The Sumapaz was fascinating. It is so high that it has a rainy season from March through November. Even though the day was sunny, the higher we got the colder it was, and the plants dwindled in size. Our goal was to find several birds that are endemic to the area.
We arrived around 10 am after a pre-dawn departure. The fog was just starting to burn off showing an other-worldly landscape.
The tallest plant around is the espeletia, a member of the sunflower family. They are an endangered species and have an extremely slow growth rate.
According to our Jose, our guide, they grow less than 1/2 inch a year. Using Kristina for scale, she is about 5'5", that would make the plant behind her over 100 years old.
You can see the resemblance to sunflowers.
Most alpine plants are small, if not tiny. This next group of plants (no idea what they are) did not even rise a half inch from the the ground.
These flowers were larger than their plants. The yellow flower and its plant were about one inch tall.
The landscape was intriguing and compelling. All the silvery shapes on the far hill are espeletia.
A few of the species we saw here:
Black-chested buzzard eagle.
Plumbeous sierra finch
Green-bearded helmetcrest hummingbird
Apolinar's wren
I could have spent a lot more time in this area. There were many hiking trails that beckoned, but we had too many hours of travel left to get us back to Bogota. I'm counting on a next time.
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