On Saturday, May 18, the school offered us students to go on an excursion to Aguarongo, a forest reserve just outside of Cuenca. About 6 students and one profesora went with a guide to walk for a couple hours around the park. Getting to the reserve felt like it took forever; the mostly gravel road wound around the mountain and provided us with a complimentary feeling of claustrophobia when we were surrounded by thick brush just before entering the reserve. Once there, however, we found ourselves to be in a large clearing with large views of the surrounding mountains. We were also the only people at the park other than the groundskeeper and her son.
During the hike, the reserve was very peaceful and had an abundance of plant life for us to appreciate. However, we did get ridiculously muddy while observing the medicinal plants throughout the reserve. Word to the wise: when hiking in the mountains, make sure your pants and hiking boots are dark colors; you'll thank yourself when you have to wash everything later.
Checking out the view from the nature reserve.
Dogs are literally EVERYWHERE in Ecuador. In people's houses, in the streets, and even in some restaurants. This one was at the reserve and acted as our guide throughout the entire hike. At times, she would run off to explore something, but always came back to us and led us around.
A tree at the park that's over 400 years old.
A little creek in the park.
On Sunday, May 19, three of my friends and I went to Cajas National Park for the day to do even more hiking and exploring. This was my friend Elena's last official Sunday in Ecuador and she wanted to return to the park one more time. Us four girls took a bus to Cajas, checked in at the station, and began our adventure. (Side note: Traveling in Ecuador by public bus is usually very reasonable, generally it's about $1-2 per hour of travel. The buses can get a little bit sketchy though, so it's advised that you keep a close eye on your stuff.)
When we first got to Cajas, I knew the views were going to be breathtaking. At some points, the clouds were literally in the mountains and created a sense of mystery and awe. We first began our hike excited for the journey. Elena had already been to Cajas with the school and knew what path we should take, so we didn't bother to find a guide.
For several hours, we hiked on trails that were only wide enough to go single file on and probably wouldn't pass any regulations in the U.S. I spent the majority of the hike looking at the path because one wrong step could have sent me sailing down the mountain side. Nonetheless, it was very exciting, and was extremely physically challenging.
At one point during the hike, we were to descend the mountain into a little forest. Somehow, we managed to lose the trail and were stuck in the forest near a lake for about 15-20 minutes. After a small lunch break, we regained our energy and pressed on in the direction that seemed the most logical. By the grace of God, we managed to find the path again and continued on our journey.
One eerie thing about Cajas is that they have crosses along the path in memory of hikers who have died in the park. Some fell to their deaths and others died due to health reasons, such as heart attacks or strokes. We passed by several of these wooden crosses on our way, which caused me to be very thankful for the success of our hiking group.
After we climbed hills, thought we were going to die, trekked across streams, and observed the beautiful views, it started to rain. Nonetheless, most of us were prepared with our rain jackets and tried to embrace the rain. After a bit more hiking, we finally made it to the end marker of our trail. Although we had reached the end of our trail, we were still in the middle of nowhere. Seeing as we had little choice, the three other girls and I continued on a trail towards the highway and finally caught a bus back home.
This hike was probably the most challenging hike of my life, both physically and mentally, but I don't regret it for a second. My friends and I made a ton of memories on this hike and successfully made it out of Cajas accident free.
One of the many lakes in Cajas.
Hiking
A forest in Cajas.
Beautiful Cajas
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