South American Explorer

After hearing the legend of the lost ruins in Ecuador, explorer Frank Alte set off to be the first to discover their whereabouts.

 

The whole experience started two years ago when my wife and I travelled into the south of the Ecuadorian Andes.

 

We passed through the Andean towns of Catamayo, Gonzanama and Quilanga in the province of Loja, Ecuador and after a few days of hiking, driving and horseback riding we finally reached the laid back and charming village of San Antonio de las Aradas, located on the western slopes of the cordillera de Sabanilla.

 

Don Jose, a former hunter but now a small-scale coffee producer, generously invited us to stay with him and his family.

 

As our visit coincided with the coffee harvest, we were lucky enough to spend a few days learning the process of drying, selecting, peeling and toasting coffee, while Don Jose fascinated and captivated us with numerous stories of legends from the surrounding mountains.

 

During our interesting conversations, something unique caught our attention: the existence of mysterious ruins hidden high in the cordillera.

 

As planned we started our hiking from San Antonio de las Aradas following an ancient pre-Inca path up the mountains to Loma Plaza del Inca (Inca site hill) and down to Tumianuma, a few kilometers in the south of Vilcabamba.

 

We oriented ourselves using topographical maps we had acquired in Quito at the IGM (Instituto Geografico Militar) and crossed the mountains on the Camino del Inca (Inca trail). This fabulous experience led us to plan a second expedition in this picturesque area and further explore the beautiful mountain range.

 

The organization and preparation of the new expedition to San Antonio de las Aradas took several months.

 

Finally, well prepared and ready to find these mysterious ruins, I returned together with a new expedition partner Alci Gaona to the fascinating little village in the cordillera de Sabanilla.

 

At the crack of dawn, Alci and I slowly departed from San Antonio de las Aradas towards the base of the mountains at 2840m – both ready to face and embrace the magnificent, immense Andes.

 

Assisted by horses and muleteers that courageously carried our heavy backpacks up from Las Aradas at 1900m altitude, we reached our first camp early in the afternoon, too breathless to speak but in awe of the scenic views unfolding in front of us.

 

We paid our thanks to the muleteers, who returned with their horses to San Antonio de las Aradas, leaving us to settle for a good night’s sleep.

 

Since leaving the small village, the weather had been quite changeable and by the third day, it became critical.

 

Strong winds and cold rain accompanied us wherever we went, knocking us over several times as we traversed the ridges. Heavy clouds hid all points of reference, making these wild lands extremely dangerous and leaving us no choice but to return to our campsite.

 

However as our spirits dropped, the clouds suddenly opened up and with them our joy as we spotted two sites with regular concentric circular lines on the hills below us. Could these be the ruins we were looking for?

 

We stood taking in the view thinking about our fortune and almost immediately contemplating our route down to the ruins. However the Paramo (grassy Andean Highland) was unforgiving, tall and thick, but still worse, it led into dense cloud forest impossible to pass through, forcing us to climb to the ridge and seek another more accessible route.

 

After another white out on the ridge, we finally decided to return to camp, excited about the curious circles but a little frustrated by the weather and the difficulties we would face to reach the site.

 

As with any camp trip in the Paramo, the cold, windy and rainy nights aren’t the perfect back drop of a decent kip!

 

Rain, very strong winds, clouds, and low temperature greeted us as we woke up in the morning and tried to strike our tent with frozen hands. We had firmly decided to explore a new route leading down to the second ruin and so we climbed back to set our next camp at 3340m.

 

Fortune was on our side, as each time we felt things couldn’t get worse, the clouds would lift and provide us with the views and fuel to continue our quest; as we arrived to our camp we had a perfectly clear view of the ruins with the most spectacular rainbow rising from behind them.

 

After another rainy night, day five was to be another very cold morning. We were ready to descend and explore the ruins on a new route we had devised. The weather seemed to improve with our every step. As we were removing our fleeces, there was a sudden movement that caught our eye on the other side of a ravine, and a huge dark shadow lumbered from behind a bush into the open.

 

A full-grown male Andean bear (Spectacled Bear – Tremarctos ornatus) was watching us from only 60 metres away, and seemingly as surprised as we were.

 

This huge bear without doubt was trying to hide behind a small bush, playing like a little child, observing us with natural caution. This amusing scene lasted for a few minutes until the bear probably understood that we were not about to move on as long as he wasn’t. He dashed off, zigzagging down the hill to a nearby patch of cloud forest, disappearing between the trees. 

 

The next day we spent the whole morning exploring the ruins, which lie at 2776m altitude on hill top on the slopes of the western side of the Cordillera de Sabanilla. There were three concentric stone circles, protected by a one meter-deep ditch running around the perimeter. The stone was unfortunately heavily weathered, and we concluded that the edifices had been built by the pre-Inca culture the Paltas (the area has been inhabited by the Calvas, who together with other tribes formed the Paltas culture) and were at least 500 years old.

 

We documented the site, taking photos, videos and the GPS coordinates before the clouds enveloped us in a dense white mist.

 

In the afternoon, we headed towards the second ruins we had caught sight of and set up a campsite near a little stream. The following morning we started our hike at sunrise and reached the second ruins in the early morning.

 

In contrast, this site at 2852m altitude was surprisingly well preserved due to some basic protection from the elements provided by the surrounding cordillera. The walls were as high as two meters in some places, giving a clearer idea of their building techniques, and stone steps were visible, leading up to what was once some kind of fortification.

 

The Paltas were eventually conquered by the Incas, who destroyed most of their culture and imposed their own rules and way of living. Later the Spanish Conquistadores finished the work of the Incas, eliminating almost without trace numerous cultures, peoples, traditions and constructions in this area.

 

Nowadays, there is little evidence of the Paltas who inhabited what today forms most of the southern province of Ecuador, Loja.

 

The significance of our findings were dawning on us as we realized these sites were almost certainly unknown.

 

We kept cataloging the site, taking pictures and observing for hours, until we could delay our return journey no longer. We trudged on well into the afternoon and with the draw of a hot shower and a comfortable bed, we decided to not to set camp but to march on, tired and hungry to arrive at the road to Las Aradas just before sunset.

 

Having been lost in the majesty of life in such extreme wilderness, ancient cultures and mysterious ruins, we were thrilled to be able use our 21^st century technology to call and beg Don Jose to come and drive our weary selves back to the community.

 

Although we were exhausted that night we spent the whole evening telling him all the details about our adventure and the discovery of the mysterious ruins; needless to say Don Jose was delighted to hear that the legends were true!

 

Back in Loja we reported our discoveries to the INPC Loja (Instituto Nacional de Patrimonio Cultural Loja) who nominated us as the discoverers of both sites.

 

They assured us that they would start investigating the sites as soon as possible in order to conserve the ruins as well as to determine their original function. So far the archaeologists from the INPC estimate the ruins could have served as temples or fortresses. They are planning archaeological excavations for this year in order to unravel this mystery.  

 

 Frank Alte has been living in Ecuador for many years and when not working in his independent travel agency EGT, he explores the country looking for new and adventurous routes. For more of Frank’s adventures check out his Blog:

http://theexpeditiondepartment.blogspot.com/

 

Pictures by Frank Alte and Alci Gaona.