Banos, Ecuador

After crossing the border to Ecuador, we took a short taxi ride to the town of Tulcan before our five hour bus to the capital Quito and stayed in the lovely BoutiQuito Design hostel. We visited some of the beautiful buildings of the city in the Parque Garcia Monero, La Basilica, Monasteries De San Francisco and the Plaza Grande. At one point I was asked by some local nursing students to help them with their college assignment, where they interviewed an English speaking person (absolutely mortified!).
Next day we headed to the Mitad del Mundo (Centre of the World) for an incredible day at the equator. We hopped on the local public transport, where the hour and half bus journey cost us a whooping $0.45 (nearly breaking the bank!). The lovely sunny day allowed us to explore the grounds of the site and pose for photos along the equator. Edel purchased an egg from the shop and we conquered the mind blowing experiment of balancing the egg on the head of a nail. Then we headed up the 30m high monument tower where we learned about the French exploration to discover the equator in 1736 and entered the museum with some experiments we could partake in. At the top of the tower, there was an amazing view of the snowcapped Cayambe mountain, (the only point on the equator that drops below zero degrees Celsius) and the Cotopaxi volcano (Ecuador's most active volcano). This was such an amazing day and a great start to our time in Ecuador.
Our next stop after Quito was the highly anticipated trip to the Amazon Rainforest. We took a eight hour night bus from Quito to Lago Agrio. We stopped here for two hours and slept in the hammocks before the confusion hit! The organisers didn't seem to know what was happening so it was 'bags on bags off', 'get on get off' various buses before we were finally ready for the two hour bus journey to edge of the Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve. Here we had lunch and then embarked on our canoe ride down the Cuyabeno river to the ecofriendly Caiman Lodge. We saw various wildlife along the three hour journey, including flying monkeys, long nosed owls, spider monkeys, anacondas and herons. We arrived in where we snoozed before getting back on the canoe to go to the lagoon. That evening we swam in the water as we watched the beautiful sunset. Then torches at the ready, we scanned the waters edge for the reflection of the red eye of caiman. Before going back to the lodge for dinner.
Next day we visited the indigenous people of the Siona Community. Our guide Miguel showed us the large Cliba tree where the locals come to get phone signal. One of the Swedish girls on the our tour actually received some messages on her phone! Miguel then let us taste lemongrass, ginger and chilli which are all grown on the land. Next it was time to earn out keep. Nina and Edel harvested a large yuka from the ground. This is a root like vegetable which tastes like a turnip when raw. We pealed and washed the yuka before grating it and draining the liquid off using a wooden woven type hammock. The remaining powder like substance was sieved before cooked on a hot plate into a tasty pancake like flat bread (casave). We ate it for lunch with a rice salad and for dessert with jam. This was such as treat and it was so interesting to see the way they use all of the materials and leave nothing to waste.
After lunch we visited a Sharman in the Siona tribe. The leader told us about the history of the rituals of healing of locals from various illnesses and gave us an explanation of their dress. To finish off this wonderful day we swam in the lagoon to see another beautiful sunset before we went on a nighttime hike through the forest. Again with our torches in hand, we discovered various species of spiders, crickets, ants and boa constrictors. Then it was back to the lodge for dinner before hitting the hay for an early night as our alarms were set for 5.30 the next morning.
I awoke next morning to the rain hammering off the roof of the lodge, and as thought Miguel came to confirm that it was too wet and cloudy to watch the sunrise. Disappointed, we turned over and got a few more hours sleep.
After breakfast we donned our hiking shoes and ponchos for a daytime walk through the forest. This time we saw the forest differently and came across a wide variety of ants, bees, spiders and frogs. Miguel spotted the fresh droppings of a wild boar so we went on the lookout for it but we were unable to find it.
In the afternoon we went for a final swim in the lagoon and what a treat it was! About 10 metres away from us was a family of pink dolphins happily enjoying the warmth of the water. It was incredible to share the water with these amazing animals and it was a definite highlight of the trip.
