Parque Nacional Cajas

I  have my card reader!!!! I got it !!! Maggie from Guayaquil found it and sent it to me and I got it today, so here goes the continuation of my blog. From Alausi I took a bus to Cuenca and stayed there for another 3 nights, tthis time in a loveely hotel right in the middle of the historical center. One evening there was a free concert with the Cuenca Philharmonic Orchestra (I was impressed, tat they have a philharmonic orchestra!), which played in a church. There are many free concerts in Ecuador, often in churches. I find that great. There was a guest dirigent , Nikolas Krauze , from France and they played the Jupiter Symphonie and Symphony nr. 4 from Tschaikovsky. On the second day I made an excursion to the national park of Cajas. Thee weather was rainy and foggy, but the scenery was nevertheless beautiful. I could imagine how it must look when the sun shones. Caras national park lies at an elevation between 3100 m. and 4450 m. and has about 270 lakes and lagoons. We visited one pretty lake first at about 3800 m. and walked around the lake. The vegetation there is beautiful. On the way we met some cute laamas. They are quite rare here in Ecuador. Then we went up to 4200 m. and had a beautiful hike from one lake to another. There are some very special plants growing there. This one stores lots of water which is important for other plants growing there. This one is a relative of the pineapple. Isn't it pretty? The scenery is fantastic, even in bad weather. and here I photograpehd a photo to show you how it looks in nice weather!!! From Cuenca I took the bus back to Guayaquil and on March 15, 2 days before I had originally planned to, I flew to San Cristobal in Galapagos.