LETS WALK THROUGH THE PARAMO

The high Andes ecosystem known as the paramo does not, at first, appear to be a particularly diverse habitat, but if you spend some time walking you might encounter all manner of interesting things. I keep one eye on the ground for the strange shapes that the environment has forced the plants to take, and one eye searches for birds, just as unique. The most famous of these birds is surely the Andean condor, and as you can see we got about as good of a look as

you can hope to get of wild birds. Unfortunately, in my travels my camera has been banged a few times and taken at least two dips (both along with myself). In short, it’s not quick as it used to be and has some trouble getting good shots of birds, so it’s a plant camera now.

The paramo as I see it, has a couple of different faces. There are a couple species of tree and large bushes, which creep up out of the cloud forest and create a thick mossy pygmy forest. In the flats of the valley floors water collects and is covered by a thick boggy layer of cushion plants which sink and bubble when stepped on. The drier Valley walls seem to be dominated by grasses but in fact are populated by all manner of low lying-plants. The grasses are simply the tallest and therefore are all you can see from a distance. As you climb the ground starts to become rockier and plants become more and more sparse, they thin out until only the toughest plants remain.

Because I have so much to say and investigate about the paramo, I will have to divide this up into a series of entries. Also because this type of habitat is not limited to the Andes but found in any mountainous region, I will have to keep up with my discoveries as I get chances to explore the mountains in the US and wherever else I have the opportunity to travel.