Travel Reference
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country. If you choose to go without a guide make sure to hike in the morning, as a wash
of clouds descends into the valleys every evening, guaranteeing the loss of decent orienta-
tion. Furthermore, though the trails are well-marked the blazes don't occur as often as
they should and grooves in the dirt dug by llamas can confuse you into thinking that
they're paths, but do no more than twist around hills before suddenly disappearing alto-
gether. So make sure to download a map or stop off at a ranger station first.
One of the greatest reasons to visit Cajas is the chance to experience the mystical poly-
lepis , or 'paper-tree,' forests which are the group dwarf species endemic to the Andes that
make up the highest-growing woodlands in the world. Its name stems from the Greek
poly , meaning 'many,' and lepis , meaning 'layers,' which accurately describes the count-
less pages of papery bark that easily peel away from the trees and protect them from the
elements. Touching this unusual specimen is like leafing through old, old books, and
creeping through the quiet mystery of its forests is like being in a Lord of The Rings
movie, with odd mushrooms growing in the lush marsh below.
But if you end up camping in the polylepis, beware! What's magical in the daylight can
become spooky at nightfall. The cloud cover renders stars invisible, so the darkness is a
profound one. Temperatures at night dip below freezing, so much so that it's OK to bring
perishable food. Cajas is like a refrigerator at night.
Another standout is the stunning Laguna Luspa, which at over 190 acres (78 hectares) is
the largest lake in the park. Some of the lakes here are 16,000 years old dating from their
glacial origin. After the last Ice Age, the land in Cajas National Park came to be com-
pletely layered with volcanic ash, which could have arrived via any of the multitude of
volcanoes populating the Ecuadorian Andes. All the strange plants that grow in the park
originate from the ash, like funky mushrooms and cactus rosettes. The highlands of Cajas
are basically overgrown tundra.
Cajas also has one of the best examples of the strange páramo ecosystem, basically em-
bodying tropical life that thrives in a high-alpine climate. The páramo terrain at its most
extreme is made up of spongy meadows, strawgrass and craggy hills. A lot of the region
actually resembles the Scottish highlands.
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