After all this excitement we went back to the lodge where a group of monkeys were playing in the trees close by. Edel and I were given some bananas to feed them. The monkeys took a shining to Edel and happily took the bananas from her. As for me, they just ran away from me, probably thinking I was a bit dodgy looking up and rightly so!
That evening we got in a paddle boat and rowed to the Laguna Grande to see another beautiful sunset. We then went in search of more caiman and nocturnal birds. We spotted the red eye of a caiman and paddled up close to it. Just as we silently approached it, Edel accidently knocked over her oat and frightened us all and the caiman fled the scene. We headed home with a magical thunder and lightning storm ahead of us, with beautiful fork lightening illuminating the sky. However we still managed to get a little lost on our way home.
After dinner we were given a presentation about the Cuyabeno reserve and what type of flora and fauna you'd expect to see here at various times of the year. To finish off the night, we lined up before the local guides, who gave us natural henna tattoos from the actual seeds of the henna plant (don't worry Dad, they aren't real tattoos!).
The heavy rain returned the next morning so unfortunately we had another failed attempt to see the sunrise. After breakfast we donned the ponchos for one final time for our canoe ride back to the bus to Loja Agrio, where we got on an overnight bus to Banos.
We stayed in Hostel D'Mathias just around corner from the bus terminal and a perfect location for exploring the city. After catching up on some sleep, showers and laundry, we took an evening bus tour of Banos where we saw the sites of the city and the surrounding waterfalls. Our first stop was San Martin Parque Aventura, where we got a Tarabita (cable car) across the gorge and viewed the beautiful river and waterfalls below. Next we were brought to the most dangerous stretch of road in the area which is now closed for traffic due to the large number of vehicles skidding on the slippery road and falling over the cliff edge. On this same stretch of road there is a bit of road jutting out of the cliff, which looks like the face of Jesus. Visitors from all over the world come to visit on a pilgrimage to this part of the cliff.
Our final stop was the amazing Cascada Pailon del Diablo (Devils Couldron). In the dark we walked along the side of the river and across the free swinging bridge where we saw the water cascading down over the cliff into the invisible pool below.
To finish off the day we headed to the Termas De la Virgin hot springs. We had heard so much about the famous hot baths in Banos (where is gets its name) that we had to try them out. The water for the baths is heated by the local active volcano Tungurahua. Not really sure what we were meant to do, we headed straight for the hot bath. But a quick dip of the toe proved to be too much for us. The locals reacted to our screaming and shouting and directed us to the showers first to acclimatise ourselves, however the water was still roasting so we decided to bite the bullet and get in the hot pool. After about 5 minutes it was time to move to the cold bath, to cool down. We alternated between the two baths for a few cycles before we started to feel a little faint, and had to stop. It was a weird but wonderful experience and I think we provided a bit of entertainment for the locals.
The following day was another day of site seeing with the first stop being La Casa del Arbol (the swing to end of the world). The swing was situated 2600m above sea level over looking Banos, however on the day we went it was very overcast so we couldn't see anything beyond 100m in front of us. Better luck next time!
I also went to visit the cathedral in the city (Bascillica De Virgin De Agua Santa), which was completed in 1944 after 40 years of construction. It was a statue of the Virgin Mary which is to commerate the believed sighting of Mary and to where many ecuadorians also come to visit every year.
The following day we had better luck with the weather with not a cloud in the sky and the sun shining, which meant that it was paragliding day! Our guide Henry picked us up from the hostel and drove us to his office where we were given a short briefing and practised the take off and landing in the harness hanging from the roof. Once we had mastered this we got back in the car for our 45 minute drive up to mountain to our starting point. When we got there the wind was too strong for us to safely fly so we had to sit and wait for it to die down. To pass the time Henry showed us some acroyoga which he says he does to 'warm up'. After about an hour and a half the wind had calmed down to the safe mark of 30kph, so we were given the green light to go. We donned our space suits and we each got 15 minutes flying time with amazing views of volcano Tungurahua and the sun setting over the valley. It was an incredible experience despite the motion sickness but a super end to our time in Ecuador.
The next few days consisted of various bus journeys to the towns of Cuenca and Loja, before we headed to Peru for more exciting and interesting experiences.Read more