Cajas National Park
General
This national park situated close to Cuenca is
a very beautiful area with mountains and
over 200 lagoons of glacier origin. The park
also has archeological Inca sites in the area
of Molleturo, which are believed to be tambos
(resting areas for the Inca couriers from
Cuzco to Quito).
Access
The park is only 21 miles away from Cuenca.
Busses serving the park from Cuenca are the
Cuenca-Molleturo-Naranjal, which goes to the
northern part of the park, and the Cuenca-San Joaquín-Angas, which goes around the south.
Species
The park is not as rich in species as others are, but some common mammals are the white-tailed
deer, spectacle bear, puma, paramo deer, paramo rabbit and the Andean tapir. Some of the
more important bird species are the caracara, condor, Andean toucan and spectacle duck.
Plants
The most representative species are the chuquiragua, paramo grasses, yagual, romerillo,
chachacoma, genciana, romerillo and sarar.
