Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing

Let's talk about a weekend in Baños.


...no, let's not. Let's show. :)

The side of Volcan Tungurahua, the 3rd-largest volcano in Ecuador and entirely active

Saturday morning and out to breakfast after a 2 am arrival Friday night!

Oh, just chillin in the hammocks waiting for our guide.

Courtyard of our hotel: La Petit Auberge. 

On a bicycle tour of the waterfalls

This is what happens when I take photos and ride a bike simultaneously: some cool photos of our guide in front, AND the speed bump I almost wiped out on por la culpa de la camara.

Brianna and Lindsay behind...

Mountains in the clouds, beginning to feel normal here!

Twin falls

The little cable car contraptions like the one we took later...

The volcano, on most days, is completely clouded over!

La Manto de la Novia - or, in English - Bride's Veil

We were a little windblown.

These little cable cars that cross the river gorge have some speed!

Lindsay and the fruit path

Where you could stay, if you wanted to be completely inaccessible.

On our own path to the waterfall de San Pedro.

Headin down...

...the path completely eroded in parts.

Miss Brianna

Behind...

...and ahead, at the mouth of the fall!

World's steepest stairs going down...

...and going up :)

No safety rails to keep you from standing in the middle of the falls here!

Down, down, down

Aways toward the river

Oh. So these are your basic re-bar and pipe structure. Mm.

There is nothing not picturesque.

Prepared for a suprise?? God exists!!

...and here HE is!

El Pailon del Diablo (after a good little hike down, after leaving our bikes in the little town...)

Absolutely fierce. The pool below is unimaginably survivable.

The rock that appears to be the Devil's nose.

Riding back-of-the-truck back into town, with Mr. 9-yr-old Spanish tutor.

Air dry!

...And then we went canyoning.!!

Top of my first waterfall :)

Our guide, Marcos: "Is this your first time?"
No, I just happen to have done it perfectly the first time. :-P

Lindsay in last.

Wavin' from the second waterfall!

Brianna

Almost down! 

Lindsay

Chillin' below at the bottom of the falls

Well, you'd have this expression too...if you were about to launch into free-fall down a  40 meter (150 ft!) waterfall!

That's me, wavin' up at ya from the bottom :)

My landing pad...bottom of the 150' falls.

Pretty freakin cool.

The amazing view of all of Baños from el Cafe del Cielo (Heaven's or Sky's Cafe), up on top of the mountain. It's like it's laid out for you to play with...and our restaurant windows go from floor to ceiling.

Our little Baños.

La Basilica at night.

Saturday, as you can see, was a busy day. After Brianna and I both taught on Friday evening, we headed home to grab our things. Lindsay, Brianna and I spent over an hour in a cab driving to an unknown destination, which turned out to be the South bus terminal in Quito (when we had specifically instructed and verified with our driver to go to one 15 minutes away in la Mariscal). When we finally got there, we didn't get a bus to Baños until 10:30 en la noche...which meant, we arrived in Baños and wandered the general street for our hotel at 2, 2:30 in the morning.

Don't worry, this story ends well. 

As luck would have it, our 2 am arrival meant, according to the night manager, that we only had to pay for ONE night at the hotel (Saturday) instead of two. Chevere!

Saturday began with a walk around town and desayuno afuera (we went out to breakfast). Despues, we began our adventures with a bicycle tour outside of town of las cascadas famosas de Baños (the famous waterfalls). We took the cable car across the river canyon and explored one more closely. Later we rode past the good sports jumping off bridges in an activity known as puenting, which I had wanted to do for the pure risk and thrill, but our busy tourist plans were packed full enough :)

At the end of the road, we stopped in a little outside pueblo de Baños and had delicious empanadas y jugo naturales - chicken and cheese enclosed in fried bread and natural fruit juice, which gave us the necessary energy to make the hike down to el Pilon del Diablo, the famous and fearsome destination waterfall that visitors like us soak themselves to either climb up and under or down into the basin.

