Cajas National Park

On Sunday I went hiking in the Cajas National Park which is about a half hour drive outside of Cuenca. I went with the Club Adinismo Sangay, a local hiking club that runs hiking excursions about twice a month to nearby parks. There were about 50 of us who went on the bus including about 20 local high school students, 20 other locals of Cuenca, and about 10 foreigners. I found out about this trip through an American who is studying Spanish here and who found out about the trip through his Spanish school. Anyway, it turned out to be a great deal. The local travel agencies offer guided day trips to the park for $45, and this trip only cost $5.

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The scenery in the park reminded me of the Scottish Highlands. The mountains are mostly covered with grass and bushes rather than trees, and there is water everywhere: lots of little streams and waterfalls and ponds. It´s such a different kind of landscape from most forested mountains where I have hiked before.

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We hiked all day from 9:30am to 6:30pm. I was told that the total distance covered was about 17 kilometers. We started off at an elevation of about 4100 meters and hiked downhill for most of the way. I could feel the effects of the elevation though, as breathing was a bit difficult and I got tired more easily than if I had been at a lower elevation. Stupid me, I forgot to bring my raincoat, and it started raining around 2pm and continued raining for most of the rest of the hike. But even with the rain the hike was amazing and the scenery was spectacular. Needless to say, I slept very well that night.

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