el cajas national park (parque nacional cajas)

我们去瓜亚基尔的时候路过这个公园。这里的景色很壮观,我们可以看到驼羊,野马(我们觉得是)还有很多鸟。我们的确发现在这家公园的高处和低处温差很大,接近10摄氏度(16华氏度)。

一切全靠导游!我们的导游非常棒,在这个几平方英尺内的完整的小型森林系统里,他给我们指了一些小型植物,非常像我们在巴塔哥尼亚发现的一样,当然显而易见的是非常漂亮,湖里的生态系统,我们绕着Torreadora步行,非常喜欢这里的环境,新鲜的空气而且安第斯鸭子。附近的地方,有一些吃新鲜虹鳟鱼的地方。我们也去过一个叫Yaviuco的地方,非常漂亮的观赏鸟,天气更温和,我们看见许多蜂鸟。

我老公去钓鱼,而我闲着没事,就跟着去凑热闹。它是一个非常迷人的地方,很值得去,尽管刮着风,有点冷,所以务必要多带几件外套。我们去年也去过,还去了游客中心,那里非常棒,非常有教育意义。

这里没有什么我不喜欢,天气很棒,远足更妙,还有美丽的湖泊,鲜花,而不是很多人。找到一个不错的小午餐之地,我们开车去公园之前还在城里购物了。

一天的时间当中,我去了两个高山湖远足。我们在路右边的第一家餐厅停下吃饭,过了公园西边第二个安全门就是。我们卸下行囊,喝了点热饮,然后穿过马路,徒步走了1个小时之后到达了第一个湖。又过了一个小时,我们到了另外一个湖,在第一个湖的上面。风景非常美,来湖边远足的人不多。第一个湖边总共差不多有10个人,第二个更高的湖边,只有另外一个远足者和一个渔民。我们在两个湖都钓了鱼…… 晚些时候我们在餐厅吃了晚饭。我不会点猪肉,很硬很干。但是油炸的刚捕的虹鳟鱼要好多了。鱼是从饲养池里现抓上来的,如果你想带新鲜的虹鳟鱼回家的话,每条大概有1.5到2磅,用甘蔗杆很容易就能抓到。然后每个池塘花2.5英镑就能养自己的鱼!如果你不去远足,看看这片土地的美景和这个区域的鲜花的话,你不会真正了解卡哈斯!

Like a couple of unprepared gringos we visited El Cajas on Tuesday, March 9th wearing shorts, sandals and a shirt thinking that we would have a leisurely stroll through the national park. WHOOPS. Not exactly. It was 40 degrees F and the wind was blowing hard. We didn't do our due diligence when researching this so it was completely our fault. Turns out Cajas really is a word with origins meaning "pathway to snowy mountains" or "cold"...and not "boxes" like we had thought.We wrote an article on our visit that includes costs and timing associated with the visit from Cuenca (we did it without a guide). http://noapprovalneeded.com/2015/03/cuenca-el-cajas-national-park-like-idiots/

Llamas on the roadside, grand visitas, dramatic changes of weather. Wouldve liked more time here in this wild place of beauty.

Well worth a visit to Cajas National Park when in Cuenca. It's really nice, lovely scenery. It looks a bit like Ireland or Scotland I thought! We took a taxi there as we had left it later in the day and didn't want to wait on the bus. The taxi cost $15 and it took about 35 minutes. Entrance is free. You just register your name with the park in the little hut before going on any of the trails. We did the route around the lake which takes about 2 hours. It was a nice walk with good views of the lake and scenery in general. You would notice yourself getting out of breath much easier because of the altitude so you do need to stop a bit. We got the bus back to Cuenca afterwards. The bus shelter is just outside the little visitor centre on the road. The bus cost $1.50 each.

We walked around the big lake and went up to a high viewpoint to see all the mountains and lakes. It was amazing on all counts.

Awesome sentry and what a diversified hike. We were pushed to complete the hike in 2 hours as they suggest. The trail was as if we were to only people to have been there. Had a trout lunch at the restaurant when finished the hike and what a nice way to end the day. We took a cab out from Cuenca and caught the bus back for $3.00.

Cajas is a must for all who travel to Cuenca. Even if you don't like hiking, it is worth the time and effort to spend even a half hour up there.

This is a very beautiful Park in Ecuador, green and plenty of lakes and water falls. To those who like to track, this is the right spot. Be careful about altitude and cold weather. You should wear hot clothes.

We went by car and did not hike. However the Cajas are magnificent and magical just driving through. Even saw llamas. A must see!

Short drive from Cuenca, great views. Amazing to see all the mountains surround you with lakes and wild life around. You can fish for trout and have them prepare it for you.

Out of this world views. Hired a great guide who knows the local wildlife especially birds. His name is Xavier.