We took a ride in the back of a truck with our bikes to air-dry on the way back into town, where we arrived dry and in time to dress ourselves up in skintight wetsuits and helmets that would serve us well in our next activity: canyoning.

Canyoning is an innocuous name for the adventure sport of rappelling solo down multiple waterfalls. It's like coming down off of a rock climbing well, except you are belaying yourself and there's varying tons of water pouring down on you, threatening to break either your contact with the rock at your feet or your concentration on your break hand.

Here we take advantage of a small moment to brag. 

Think I fell? Lost my footing once? Maybe on my first cascada? Nope.

Think I was the only girl to make it down the final 150' waterfall free-drop at the end? Yup.

Think I was the only ONE to go down sin manos (without hands)? Oh yes, please. By this we mean that, whereas the boys that had joined our group canyoning continued to rappel themselves through freefall and lower somewhat gently onto the rocks below, I put all trust in the guide when he responded to my "No necesito hacer nada?" with "No, no hagas nada."

Don't do anything. Rappel the first two feet, then...JUMP.

Hands out to the air at my sides and whooping, I did just that, falling through the air like a Tom Petty song, catching the waterfall on both sides in my hands. Landed smack on my butt on a boulder at the bottom of the fall, but the marvelous diaper-like harnesses we wore made even that landing pretty soft through my wetsuit. The boys at the bottom were shocked. "Superchevere!" they kept saying in disbelief. 

Well, y'all should have known when I said I came to Quito for, among other things, adventure. :)

That night, us girls walked around town for a bit, spent some time at las termas (the natural hot spring pools), and then dropped a tired Lindsay back off at the hotel. After much effort, Brianna and I managed a cab to the top of the towering mountain around Baños - we had seen an advertisement earlier for Cafe del Cielo, a restaurant with 34 types of coffee and a breathtaking view. 

If you know me, you know I'm not passing up 34 types of coffee. We went up for dessert - delicious crepes and artisan mochas. Brianna and I each snuck outside and marveled at the comfortable climate that allowed us to stay and gaze at Baños spread out in miniature and all lit up below us like a surreal playhouse...and gaze...and gaze.

The next morning we were up early and out in search of a breakfast place that opens before 8 am on Sundays - not an easy task. Finally fed, we made it to our tour guide's office through a constant Sunday downpour. When we mounted our horses 45 minutes later, the rain had stopped - and held off for the two hours we were out climbing the paths of the Volcano Tungurahua on horseback.

When we returned, with VERY sore legs but awesome experiences, it was time to pack up and out of our hotel. The rain began again as we stopped at Cafe Good to grab a (slow!) lunch and then trek across town to the bus terminal. By five, we were back in Quito, and splitting a cab with another gringo to la Mariscal. We stopped at the Magic Bean for dinner and listened to the Chile-Venezuela game in the cab on the way home. 

Backwards photos from a horse!

With our guide, headed up the volcano.

My horse, Papaye. Somehow my guide knew to give me the competitive one that always liked to be in the front...and sneak a snack break whenever he could.

My horse-riding expressions ;)

We stopped for a natural volcanic minerals mudbath...

With the help of our guide.

"Para ser mas bonita!"

It really was a mineral in just this part of the river, not the cat crap it appears to be ;)

Ready to head back down...having forded rivers and streams with our horses, drunk from natural volcanic spring fizzy waters, and of course...peed in the woods.

Home at last after sundown on Sunday, and just enough time to do some laundry and prep for the next day's homework. With some regret, I realized that I had spent my last adventure weekend out -- as I told my host mom, I would be sleeping here next Saturday night - how rare. 


Next weekend's day trips won't be shortchanged, however...I promise to bring some more stories of adventure and travel from Otavalo and Volcan Cotopaxi :)

For now, it's time for more class prep and teacher-work. Thanks for reading and un gran abrazo,

Nikki :)