Pululahua Geobotanical Reserve

General Information

• Area: 8.359 acres (3.383 ha)
• Date of Creation: January 28, 1966
• Altitude: 5.906 — 11.011 ft (1.800 — 3.356 m)

The reserve is mainly the crater of an extinguished volcano, that now has become a plain surrounded by the crater walls covered with forest. In the plain inside the crater agricultural activities have been carried on since the time of the Incas, which barely alter the ecosystem. However, mining endangered the unique qualities of the zone, since a habitable crater is not very common, until it was protected.

Flora and Fauna

There are more than 260 species in the reserve, and the medicinal properties of many of them have been discovered by the people that inhabit the crater. The greatest botanical attractive is the amazing variety of orchids, which in their turn attract the colorful butterflies of the Danainae family. The birds and mammals found there are usually small, like sparrows, blackbirds, rabbits, foxes and bats.

Tourism

The greatest attractive of Pululahua is the astounding view one can appreciate in the Ventanillas Mirador, a lookout. It is better to arrive before midday, because fog covers the crater in the afternoon. One can hike down into the crater on a trail that starts there, or use a nearby road for cars that begins near the town of Calacalí. The reserve can be reached from Quito going north on the highway to Calacalí, passing by San Antonio de Pichincha, where the monument to the Mitad del Mundo (middle of the world in Spanish) is located. The monument marks the exact place where the Equator Line passes, and is surrounded by art galleries, shops, etc., all built in colonial style.