Hiking day

The Parque National Cajas is 30 km from Cuenca, I went yesterday with an organised tour group. The park ranges from 3000-4700 meters above sea level and is dotted with 240 glacial lakes, rugged rock faces and gorges. We first walked through a cloud forest and a small forest of Polylepis trees which grow at the highest altitude of any trees in the world. The areas we hiked were 4000 meters above sea level. The trees a rusty brown color with a peeling paper like skin, are dwarf. One guide says walking into a forest of these trees is like walking into a Grimm fairytale, that is so true. The day started out sunny and clear with a few rays of sun penetrated the cloud forest while we were there and we got to see 'ghost clouds', small clouds forming in front of us in tall wispy shapes then disappearing, thus the term 'ghost clouds'. We also seen a couple tiny orchid varieties, a black orchid and one called kangaroo orchid because the flower appears to ride on the leaves, I forget the correct botanical names for them that the guide told us.

The next part of the hike was in the region of Laguna Toreadora over highland moors. It rained throughout most of the hike but it did not matter, we walked through springy grass moors, the whole area is bleak and rough yet so beautiful. We seen hummingbirds, mountain toucans and pretty turquoise jays. We also seen llamas and alpacas the guide was funny as he told us about how "sexy" llama are. He was referring to their mating habits according to him the males start "sex play" as young as six months and the act itself lasts about 45 minutes. He says they are very "sexy active" and make lots of babies.

The group was good, the guide very knowledgeable and entertaining. We hiked for maybe 5 hours total and then went to a restaurant for late lunch. We had fresh grilled trout, really good. I enjoyed the day very much and would like to go back to the Cajas and hike different areas.

The Cajas area feeds the rivers that flow into Cuenca and also supplies close to 70% of Cuencas water. The water is clean and drinkable from the streams, Cuencas water wins awards for its purity and mineral content and is safe to drink from the tap.

The photos again do not do the area justice, I am not sure why the photos are spaced all funny on the blog page and I do not know how to rearrange them.