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	January 23 to 28 The Southern Sierra Cajas National Park Select a slideshow and travel with us.
		Please note:- These slideshows are in Quicktime - A free player is available here

On January 24th we travelled up-slope through U shaped green once glaciated valleys above the treeline tundra of El Cajas National Reserve (only 45 minutes from Cuenca). The area offers exotic and rare plants and wildflowers. Yes, the plant life was extraordinary.

El Cajas is known for the grassy, green and craggy abrupt high-relief Ecuadorian Andes scenery. There are at least 230 lakes and a myriad of waterfalls. The area where we had lunch is well known for trout farming since the natural pure cold streams afford natural habitat for rainbow trout. The city of Cuenca gets its water from El Cajas springs and some claim it to be the finest water in all of the Americas. In any case it is bottled and sold internationally.

Although we had trouble getting a photo of the vicuña, a nearly extinct relative of the llama we did find excellent examples of Polylepis we had seen earlier used as fence posts. Polylepis grows at the highest altitude of any tree in the world. The word means "covered with scales" and the bark is able to trap air for use as insulation. We were warned the weather can include, mist, light snow or fog. Well, we got the full treatment. That's the risk you take at over 13,000 feet.

Index — Ecuador & the Galapagos

Adventure Begins