Adventure to Baños!

Baños is an outdoor amusement park well known to and visited by an assortment of tourists from Ecuadorians to Canadians. This past weekend we made the long journey to this town which is located in the ¨cloud forest¨: which is a cool name for just a higher altitude jungle. We left the house around 8am on saturday to begin about 4 to 5 hours on a bus. The first bus we took traveled through Sangloqui (the city in which the large market is located in) and our final destination was a small town, where we crossed the pan american highway to catch the fancier bus to baños. On the way, I bought homemade chips and a crossoint - both delicious. Then we were off to baños for the longer leg of the trip. Although buses are stuffy, small, smell and shake, I thourougly enjoyed this ride, because of the scenery. The blue sky and green mountains and hillsides, complemented by the brightly colored flat concrete houses of ecuador, made for a very picturesque ride indeed. The best though, was the Volcano located right outside of Baños. Its so cool to look at what looks like just any other mountain, but then realize that there could be boiling lava underneath just waiting to pour out. aweeeesome!

We arrived in baños late in the afternoon. As we pulled up to the bus station I was intrigued by most of the touristy snack stands everywhere. What I noticed was people pulling what looked like taffy around on the side of the walls of their stores, and stacks and stacks of whole sugar cane placed around the stands. What I would soon find out was that Baños is well known for both of these things- cut up peices of sugar cane that you buy and suck on, and taffy: sweetened with cane juice or with other flavors. Both are quite sweet and delicious. :) Next we adventured off to our hostel, ¨Hostel Eden¨which had a beautiful entrance covered with big leafed and brightly colored tropical plants. Because Baños is at such a lower altitude than Quito, it is much warmer and more humid, which I found enjoyable. We then grabbed a bite to eat at a mexican food restaraunt (i know, kind of odd...) and changed into our suits to go to the next famous part of baños - its thermal baths. These baths, called ¨La Virgen¨are a result of the nearby volcano and suprisingly did not smell badly of sulfur. However, they were overflowing with Ecuadorians, making for a very interesting and crowded swim. Sorry Ecuador, but Pagosa Springs CO is still my favorite hot springs spot.

After a delicious dinner at a restaraunt called Casa Hood, we all headed home and went to bed early to prepare for the busy sunday ahead. Sunday we woke up bright and early to start the real adventures. My choice? Biking in the Andes. It was a hard choice though, because Baños offers a myriad of things to do: hiking, canyoning, rafting, bungee jumping, quading, ziplining, and horseback riding. Seriously, you could spend a week there and never be bored. So, as I said, after long deliberatious I chose biking, and it was worth it. Two PD´s, Haley and Sarah, and two other volunteers, Sonia and Jen, also came on the ride. We had a guide the whole time named Israel who would try to talk to me in spanish but I would get so nervous and never be able to answer except a Yes or No. Nonetheless he was entertaining, especially because his bike was too short for him. The ride was on a highway that weaved through the surrounding mountains of Baños and we stopped to look at about 5 different waterfalls along the way. We stopped at one waterfall and rode an outdoor gondola and crossed a metal shaky bridge to get to it. The waterfall was gorgeous but the story behind it very sad. Only two months before there had been a huge lanslide above the waterfall. This landslide destroyed all of the grennery around it as well as a hostal nearby, killing 4 people. It was shocking to think about. There were still toilets and sinks left by the site of the falls. It made me pretty sad, but soon I cheered up by standing super close to the falls and getting soaked by the spray! There are no guard rails around any of these waterfalls so every visitor is free to roam as close to the falls as they like. It makes me feel so much less like a tourist - no annoying metal bar to hold me back.

We then stopped at the little town we were to eat lunch in (which I wanted desperately due to the grumbling calls from my stomach). Our guide then told us we should hike down to another waterfall while we wait for our food. We all somewhat agreed and then began about an hour long hike down into the jungle and to the waterfall. Everything on the trail was so green - huge leaves and trees. We also saw some really cool and huge bugs. The trail was pretty steep and busy, filled with other people coming up and down. Once we reached the end of the trail you could hear the water rushing. But in order to actually see the waterfall you needed to cross this little shaky metal bridge once again. Ecuador must love these bridges. However, this bridge was a little old as noted by the sign which read that only 5 people could be on the bridge at one time. Our group slowly crossed over the river and as we kept on walking (hoping for dear life the bridge wouldnt decide to just break right then) the waterfall came into view. It was also very beautiful. Waterfalls are so hard to describe. I guess you will just have to wait for pictures.

After the even harder hike back up to our lunch spot we ordered our food and sat and relaxed. I had chicken and potatoes for lunch and some of the PD´s got trout, which was really authentic because it was caught in a pool on the side of the restaraunt and grilled and served whole. It was delicious. We then biked to our last waterfall. By this point we were all exhausted - the ¨downhill¨bike tour was seeming to be more of an uphill climb than we expected. However, after we arrived at our final destination and hiked down we were excited to see the last waterfall, and what appeared to be lots of soaking wet ecuadorians playing in the water. What? we get to SWIM in the waterfall?! I was so excited. Led by our guide, we crossed over water and rocks to get to a deeper part of pool under the falls. He bravely jumped in while we watched. We then just layed on the rocks and played in the water. The sound of rushing water overpowered everything and the feeling of warm rocks and sun on our bodies was incredible. The final and best part of the day was the ride back to Baños in a large truck. Haley, Sonia, Sarah and I all stood up facing the wind. Our hair was flying, our eyes smushing and smiles drying out, but it could not have been more fun. :)

That night was another adventure altogether. Because all of the PD´s and summer volunteers went to the same guide place for our trips in Baños, we got a free ride on an Ecuadorian pary bus, called a Chiva. As we got on the bus there was spanish music blaring and bright lights flashing. We had no idea where we were going or how long it would be, so we were suprised to find ourselves climbing up a mountain and then stopping at the top. Our party got off the Chiva to see that about 10 other Chivas were parked on the same street, and a mass of Ecuadorians were walking in one direction, so of course, we followed. We then came to a clearing which was made up of people selling food, live music, flame throwing and an assortment of people ranging from old couples to little kids and teenagers. To top it off there was a beautiful view of the town of Baños at night. It was an Ecuadorian Fiesta- an unexpected cultural experience for sure. The best part of the night though was the ride home on the Chiva, in which I sat next to a recent college grad from Colorado College and is a Boetcher Scholar. What a small small world.

We spent an extra day in Baños because monday was a holiday. I spent the day sleeping in, eating breakfast and then getting a cheap, but amazing 25$ massage. We then took the long journey back home, me still smelling (and looking) of massage oil. Awesome.

Overall the weekend was amazing. So much more will be said when pictures come, but for now this will have to do. I wish you all could see the green hills everywhere, and especially the clouds. Everything is just so beautiful.

- Jenni

P.S. I promise that I am doing work over here too! Updates on programs will come soon!!