We had been talking about going fishing in the Caja's ever since we got to Cuenca. So we decided to do it!!! We found out where to catch the bus to the Caja's from a terminal in the city near a market called Feria Libre.
We got our gear together, the poles, lures, snacks, warm clothing, Oscar got stuffed into the bag we bought for him in Montanita, and off we went to catch our bus. It left on time, and our fare to go into the mountains was $1.25 each, we were finally going fishing.
The bus was filled with Ecuadorians, some Indingenous ladies with HUGE bags of stuff they had bought at Feria Libre, and 3 or 4 other gringos. We traveled about 15 minutes into the mountains and then the bus was pulled over by the Transito Policia. They boarded the bus, we understood when they said "Good Morning Ladies and Gentlemen", but that was it!!! The Policia made the bus driver and his helper show lots of documentation. Then after about another 10 minutes the driver said something in Spanish and most of the Ecuadorians walked off the bus and lined up on the roadside.
Michael and I stayed on the bus with a few other Ecuadorians, the other Gringos, and one really mad Indingenous woman, she had TONS of food and grains that had been loaded into the baggage compartment of the bus, food that she had purchased at Mercado Feria Libre.
We had no clue what was happening. We were sitting in the first row, on the right side of the driver, so we watched all the goings on from our seats. I had the little point and shoot camera, but decided that taking pictures of the cops that had pulled the bus over might not be a great idea.
After another 15 minutes or so the bus made a U-turn, it was going back to Cuenca, we got off at this point and Michael asked the "helper" guy what the heck was going on? He said that the Policia had not given an answer as to what the the problem was, but there was a problem.
Our options were to stay on the bus and go all the way back to Feria Libre, or wait on the side of the rode for a replacement bus into the Caja's. No one could give us an answer as to when the replacement bus might come, so we decided to go home. We knew that we were not too far into the mountains, and we would be able to catch a city bus back to our neighborhood, so we scrapped the idea of fishing for the day and waited for a local bus that would take us home.
Darn, we wanted to go fishing.
A few days later we headed out again, we packed our stuff again, warm clothing, snacks, a few PB & J sandwiches, water and a thermos of coffee, but this time we left Oscar at home. We walked out to Ordonez Laso, (we now knew that the bus came right by our neighborhood) and we caught the 7:00 a.m. bus. We were off to the mountains.
We got to the lake in the Caja's in about 45 minutes. The scenery along the way is unbelievable, Llama's, waterfalls, mountains, truly incredible beauty. We have taken this road before, but it was always like a job - trying to get to Guayaquil. This journey was different, it was the first time we just looked out the window and enjoyed the beauty of the ride, gorgeous.
We got to the area of the park where the lake we were looking for was, so we got off the bus, along with a few other VERY young people. They were going to go hiking. The nice lady in the Ranger station explained the 1, 3 or 5 hour treks and the trails. We just laughed and said we were just going to go fishing in the lake.
The start of our hike down to the lake. Good thing we left Oscar home, it was a difficult walk down, dodging little streams and rocks, etc.
The trek down to the lake took about 25 minutes, Michael set up our poles and we fished. It was incredible. I was thinking to myself that it seemed unbelievable that I was fishing, in the moutains, in Ecuador, trying to get a trout.
The elevation in the Caja's is about 4,000 feet higher than Cuenca.
Our fishing companions in the Caja's.
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We fished for about two hours, and we caught ABSOLUTLEY nothing. It was pretty cold, we had brought all the right gear except for gloves and our hands were getting pretty cold. We decided to go home and we started the climb back up to the Ranger station. It was not going well for me, I got really dizzy and felt pretty weird. The altitude was getting to me. I had to sit and just breath a few times. Michael was great, he grabbed my back pack and helped me along. Gosh, that made me mad, I thought I was used to the altitude stuff, but I thought I was gonna keel over a few times. LOL!!!
We had been told that all we needed to do to get home was to walk out to the road and wait for any bus going by, they would all be going to Cuenca, so that is what we did.
We got our gear together, the poles, lures, snacks, warm clothing, Oscar got stuffed into the bag we bought for him in Montanita, and off we went to catch our bus. It left on time, and our fare to go into the mountains was $1.25 each, we were finally going fishing.
