Today, I visited El Cajas National Park, and it makes my list of beautiful life experiences. It was a four hour hike through the Andes mountains at about 13,000 feet; by the end, I was covered in mud, lightheaded, sore, and happy.
Our tour guide Moises was not only knowledgeable about the diverse plant life and many lagoons throughout the park, but he was also fantastic at telling us corny puns and jokes. For example, he told us a joke about a preacher who gave a service in Spanish, even though it was his second language. Instead of saying "Vamos a orar," (Let us pray) he said "Vamos a orinar" (Let us urinate). Thanks for the joke, Moises.
Speaking of lagoons, there are 235 lagoons in the park and 700 bodies of water! Moises challenged us to memorize the names of the five lagoons we saw.
My personal favorite part of the day was walking through the magic forest. We suddenly found ourselves in a thick set of trees unlike any I had seen before. The tree bark was thin and felt like paper, and the trunks were thin and curvy. It truly felt magical.
The other fantastic part of the hike was getting to know some of the plants. A lot of them are used for medicinal purposes by indigenous groups. They were gorgeous and ubiquitous!
Throughout the day, I couldn't help but say aloud, "Wow, this is so beautiful." We even had a picnic on the top of the mountain.
After the exhausting and fulfilling hike, we went to a restaurant and got trout, the fish that live in the lagoons. It was a tasty end to a very special day.
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