Legends And Myths In The World's Highest Forest

Filed under: Hiking, History, Learning, Stories, South America, Ecuador, Ecotourism"Ladies, be careful," warns Juan, our guide for Cajas National Park in Ecuador. "This forest is known to have evil elves."

We are currently in the Quinoa Forest, which we are told, at 13,124 feet high, is the highest forest in the world. Because I'm from New York and don't believe in elves, the warning does not scare me. However, there are various legends revolving around the forest that stem from Incan beliefs.

For one, elves, or chuzalungu in Cachua, the native Inca language, live in the forest and kidnap women and children. In my opinion, this may have stemmed from the highlanders being short, and if anything bad happened to a woman or child, the wrongdoer may have been mistaken as being an elf.

It's not surprising so many mystical legends exist here. Walking through the Quinoa Forest, you'll feel like you're hiking through some kind of bizarre fairy tale, as you climb over twisted trees and tangled roots. In reality, the jungle gym-like terrain is due to the three feet of soil.Continue reading Legends And Myths In The World's Highest ForestLegends And Myths In The World's Highest Forest originally appeared on Gadling on Sun, 27 May 2012 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | Email this | Comments

Finland hiking holidays Kuusamo hiking Kuusamo hiking holidays Ruka