El Desierto de Jubones

Yes it is true, there is a desert in the middle of the mountains in Ecuador. I did not believe it until I got there and saw it for myself. How is the possible you might ask? I do not know, but it is true. And even though it is in the mountains, and still at about 6000 feet elevation, it is hot like the desert. It only rains there rarely. There is a river that runs through it, Rio Jubones, the water comes from when it rains in the mountains. On this particular day the river was very dirty because it had recently rained in the mountains so all the dirt was washed into the river.


We started by hiking up the mountain to the left of the river on a path that was anywhere from 6 inches to 2 feet wide with a cliff down into the river on one side. The higher we climbed, the more forceful the wind became. Once we got to the top of the mountain, it was difficult to walk because the wind was blowing us, luckily it was going with us, not against us. I was wearing a backpack and at times it was under my left arm because the wind had brought it forward.

There were some cacti and a few other types of vegetation, but as you can see, not much. We saw one small (about 5 inches) lizard, he ran from us very fast, I don't think anyone got a picture, though some tried.

One thing I realize over and over again when I am hiking here in Ecuador is, there really are no standards for safety. You can do what ever you want to at your own risk. Like hiking up the side of this mountain with nothing to keep us from falling down to the river if the wind had gotten just a tad bit stonger. At times I am grateful there are not safety standards, because some of the things I have seen and done, I probably would not have been able to. But other times, I wish there were, because maybe the hike today could have been made safer. Again, inspite of the wind and the slight feeling of fear, I had fun.