Parque Nacional Cajas

6.2.2018 Cajas National Park - the South American Version of an Alpine Tundra

Glacial waters provide the cleanest water in Ecuador. 
Stringent farming restrictions are enforced on those property owners 
with cows, horses and other animals with regard to animal waste and fertilizer.



Cajas National Park factoids:
- west of Cuenca in the Ecuadorean highlands
- 28,544 hectares 
- between 10,000-14,500 feet above sea level
- declared a national park 11/5/1996
- daily use is limited to 114 people (so get there early)
- known for its trails through evergreen cloud forests and hundreds of lakes
- home to Andean condors, giant hummingbirds







Our phenomenal naturalist, Christian. He used to live in NJ 
and attended Rutgers University.






After a phenomenal lunch of super-fresh trout (which was being farmed in pools surrounding the restaurant), we headed back to Cuenca to visit a local artist with a rare disease that rendered his arms useless. Today he has won several medals in international competition with his oil paintings imitating photographs that people send to him from all over the world.

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