Polylepis Lodge Experience

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A tour of a different place and recommended to visit, the Polylepis Lodge is a tourist attraction in Ecuador that should be known

in this installment, We will talk about how the experience is lived in this magical place, tips on what to wear and where the Polylepis Lodge is located, which offers us a different type of tourism, in a unique natural environment in Ecuador.

Post written by Sil
Instagram: @smc_sock
With photos by Sil and Nicolás

Altitude

3.185 meters.

Location

It is located in the ecological reserve El Ángel, a 36 kilometers from Ibarra and 184 kilometers north of Quito.

Equipment

Warm clothing, thick jacket, thick sweater/jacket, hiking pants (if it is impossible waterproof), high stockings, shoes for trekking, tall rubber boots, water poncho, winter hat and gloves, Sunglasses, sunscreen, money (Credit and debit cards are accepted).

time and route

Take a route to Tulcán passing through Ibarra, from Quito it takes approximately 4 hours by car. as a recommendation, the car has to be tall, since to get to the lodge you take an alternate dirt road uphill that on rainy days can be difficult to ascend.

Arriving, the car remains parked at the entrance of the lodge, around several Polylepis trees. These trees are easily identified by their layered reddish-brown trunks.. This tree is found a lot in moorland and high altitude climates..

Day 1

you walk some 7 meters to a large house where the reception is located. To enter, the environment becomes a warm place with a large fireplace, heaters in different areas and a mini museum of pre-colonial artifacts found in this area.

It makes you want to stay all day lying on one of the sofas, watching the world go by through the large windows of this living room or while away the time playing extra-large jenga.

It is advisable to arrive a little before 10.00 am since for the 10:30 am the first excursion begins. He changes his shoes for rubber boots (free and available in all sizes) to follow a natural path, among polylepis trees, and humid forests until reaching a lagoon.

The grounds are dirt if the weather is dry, but if it rains you can make muddy and that's when rubber boots help a lot, since there are sections that the boots can sink to a little before the knee.

polylepis lodge experiencia — It rains a lot in this area, so the mud forces the use of wellies.

Our tour included persistent rain, and it was there where the water poncho would have come in handy, the walk takes approximately 2 hours, one out and one back.

Polylepis Lodge caminata — This is the environment and landscape during the walk.

We walk through muddy land, until reaching a second point that was a beautiful waterfall in the middle of the moor.

We continue uphill and reach a panoramic viewpoint, in the middle of nature that I had never seen so close to appreciate a beautiful natural picture, with fog but around a lot of nature, where the air is easy to breathe and you only hear the peace of the place.

polylepis lodge oceta — Ocetá plants fill the landscape.

The descent of the mountain begins and for the return to the lodge, we went down the mountain again through places full of mud, you have to go down with great caution until you reach a plain.

the ground is wet, but our boots sank in water at every step, the guide recommended us to step before putting all the weight since some are springs.

When suddenly, began once again to change the scenery to a dense Polylepis forest and we entered again the initial route of the tour that would lead us back to the lodge.

polylepis lodge reception — Here you can dry your clothes or rest for a while by the campfire.

We entered the reception area, and they had strategically lit the fireplace, who helped dry all the adventurers who were soaked by the rain of the excursion. There the boy offered us a tea from a paramo plant that served to cheer us up after so much cold.

At dinner's time, the restaurant is a kind of house near reception, with a cozy atmosphere, all the wooden tables and two large stoves that heat the place. The food is typical of the region, being the dad, its traditional basis.

polylepis lodge food — baked trout, great.

After dinner around 7:00 pm, night tour begins, which lasts more than 30 round trip minutes. The torchlight tour & the goblins.

A path is taken within the Polylepis forest, and upon reaching a specific tree the guide begins to tell a folkloric story of the area that takes place in that place in the forest. the story is about love, obsession and suspense with the final recommendation to sleep with the doors tightly closed, just in case you get an unexpected visitor at night.

Polylepis Lodge night walk leprechaun story — Torches to see deep in the night.

when returning, there is the option to return to the reception area to relax and watch TV or return directly to the cabin. On our return to the cabin, the Jacuzzi had been filled with paramo water, yellowish and slightly cloudy water, but in the ideal temperature to be able to rest from the long grind of the day.

The beds have electric fleece blankets that they had already left us connecting like this when entering the bed, there would not be that humid cold that seeps into the clothes in that climate.

Day 2

in our experience, we only spent one night at the lodge, so the next morning, we went out to breakfast at the restaurant, once again with a selection of breads, eggs cooked to taste, coffee and fresh juice.

We started our return to Quito, but without a doubt we are left with a very pleasant feeling of having known something different, in a very relaxing environment, with fresh air, great customer service, excellent food and we will surely be back soon.