Hiking in Cajas

So the one thing that I really wanted to do when I came to Cuenca was to go hiking in the mountains. And the girls were awesome and made it happen. Even though they had already hiked it twice already and had sworn they wouldn't kill themselves like that again. They obliged and it was beautiful!

Kel and Mechaela were smart and started out by stretching. I was super nervous and bundling up as best I could. That's me and Kaitlyn preparing to go. I had just rolled up my pants to expose my gorgeous new boots! lol!
 We were just about to head on our way. But then the park officials stopped us and told us we had to record our passport information. Just in case we went missing. But John (the one that had gone Karaoke-ing with us) was our guide. He knows those mountains amazingly well. There were a couple of times I doubted he actually knew where he was taking us because of how dense the woods were. The contortions we had to do to get through it all were impressive if I do say so myself, lol. But back to the original story, we cooperated and wrote our names and "passport numbers" down.
 And we grouped up for a photo. Some of us quickly realized that we were a  little too warmly dressed. And quickly started to peel off the layers. I sadly was not able to take pictures because my camera started acting up as soon as we got there. But thankfully Kaitlyn's camera was functioning and Kel had her Ipod.

So we headed out onto the trail. Everything was going smoothly. Everyone was scattered and lost and Kaitlyn was complaining. It was perfect! Nobody ever really got lost. But there were times that it was a close call. Kaitlyn ended up falling about twelve times. But nothing could beat Mechaela's epic fall. She landed in the mud so deep that it soaked her pants.

None of us had eaten properly before we left. So hunger pains came on very rapidly. But our guide (who did seem to enjoy leaving us all behind) was refusing to stop until we were officially at the half way point. Kaitlyn asked every five minutes what time it was, thinking that it had to have been at least a thirty minutes since the last time she had asked. Only to be severely disappointed. Which then brought on much complaining and yelling. LOL! Great times!
 We did end up stopping for lunch about an hour before our hike was finished. We had a beautiful view to appreciate as we re-energized. Me and Kaitlyn sat on a rock that was completely covered in some sort of strange stiff green plant. It was pretty neat!

 We ended up walking down hill beside a stream. And when we reached the bottom we washed off our boots and posed for a picture! We stopped to grabbed a couple bags of "Cana" aka sugar cane. You chew on it 'til all the flavor is gone, then you spit out the wood bits. It's super delicious! Everyone was happy to head back to the house after the long tiresome hike. It was well worth the energy spent though. It was gorgeous!









More photos will be added later. The internet has been on the fritz... sorry people!





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