CUenca reflections
|
Day 13Our first real day exploring the Cuenca area took us to Cajas National Park. For being Ecuador’s smallest park, it certainly was impressive. The landscape of jagged peaks and glacial lakes reminded me of something straight out of the lord of the rings movies. The vistas were awe inspiring. Cajas itself means gateway to the snow. The Incas used to travel through this area on their way to Guayaquil in order to maintain their empire and collect these special seashells that they used as currency. Cajas is home to 163 bird species countless floras, pumas, llamas, condors and the unique high altitude swamps known as the paramo. Our guide talked about many plants, some of which were used medicinally by the ancient people. We hiked for about two hours at an elevation around 14,000 ft. It was by far the highest I have ever been in my life. Towards the end of the hike, we were able to see a forest of Polylepis trees. These trees hold the title of being the highest trees in the world. They also grow to be very old. The trees we were standing near were about 2000 years old. The name Polylepis comes from the Latin words many layers. This tree has special red peeling bark that looks like paper that insulates it from the cold temperatures at really high altitudes. Many people believe they made up large expanses of forest before people harvested the trees for fire wood. There are very few areas of pristine Andean highland forest left in the world. This is mainly due to fact that Eucalyptus has outcompeted many native trees as an invasive species. The people call these trees dead trees as no other plants will grow on them and many animals do not live in Eucalyptus.
After a slight hiccup (Tait forgot his expensive bag on the trail when changing a student’s bandage and he had to go back to get it) we were back in the city of Cuenca where we had a delicious lunch and then went to the Homero Ortega Panama hat factory. Panama hats are actually made in Ecuador. We learned all about panama hats, how they are made, and how to tell the quality of one. I actually wrote an essay on how they are made and their environmental impact which I have linked here, and of course I had to purchase one for myself. It was a great investment and I have to admit I look quite handsome in it. This same night some of my classmates and I were feeling adventurous and we went to a restaurant to eat some Cuye. Cuye is traditional Ecuadorian cuisine that consists of guinea pig. They brought out the guinea pig whole and then carved it up for us. I did not really like it at all, but the girl’s reaction to me biting off one of the crunchy feet was well worth the experience. Later that night, the guinea pig made another appearance in Sydne’s room, as she violently vomited it back up at around 2 in the morning. Steven and I being on the floor above were able to hear the entire thing through our floor. I can say with confidence that she will never eat guinea pig again. I likely will not either. |
|