cajas

imagine the wind whipping your face at fifty miles per hour as it scours the practically barren landscape.
well that is not exactly how it was but it could have been.
not far outside the throbbing cuenca, is one of the most beautiful parks i have ever been in - cajas national park. 4450 meters above sea level is at its peaks where it is mostly tundra. but about 270 lakes are scattered about the large park and the vegitation is breathtaking. from the delicate flowers to the hardened cactus like plants, the land, apparently devode of life, is teeming with life.
if this was not enthralling enough, you step from the wind-whipped highlands into dense forest with serpentine limbs and a lush verdant floor. itfeels as though it is made for a horror movie. but it has a particular beauty to it.
once you make it out of the forest (if you ever do) you can go travel further down in elevation until you reach the cloud forest which is the equivelant of a rain forest at high elevation. this forest has birds of every color.
if i can ever return to ecuador, i would really like to spend many days in the park. you can camp whereever you want but the weather is extremely erratic and temperatures drop precipitiously at night.
an adventure for the future...

gringoland

this past week i left the back room of ecuador (where i did not encounter gringos (foreigners) at all) to the third most important ecuadorian town of cuenca.
six hours south by bus, cuenca is an old colonial town with tremendous charm and appeal. unlike most of ecuadors cities which are dominated by exhaust and cement block, cuenca seems like a misplaced european town. thriving and loaded with good restaurants and bars, it was a blast to walk around and take it all in.
when i would go out to eat, i would be sitting and chatting with people from all over the world - though primarily europeans. it was a welcome change to talk english...
the joys of traveling are many. i have absolutely enjoyed observing this beautiful and entriguing land. however, it is so much fun to be able to connect with relatively like-minded people from all over the world.

chimborazo

to climb a mountain.
to climb a volcano.
this morning three men ventured out onto the highest mountain in the world as measured from the center of the earth.
sitting 6268 meters from sea level it is not only the tallest mountain in ecuador it was considered to be the tallest mountain in the world for some time.
myself and two new friends (alberto and javier) made it past the second refugio (refuge) but decided to turn back for lack of experience, gear, maps, etc.
but nevertheless, it was thrilling to be so high. unfortunately the clouds shroaded any view of the valley below. but the weather was tolerable and not too windy.
no great feat but enjoyable all the same.