Day 173
We met up with our wonderful DC friends, Michelle, Mingo, Mateo and Zadie, and headed to Baños, the adrenaline capital of Ecuador. We were overjoyed to see some of our favorite familiar faces in such a crazy spot in Ecuador.
Day 1 included a long van ride from Quito to Baños. We arrived in the late afternoon, checked into our little hotel and went out for surprisingly good Italian food. After dinner, we walked around town and realized that the carnival celebration starts a few days early in Baños. Zadie and Mateo loved getting sprayed with foam; Talia and the adults not so much.
Day 2 included a breathtaking walk at caldero del diablo, followed by the most insane ziplines I’ve ever seen. I was nervous, but I eventually got into the ziplining spirit. I have to admit that, once I stopped screaming, the views were remarkable and the experience was fun—we flew along the tops of trees and careened over waterfalls.
After the ziplines, the kids and Michelle convinced us to try out the “canopy walk,” which was truly terrifying and made me question all my life choices. I may never recover from the wobbly bridge-of-death (see photo). If Grammy is reading this, she may disown me for letting Talia participate. (Talia wants me to write that it was not really a bridge of death because we were secured by harnesses, but even she admits that it was scary).
After the ziplines/death traps, we grabbed lunch at a roadside restaurant and headed to some insane swings over a huge cliff. Most of the group went on the swings, but I was done with adrenaline for the day. We eventually headed back to town and took the kids to a very weird enchanted forest, which may forever haunt my dreams. As I read this to Talia she asked me to add this about the enchanted forest: “it was so awkward.” She’s not wrong.Read more
South Pacific Ocean 
