Baños, Ecuador

The third major stop on my journey was a small tourist town high in the Ecuadorian Andes, called Baños de Agua Santa, or "Baños" for short. This beautiful town is located three hours south of Quito, in the state of Tungurahua, and has an altitude of 1,826 meters. It's name literally means "Baths of Holy Water." Thanks to its location at the bottom of some active volcanoes, there are 60 "cascadas" (waterfalls) and several thermal springs in the area. In recent years, Baños has become a Mecca for adventure tourism in Ecuador, so there are countless tour operators offering a plethora of activities, such as hiking trips to the top of a volcano, mountain biking, white water rafting, ziplining, horseback riding, paragliding, repelling, ATV trips, and more.

Although my schedule only allowed for two days in Baños, I was able to squeeze a lot of sightseeing in during that time. The first thing I did after checking into my hostel on the afternoon of February 23rd was head to the Puente Antiguo de San Francisco to go "puenting," a.k.a.-bungee jumping (Sorry mom, it's true). Like sky diving, it was one of those things I had wanted to do for YEARS, but had never been presented with the opportunity at the right place and time. Sports like bungee jumping and paragliding generally cost far less to do in South America than they do in the U.S. ....So, I figured I might as well be resourceful and check it off my bucket list then, rather than wait, hence saving myself both time and money. I have a video clip of me doing the prep and the actual jump, but it will probably be a while before I figure out how to upload it on here. 

As I was exploring the city center later than afternoon, I ran into Terence, an Irish friend of mine who I'd met in the jungle a few days before. I guess Ecuador is smaller than it seems, because at different points later on in my trip I randomly came across three other people I'd met earlier, each in different cities.


That night, Terence and I met up to check out the thermal baths. The baños consisted of 5 or 6 different pools, each of different temperatures. They were all connected to pipes bringing hot water down from the volcano, but the amount of cold water added to each pool varied.

The coldest pool was almost unbearable, even for dipping our feet in for just one minute. The hottest one on the other hand, was a sweltering 120 degrees (a.k.a.- a full 16 degrees higher than the regulation for hot tubs in the States)!! Needless to say, we didn't last much longer in there than we had in the cold one, so we decided to go upstairs to the kids' pool, which was just right--not too hot, not too cold. Maybe Goldilocks wasn't so crazy after all...

I spent the next morning exploring the Zoológico de Baños and the Serpentario (Reptile Aquarium). Both sites were constructed on a mountain, and the architects did a rather impressive job of preserving the landscape by incorporating the different exhibits and animal habitats right into the side of the mountain. I have a few pictures of some of the animals I saw there, but unfortunately, I accidentally deleted 200 photos from my camera, starting half-way through my trip to Baños, and ending the day arrived to the albergue infantil (Hogar de Esperanza).

That afternoon, I joined a group from one of the tour agencies on a canyoning, or "barranquismo," trip. Canyoning is more or less like repelling, except that all of the action takes place in a river (or stream), and all of the 'mountains' you repel down are actually waterfalls. You wear a wetsuit, a helmet, a harness, and waterproof rock climbing shoes, and are generally accompanied by 1-2 experienced guides, who are responsible for belaying you as you repel down from the cliffs. Many people are unfamiliar with the sport, but I think it is starting to grow in popularity.  I have done it twice now (once in Ecuador, and another time a few years ago in the Asturias region of Spain) and I absolutely loved it both times! If you've never tried it, I would definitely recommend it if you get the opportunity--as long as you can swim and are not afraid of heights, of course.
On this canyoning trip, we repelled down 5 different waterfalls, ranging in height from 9-35 m. (roughly 29-149 ft.). The pictures I had from canyoning were probably my favorite pictures I took in all of Ecuador, which makes me even more upset with myself for deleting them. Although it's no substitute for the real ones, here is a picture I found on Google of some guy I don't know canyoning in the same place I went to in Baños.

For my last night in Baños I went out to dinner with my good friend Anne, the German girl who I first met in Quito, then traveled with to the jungle, then met up with again in Baños. We indulged ourselves with some Hawaiian pizza (a little taste of home) at a family-run Swiss restaurant, and were joined by two other backpackers from our hostel, a Spanish "madrileño" and a girl from Hong Kong. After dinner, Anne and I finally had to say goodbye and part ways, as I headed to the bus station for an overnight ride south to Cuenca, and she left eastbound to Guayaquil to catch a flight to the Galapagos Islands.