voracious loggers, developers and prospectors.
A number of Ecuador’s mountains are snow-capped but they are unfortunately reducing fast, as global warming wreaks its damaging effects on the mountains, as well as the rainforests, jungles and other natural habitats and on all their creatures, including of course mankind. As well as occurring at an alarming rate in the polar regions, where it is possible to find whole ice sections melting almost before your eyes, when you revisit any mountain you invariably now find you have to climb much higher to reach the snow line and then it really strikes home just what we have allowed to happen. If the mountain could speak what would it try to teach us and are we ever prepared to learn. Judging by our previous record it seems extremely unlikely. A volcanic mountain speaks in its own way and perhaps we will only finally understand the enormity of the situation when enough violent eruptions have taken place. It could be one of Nature’s ways of trying to warn us of the terrible damage continually being caused by uncontrolled commercial acts of great folly. The destructive effects from El Niño on a more constant and harsher basis, the terrible consequences of the devastating tsunami of 2004, the reoccurring earthquakes which strike more often in various region
s of the world, these are all signs. We ignore them at our peril.
Mountains are not static objects but move and react constantly. Ancient civilisations knew that and every mountaineer knows that as well. When you climb on a mountain you are there as a guest and at any time the mountain if it chooses can shake you off. When you hold onto a stone that seems to have been imbedded in the rock face for many thousands of years, it can suddenly come away in your hand and you may be looking into the void. When you step onto a bed of seemingly hard ice, it may give way beneath your feet and you can be plunging into a crevasse measuring several hundred metres in depth. A clear day can swiftly and without warning turn into a blinding, swirling snowstorm.
Mountains have played an integral part in most ancient religions, as being holy places and from where good or bad news has emanated. They have been given their own persona and character and have been treated with reverence because of their beauty and their majesty as well as their powers. The ‘gods’ were meant to reside in them and because of that it was not considered right to climb too high in order not to disturb them. Climbing to the actual summits is a relatively recent pursuit of the last hundred years or so, initially mostly by ‘foreigners’ and the mysteries of most of the mountains have gradually been uncovered, although many still remain hidden.
Climbing The Equator Page 23