30/10/2022 Baños
What to expect
Banos
Time to relax
With all those incredible experiences and early mornings in the past 1.5 weeks in Ecuador, all the wanted was to relax today. How great that we both woke up naturally at 6a.m… After a tasty free breakfast in our B&B “La Casa del Molino Blanco”, we relaxed in the hammocks.
Later on I went to a café on my own. (I love checking out different cafés and their goodies in each town.)
Treat yourself to a massage
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In the afternoon we enjoyed a one-hour-massage. After a very tasty dinner in a vegetarian restaurant, called Sativa Studio Café, we were even too lazy (and full) to go to the hot springs.
We needed a day like this to recharge our batteries and to be ready for our next adventure on the following day.
31/10/2022 Baños
Go white water rafting
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Banos is known for its outdoor adventure sports. So of course we had to try one! White water rafting it is! We had both rafted Tully River in Australia in different years. Furthermore, Blake has rafted a river in Canada, whereas I had done white water rafting in Costa Rica on 2018. However, all our past rafting experience had been nothing compared to the rapids on River Pastaza in Banos, which was considered a 4 out of 6!
Multicultural raft
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Blake and I were put in a raft with an English girl, an Aussie guy, an Aussie girl and an Austrian guy, who we formed a good team with.
And then it started. The rapids were really high. But the guide did a great job telling us when to paddle and when to sit on the ground of the raft for “protection”. Once we all got back to our position on the sides of the raft, I thought we were all “safe” and had completed the first set of rafts (like in a computer game).
Girl overboard!
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But this level seemed to have an end boss that I wasn’t aware of: The last bigger rapid threw me out of the boat, which made me feel (and taste) the ice cold water as the very first one! I thought we had all fallen out. But when I looked back at the raft, everyone else was still sitting inside the boat! The current pushed me away from the raft quickly. But luckily, one of the kayak safety guys paddled over to me quickly and literally saved me. The rest of my group pulled me into the raft again. (For some reason I had forgotten all the things you have to do after you had fallen out. But I had held onto my paddle tightly – like that was the priority here.)
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The rest of the raft was a lot of fun! At one other point, everyone else fell out the raft, except for the English girl and me – a very proud moment for me!
Cheap rafting
Afterwards we all went out for lunch, which was included in the $25 (and so was the equipment and the transportation – really inexpensive!).
So if you are up for a thrilling adventure that is affordable, I’d recommend you doing it here!
Halloween in Ecuador
Later on that day, Blake and I caught up with a very nice Australian guy from our raft.
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We had some beers and a great time watching Halloween costumes – the Ecuadorian way. (It’s actually exactly the same as the German/ Canadian way: Kids dress up in scary costumes and go around the houses with little pumpkin buckets for trick or treating.)
01/11/2022 Baños
Night bus time
It’s time for another night bus! We enjoyed our free breakfast one last time, packed our backpacks, left them at the storage room (which was the corner next to the reception) and walked to the bus station to buy our tickets for the night bus.
Take the swing at the end of the world
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Another activity to do in Baños is to take the “Swing at the end of the world”. It sounded like good fun to us. This is why we took a taxi to the top of the mountains (yes, we could have walked). The park ($1 entry fee) had a lot of flowers and a great lookout over the valley.
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There were different swings we tried out. When you swing high enough, there is no more ground underneath you. You’re really feeling like you are on top of the world 😀.
For the last swing, an employer was pushing us even higher, which made Blake’s previous “swing-pushing-skills” look quite lame (no offense 😉).
Bath in the hot springs
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The taxi driver dropped us off at the hot springs in town, which are right next to a huge waterfall. After paying $5 for the entry (incl. $1 for the sexy bathing cap), we relaxed in the 43°C hot outdoor pools, while chatting with some of the other guests.
Muy rico
Feeling relaxed and hungry, we strolled around town. We found a shwarma shop for some tasty “comida rapida” (who says I don’t know my Spanish 😉), followed by a frozen yogurt for dessert.
Hoping for a warmer and drier night bus
And then it was time to grab our bags and walk to the bus station. (Yes, we are not going everywhere by taxi 😉.) Let’s hope for a more comfortable bus ride than the one to the Colombian border, where the AC was too cold and dripping in my face the entire night.
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