Laguna Pataquinoas

We packed our stuff and then went back to the city center to see the inside of the Cathedral. We had wanted to climb on the tower but that would've meant waiting for another 2.5 hours. So we just walked through the - beautiful - interior made of pink marble and then returned to the hotel for the luggage. From the bus terminal we took the next bus in direction of Guayaquil which dropped us off at the entrance to Cajas. There we registered us and then went on the recommended trail 1 with roughly 250 metres altitude and 5 km long.

Right after entering the trail you get gorgeous views over the laguna and the mountain backdrop. The terrain and vegetation is subalpine and from afar similar to areas in the Swiss Alps. The trail was perfectly maintained and along the wet areas of the laguna with boardwalks equipped. We enjoyed the scenery and the hike very much as it changed quite a bit. Especially entering the forest of paper trees was a magical moment. It appears like straight out of Lord of the Rings or a fantasy novel... You'd expect anytime that fairies buzz around the trees 🧚 After the forest there was a little cave system to explore but we just viewed from the entrance as there was water in the cave. The trail continued with gentle elevation changes over rolling hills and along peaceful little lagunas. It ended at a parking lot about 5 km away from the visitor center where we had started. We could've walked back on the road but found another trail in Maps.me that led back through the park. It wasn't marked and we got a little lost one time but ultimately found our way back 😁

We grabbed our luggage and stood next to the road leading to Guayaquil for about 20 minutes until the bus showed up. Shortly afterwards we were covered in thick fog and didn't see anything of the scenery for more than an hour. Then we were under the fog/clouds and could see the plains leading to Guayaquil. Overall the drive took us 3 hours and we were glad that we had finished the hike in Cajas earlier than anticipated. When we got off the bus we were hit by heat 🔥 It was more than 30 degrees and very humid. At Cajas it had been 10 degrees at best and without wind chill and on the bus the AC was on🧊😅 So that was quite the shock, also we went from almost 4000 metres down to 0... Very confusing for our bodies 😁 Then we got a taxi to the our hotel where we dropped off the luggage and went to explore the nearby city center.

First stop was the Iguana Park and the adjacent Catedral Católica Metropolitana de Guayaquil. There are so many iguanas and turtles around that are fun to watch and the cathedral gives a nice backdrop. The city center is pretty mixed with nicely renovated colonial style buildings but also a lot of run down places. Apparently apart from the touristy areas it can be a little dangerous. Our highlight was definitely the Malecón! Amazing architecture, lots of seating areas, wide space to walk, greens and food stalls. Everything you could ask for... We had dinner there and continued along the Malecón to the end where a little amusement park is located. As we had nothing else to do we decided to go for a spin on the ferris wheel 🎡 named La Perla. It was super slow and not very much too see but the first time that we went on one together 😁 In the evening we went back to the hotel and had a relaxed beer.Read more