The bus was filled with Ecuadorians, some Indingenous ladies with HUGE bags of stuff they had bought at Feria Libre, and 3 or 4 other gringos. We traveled about 15 minutes into the mountains and then the bus was pulled over by the Transito Policia. They boarded the bus, we understood when they said "Good Morning Ladies and Gentlemen", but that was it!!! The Policia made the bus driver and his helper show lots of documentation. Then after about another 10 minutes the driver said something in Spanish and most of the Ecuadorians walked off the bus and lined up on the roadside.
Michael and I stayed on the bus with a few other Ecuadorians, the other Gringos, and one really mad Indingenous woman, she had TONS of food and grains that had been loaded into the baggage compartment of the bus, food that she had purchased at Mercado Feria Libre.
We had no clue what was happening. We were sitting in the first row, on the right side of the driver, so we watched all the goings on from our seats. I had the little point and shoot camera, but decided that taking pictures of the cops that had pulled the bus over might not be a great idea.
After another 15 minutes or so the bus made a U-turn, it was going back to Cuenca, we got off at this point and Michael asked the "helper" guy what the heck was going on? He said that the Policia had not given an answer as to what the the problem was, but there was a problem.
Our options were to stay on the bus and go all the way back to Feria Libre, or wait on the side of the rode for a replacement bus into the Caja's. No one could give us an answer as to when the replacement bus might come, so we decided to go home. We knew that we were not too far into the mountains, and we would be able to catch a city bus back to our neighborhood, so we scrapped the idea of fishing for the day and waited for a local bus that would take us home.
Darn, we wanted to go fishing.
A few days later we headed out again, we packed our stuff again, warm clothing, snacks, a few PB & J sandwiches, water and a thermos of coffee, but this time we left Oscar at home. We walked out to Ordonez Laso, (we now knew that the bus came right by our neighborhood) and we caught the 7:00 a.m. bus. We were off to the mountains.
We got to the lake in the Caja's in about 45 minutes. The scenery along the way is unbelievable, Llama's, waterfalls, mountains, truly incredible beauty. We have taken this road before, but it was always like a job - trying to get to Guayaquil. This journey was different, it was the first time we just looked out the window and enjoyed the beauty of the ride, gorgeous.
The start of our hike down to the lake. Good thing we left Oscar home, it was a difficult walk down, dodging little streams and rocks, etc.
The quiet and the beauty was overwhelming.
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Total Beauty.
Did I mention it was really cold??
The elevation in the Caja's is about 4,000 feet higher than Cuenca.
The flora is incredible.
Tiny, tiny little beautiful flowers.
Wow, I guess we are not in Chicago anymore.
Our fishing companions in the Caja's.
.JPG)
We fished for about two hours, and we caught ABSOLUTLEY nothing. It was pretty cold, we had brought all the right gear except for gloves and our hands were getting pretty cold. We decided to go home and we started the climb back up to the Ranger station. It was not going well for me, I got really dizzy and felt pretty weird. The altitude was getting to me. I had to sit and just breath a few times. Michael was great, he grabbed my back pack and helped me along. Gosh, that made me mad, I thought I was used to the altitude stuff, but I thought I was gonna keel over a few times. LOL!!!
Yeah, I am smiling in this pic, but totally faking it!!
LLamas along the way.
While we were fishing we saw a group of school boys trekking around the lake. When we got back to the Ranger Station, they were heading back up as well. Michael and I were sitting and eating our PB &J sandwiches and a few cookies. Michael shared our snacks with the kids, and that sealed the deal. We were friends. They practiced their English on us, and we practiced our Spanish on them.
We had been told that all we needed to do to get home was to walk out to the road and wait for any bus going by, they would all be going to Cuenca, so that is what we did.
We sat at the bus shelter across the road from the Ranger Station for about 20 minutes, and Perfecto, a bus came by, we jumped on an it brought us home.
We took a trip into the Caja's mountains, we didn't catch a fish, but the journey was incredible.
3 comments:
Sounds like a great day! Some times it takes more than a few hours to get a fish, better luck next time.
Looking forward to some fresh trout if I ever get out there!
John
Sounds like a great day! Some times it takes more than a few hours to get a fish, better luck next time.
Looking forward to some fresh trout if I ever get out there!
John
March 26, 2012 7:21 AM
Don't know if I am posting this twice or not!
That sounded like an awesome adventure and the photos are amazing too! When is your next fishing trip? Cathy Casey Belcher
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