Today we had our hike to Cajas national park. Our tour guides knew many facts about the park and during our first hike they were quick to tell us about many plants and flowers that we passed by. While on the trail, we were stopped by a massive set of trees that had fallen and blocked the trail. With one guide in the front, and the other in the back, we fought our way through the Andean forest to go around the tree and continue the trail on the other side. One interesting plant that I asked about turned out to be a natural remedy that was used by the locals to treat skin cancer. This plant was called “human flesh”. I felt excited that not only were we able to experience Ecuador’s natural beauty through a hike, but our guides were extremely knowledgeable about the forest and happy to share their knowledge with us. Another fact that they had mentioned which I thought was interesting was that Cajas national park is the most well preserved park out of all the parks in Ecuador. Our second hike was longer, and much more muddier than the first, which made me thankful for the rain boots. I decided to go with the group whose trail was focused more on the lakes. Some highlights from this trail were once again, our guide’s knowledge about the plants and environment; the side of the mountain that looked like a gorilla; the ground with a river flowing underneath it; and the wonderful forest that we entered halfway through our hike. I have always been a fan of gorillas and so when I saw this mountain that looked like one, I saw the gorilla face instantly and was amazed at how we were able to see a perfect outline of an ape’s face, it is hard for believe that nature does not do this on purpose. I looked for other natural formations that may look like a figure, but was unable to find one throughout the rest of my hike.
The forest that we entered was made up of paper trees and was beautiful. We all agreed that it looked like the forest from lord of the rings and took many pictures while inside of it. It was an experience that seemed unreal because of how beautiful the trees looked. After finally convincing ourselves to leave the forest, we stopped for lunch and soaked in the wonderful view from our lunch spot. Towards the end of the hike, we encountered ground that was similar to a trampoline. We were able to jump on it because it was very soft. Later we learned that the plants on this ground soak up and filter the water of the rivers, which allows for the ground to be soft. We were able to see the filtered river that ran underneath this soft ground and I was grateful to be able to see this collaboration with the water and plants. Since I am a Biology major, I enjoyed all the facts of the environment that were given. It was a good feeling knowing that there are people that care about nature and work hard to conserve it. Another thing I noticed during our hike was that there were not many man made trails which seem to disrupt the nature within Cajas. Although there were mud trails, many of them were difficult to walk through, and blended in well with the environment. Today was most likely my favorite day from the whole trip thus far because of the interaction with nature that we experienced.
