Souvenir Photo Studio, by Al Bourassa: Saturday, October 3, 2014 Aquarongo

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Saturday, October 3, 2014

If you will recall from yesterday's post, my buddy from Montreal, Ed, had asked me if I wanted to go to the Cajas for a tour yesterday, for free. Since I could squeeze it into my timing I had agreed, so we gathered at 9am in front of the old Cathedral and about 35 of us got underway about 9:25 in this lovely big bus.

When the bus turned down Gran Colombia I figured the bus driver had some secret route planned... When he continued down Gonzalez Suarez, past Monay and my house, I had to ask what was happening.. Others said that we were going to the cloud forest near Gualaceo! I had dressed warm for the Cajas so I was unsure what temperatures we would be having in the cloud forest apparently at an elevation around 11,000 feet. I needn't have worried on that score as it was a pretty cool day.

Typical of Ecuadorian excursions, the roads got progressively worse. On one tight uphill curve the low bus was dragging his back bumper so we all had to disembark to give him some more clearance and he was able to make it past there. As we drew closer to the destination, the route eventually degenerated to a one-lane passage hacked through the underbrush. Our guide, then the tall Jean-Pierre, leapt out to pull heavy branches away from the side. Nobody had thought to bring a machete, lol. Huge potholes complicated matters and at one point the bus driver just figured the surrounding underbrush was just too thick to proceed any further, the bus chosen was just too big for this trip. He had the tiniest of areas to attempt to turn around and I honestly have no idea how he accomplished that feat.

There were 2 chase vehicles who were able to squeeze by, bringing supplies and food, but the sad fact was that we had to walk 2.2 kilometers, uphill to the Aquarongo park. Many of the older folks struggled, but they took their time and everybody made it.

Then the guides, in translated Spanish, gave us a presentation on the plants of the area and their medicinal properties. It seemed like they could cure almost anything.

Next we did a nature hike for an hour and we dreaded the initial continuous downhill route, knowing that what goes down must come up and we were not looking forward to another major uphill climb. We saw some interesting plants and trees and mountain springs and the gradual uphill walk back to the camp was not that bad.

Then they fed us a terrific soup followed by some lukewarm pasta with a few bites of chicken. This was followed with a reasonable cake that faintly tasted of cornbread, no doubt very healthy stuff overall.

Then they announced that they had brought up a school bus that could take 20 people to the big bus, then return to pick up the balance of the people for a direct trip back to Cuenca. We wisely took the first bus because of the lateness and were shocked that the big bus was nowhere close to where we had left it, but was several miles away. It probably took 45 minutes just to get to the big bus. I was thankful that I wasn't in the patient second group waiting for the school bus' return!

Since the bus was also going right by my house, I got dropped off 1/2 block from home which allowed me to shower and shave again before heading off to Joe's Secret Garden for their Southern Fried Chicken.

Hope you enjoy the photos. That was the day's excitement, Cheers, Al