Relaxing in the ¨Valley of Longevity¨

We spent 2 nights in Loja (pronounced Loha). There´s really not much there, except for the nearby park of Podocarpus. So that´s exactly what we did! But for our first dinner there we went to a chicken place which served 1/4 chicken dinners!!! Swiss Chalet? Unfortunately not. There were not enough fries, and definitely no sauce. Snif, but it was good none the less.

We were up early and by 8:30 we were in a taxi with our gear on our way to the Northern entrance of the park. The reason we had to take a taxi was because of the 8.5 km of uphill, bumpy, muddy, curvy, dirt road into the ranger´s staition from the entrance. At one point on the road our taxi fishtailed around one of the corners! Eep! He slowed down after that, especially to drive through the huge ´pond´that had formed on the road. Our plan was to hike the park´s trails and then walk those 8.5 km down to the highway in the afternoon to catch a cheeper mode of transportation (yes, a bus) back to the city.

We arrived at the same time as a birdwatching-tourist group, but were able to pass them on the trail quickly (Colin recieved another comment on his TimHorton´s t-shirt!). We did a small, muddy 700m warm-up loop before beginning the 5km ridge trail we had planned on. The trail climbed up and up and up through cloud forest on steep muddy trails (we were trying to be careful considering we both only have one pair of pants each). After about 30-45 minutes we arrived at the mirrador (lookout) on the top of the ridge which was very impressive. We could see down into the vallies on either side and in the distance we were able to make out the highway and the road our taxi had come up on. The vegetation had changed from the larged leaved trees and flowers, to short grasses and bushes. The trail continued up along the ridge into the clouds, so we follwed. The wind picked up and at some points I felt like I was going to be picked up and tossed over the other side. Unfortunately, the very higest point of the ridge was clouded in (and even windier) so there are no photos to comemorate the event, but we decended from there on another steep, muddy trail (at this point both of our pants were covered in mud, so we weren´t worrying much anymore) into the cloud forest.

Back at the ranger´s staition we ate our lunch and were offered a drive back to Loja by a really nice Argentinian couple and their son. We threw our muddy boots in the back of the truck and rolled up our pants before hopping in the back seat with their son, Gabrielito (who had a spanish-talking Buzz Lightyear! A la infinidad y más allá!). They had driven in the night before and had stayed over at the ranger´s staition, so had not yet seen the sceenery from the road. We stopped several times to take photos. But we also saw a huge beetle with pincers, so we all pilled out of the truck to take a closer look, and from our horrible translating, we understood that his pincers could kill you! So, Colin and Gabriel (the father) started poking at it. We arrived back at our hostel 4 hours earlier than expected, so just relaxed.

We left the next day for Villcabamba, a little town about an hour south of Loja, known for relaxing. Apparently people can live to be very old here, but scientific studies have not proven anything about it yet. But they do have their own bottled water, Villcagua, with an older, white haired man on the front. Hmm. We are staying in another ecolodge, Rumi-Wilco, which focuses on the protected lands it borders and organic gardening. It´s just outside of town and so it is very peaceful, though we can still hear a donkey in the distance and sometimes loud dance music from the school. There is also a small path leading to town which crosses the sketchiest bridge yet. It was washed out many years ago and it´s now on a huge slant.

Tomorrow we plan to leave for Peru, which should be an adventure in itself. Lots of bus/taxi transfers, and a border crossing, and money exchange! Woah. Thank goodness they still speek spanish.

Later, Gaitors!