Top of the world

Cajas National Park

Outside of the Galapagos, Cajas National Park is my favorite place in Ecuador. We took a one hour bus ride from Cuenca at 6:30am. Hiking has to been done early because mist and rain rolls in during the afternoon. It's very high with few trees and many tiny alpine plants and large clumps of grass.. The ground is spongy and there are many small lakes. The altitude is a serious issue here and you have to do everything at half speed or you run out of air. The mountains are absolutely spectacular.

Mona and I took a wrong turn and ended up climbing up and down a small hill. The down was so steep we had to slide down the mud on our butts. But the views were worth it. Even the flowers were worth it. We walked for almost 4 hours and then rewarded ourselves with a fresh trout lunch including a drink called canelazo (like a hot rum toddy) at the park restaurant. A perfect day!

Grass

Steep path down

Lunch with a view