el cajas

Hiking through Ecuador's Cajas National Park was incredible this weekend! The weather left much to be desired but even fog and rain could not take away from the majestic views. I seriously felt as though I had gone to another universe. The ground was spongy since water runs below the majority of it and there are only a few interesting species of fauna that can survive at such high altitudes but they're together it's quite the sight! 

Then there were the lagoons. Wow. This is where most of Cuenca gets their water from. It's so clear and beautiful and so completely therapeutic that my friend couldn't help but meditate, haha.

Once we returned early afternoon I rushed home for lunch and a shower. I really enjoy the outdoors but the lunch of a cheese sandwich and the night's dinner of packaged cream of tomato soup and overcooked pasta didn't quite to it for me. I basically just filled up on the whole-wheat crackers and an orange I had packed. Not all was lost though because late Saturday night, on an open fire, I made one of the best s'mores I have ever had. Like seriously, yummy! Back to Sunday... To start my mom made me my own salad! Haha, she had seen how I always took so many servings of the large family-size one so she figured I deserved my own. How sweet, it was delish as always :).

Following mi ensalada I had fish, rice, and... yuca! It was my first time trying it and oh. my. gosh. was it good! They fried it which took away from the nutritional content I'm sure but wow. I thought it was just a couple of french fries so I pretty much avoided it but by the end of everything else I was still hungry so I figured I'd better eat up. Thank you tummy! I'll be back soon this week with updates on more exciting news. Here's a preview: I'm planning on eating out a lot more since I have very little time left in Cuenca, thus, there will be a multitude of new varieties of food. Until then, I hope everyone is having a good week in the states or wherever you may be!