Magical Mohanda

Our ride to Mohanda
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We had a spectacular outdoor adventure climbing the peak called Fuya Fuya that guards a pristine lake in an area of the highlands called Mohanda. Our new friend, Luis, took us there. He is a local, from the nearby village of La Calera, and living now in Cotacachi with his family. Luis owns a shop in town, but also works as a hiking and outdoor guide. We are really glad we met him--not only does he speak very good English, which helps so much with understanding things beyond what our limited Spanish can so far accomplish, but he also is facilitating our access to remote places like Mohanda that can be very hard to navigate all on your own.

Our destination--cloud shrouded Fuya Fuya peak
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We set out on our adventure early Thursday morning. Luis said he´d pick us up at our casita. He arrived with his cousin in a pick-up truck. I was offered the front seat next to the driver. Frank and Luis hopped in the back of the pick-up where there was a straw mat and two cushions. This is a very common way to transport groups of people--everyone climbs in the back of a truck and holds on.

It took maybe 45 minutes to an hour to drive to Mohanda, and most of the journey was on the ancient Inca stone roads. Good thing we had a truck--it was incredibly bumpy and rough navigating the road. Even though Mohanda is relatively close to the larger town of Otavalo, once we began bumping down that old stone road through the low mountains, with only open land and occasional terraced farm plots around us, I was stunned and grateful how wild and remote it felt.

Wild plant covering--feels like astroturf!
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We arrived at one of the three lakes in Mohanda and parked the truck. We were absolutely alone out there. Nothing--no people, no buildings (beyond a ruined shed half standing in the lake), no ranger station, no signage, no parking lot, no concession stand, no campground, nothing. It was so beautiful and blessed! I was filled with this enormous gratitude and sense of joy and relief too. It feels like, in the U.S., it is so very difficult to get somewhere where no one else is. It´s possible I know, but it feels so rare. And yet here we were, a brief jolting drive from our town, and we were in empty, open, wild, pure space!

We made it to the top--4,260 meters
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We began our trek from the lakeshore up towards the peak of Fuya Fuya. The lakes of Mohanda have Spanish names, but Luis, who is Kichwa, told us the names in his native language. He said the area is sacred to the Kichwa, and shamans come to the top of Fuya Fuya to make offerings to the Earth.

The trek is mainly through the highland grassland called paramo. The grass is thick, tall and very tough to survive in the sometimes harsh weather conditions at that altitude. We began our climb at about 3,600 meters and were aiming for the peak at 4,260 meters (almost 14,000 feet). There was a path worn vaguely through the grass that Luis led us along. It is about 2 kilometers from the lakeshore to the top. It didn´t sound like much when we began, but we quickly experienced how hard your body and lungs have to work to get enough oxygen at that height. We climbed very slowly, sometimes maybe only 100 steps or so at a time, and then took short breaks to catch our breath.

Tea break atop Fuya Fuya in the clouds
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The day was overcast and the clouds began to really roll in thickly as we climbed. The higher we got, the more we were enclosed in the mist. Luis said on clear days you can see up to 8 different volcanic peaks from the top of Fuya Fuya, but we didn´t mind at all. Climbing in the mist and clouds was exciting and felt like a gift to get to experience this sacred land in whatever way was true for it at that moment.

The last part of the climb was steeper and rockier. We used our hands to scramble our way up until we reached 4,200 meters, at which point a path leveled off and the final 60 meters was more walking than scrambling. At the top, Luis broke out a thermos of hot cinnamon tea (good for altitude sickness, we´ve read) and we had a celebratory rest stop before beginning the trek down.

Scene of the paramo grassland
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Of course going down was much faster and easier. It took about 2 hours to climb up and about 1 hour to get down. I paused frequently on the walk down just to drink in the openness and the absolute silence. We saw beautiful huge raptors hovering high in the sky. Luis called them eagles, but we aren´t sure exactly what kind. There were abundant wildflowers blooming in the paramo too, and wild herbs that Luis could identify for us (including a wild thyme which is the most fragrant thyme I´ve ever sniffed.)

Magical Mohanda Lakes
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It began to rain as we were leaving, and Luis offered Frank to sit in the cab of the truck along with me and the driver, so we all squeezed in while Luis gamely sat in the truck bed in the rain. As we were bumping home on the stone road, we eventually encountered two pairs of men walking along the roadside. They hailed us down, and we stopped and let them hop in the back of the truck. No questions asked--just I assume a courtesy in this remote place, and also in an area where personal vehicles aren´t as common, so it appears people more readily share their transport if needed. As we arrived into the town of Otavalo on the way home, the men banged on the roof of the truck and we stopped so they could hop out.

All in all a joyful day. We are looking forward to further outdoor adventures soon.