Cuenca & the Southern Highlands - Adventure Guide to Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands - page 219

multi-day trips into Podocarpus National Park, inquire with Llama
Walking Tours , 7-580-061, [e-mail], or ask

around at the local hostels for suggestions and route information.
There is also a tourist office along the main plaza in town that can
point you in the right direction.

Birders will be amply rewarded with a wonderful array of opportuni-
ties, including the region east of Vilcabamba in the headwaters of the
upper Yamburara Valley. For more on this and a complete bird list,
visit Vilcabamba's website at www.vilcabamba.org.

With a Fishing Pole
Both El Cajas and Podocarpus National Parks have nu-
merous high-altitude lakes and streams. Bring along a
pole; many of these offer excellent trout fishing, though
the fish aren't the biggest you've seen.

On Horseback
As in most other regions of the Andes, there are grand op-
portunities to ride horseback around Cuenca, with trips
that last from one to several days. The hard part isn't
where to go, it's where to find a decent outfitter. The area
around Vilcabamba is ideal for horseback riding at a leisurely pace -
with a consistently pleasant climate and a wide-open, scenic country-
side. In fact, this area is known for its horses, which are one of the
main attractions during festivals, such as Carnival in February.

In Cuenca, MontaRuna , at Grán Colombia 10-29 and General
Torres,

/fax [phone], [e-mail], offers excursions of
varying length. Destinations include Ingapirga and the Inca Trail, as
well as Cajas National Park and other areas in this region. They also
offer trekking and top-notch jungle tours. They have multilingual
guides.

Several hostels can arrange horseback rides, either with or without
guides. The Hostal Madre Tierra,

7-580-269, 7-580-687, www.
madretierra1.org, [e-mail], and Hostería Las Ruinas
de Quinara,

7-580-301, www.lasruinasdequinara.com, ruinasqui@
hotmail.com, can make arrangements. Actually, pretty much any hos-
tel you are staying at will help to set up a trip, even if they cannot do it
directly themselves. For horseback riding trips to Podocarpus, Roger
Toledo is based in Vilcacamba, on Agua de Hierro near Bolívar. He of-
fers multi-day trips into other areas as well.