An hour from Cuenca the road to Guayaquil passes through the amazing scenery of El Cajas National Park, one of the most beautiful areas of wilderness in Ecuador. The misty, craggy mountains overlook glacier scoured valleys and hundreds of lakes at an altitude of up to 4,500m. The landscape is reminiscent of the Scottish highlands, but the flora and fauna are more exotic, with gnarled quinua trees clustered around the lakes and high-altitude hummingbirds darting around the brightly coloured chuqiragua flowers. The trekking here is spectacular, from short strolls around Lake Toreadora to longer day hikes heading deeper into the park.