Baños de Santa Agua - well, almost.

Far from the madding crowd, I have arrived in another gorgeous yet deserted hostel, Mama Tungu, near Baños de Santa Agua. More staff than guests. It is truly beautiful. Feels like a lodge in the jungle; complete with jacuzzi and hammocks. I was lured in by the reviews and cheap room rates but realised you are captive to their restaurant as there are no shops nearby or anywhere to prepare or store your own food. I am actually in a village called Ulba outside of Baños (didn't realise that till I arrived). They have 5 dogs as pets who have free reign of the place :-)

After a rest day, I went ziplining again and managed to assume the superman position (after some coaxing!) I then walked around Baños soaking up the party atmosphere; it's where tourists and Ecuadorians alike come to have fun at weekends. I ate in a market and watched the world go by. A veggie meal, by which I mean a meat dish without the meat. OMG I have never craved vegetables so much. They like their smoothies and juices here.

Next day, waterfalls.....slow walking for me because I am bad with downhill and everything slippery as been raining so much. Worth the views though, although far too fast and powerful to swim in.

Randomly, and this has never happened to me before, 2 separate people left the dormitory after meeting me. First, a young Dutch guy and about 2 hours later, a young German girl. Most of me doesn't care but at same time, it's not a nice feeling. Haha but I got the room to myself for another night so that's a bonus :-)Read more