Banos- Ecuadorian Entertainers, Swings, Bridges and Waterfalls

 I rode into the adventure center of Ecuador- Banos about 3.5 hours from Quito- aboard one of the ubiquitous Ecuadorian buses.  And the bus had usual assortment of potato chip, fruit, candy cane and other vendors of life's essentials.  It also had this entertainer-

You might view Banos as sort of a poor man's (or Ecuadorian) Queenstown (NZ) with the river substituting for the lake. 

In any case,the next morning I set out on hike for the Treehouse or Casa del Arbol at the top of a local mountain.  Not a serious mountain, as these Ecuadorian Andes go, but still steep and long enough for me (about 3000' of vertical)  and 2 hours of straight climing.  Banos is famous for, among other things, its saunas and hot springs and with the humidity on this hike, it felt like I was hiking in a sauna.  

Dogs are everywhere in Ecuador, including on roof tops-

Along the way, I spotted this interesting 2 way garage as  one possible design for my planned lake house garage (came with a helpful identifying sign as well)-

Interesting color scheme too.  I spotted this somewhat patch work refugio along the way-

You don't see those in the Alps.  Again it was a cloudy day (most have been here) but some of the scenery around Banos is stunning-

 I have noticed that not all of the hiking trails in Ecuador are what you might call 'well marked' and even those few with marking are sometimes obscured just to make it all a little more interesting-

Anyway, eventually i reached the top and found there the famous Treehouse swing which brought the participant out high over the cliff below.  As the sign said, this is 'the swing of the end of the world". 

 A guy there pushed you on the swing like you were a little kid-

Well, the (almost embarrassing) fact is I really remain a kid at heart.  The swing was a total blast.  

I descended into town via a  long trail and ended up in a park eating an ice cream as my reward for the 5 hour hike.  As I had a few hours left in the day, I decided to hire a taxi to take me to some of the famous waterfalls located nearby. 

 That turned out to be another interesting adventure, as we stopped at this walking bridge suspended high over the canyon below-

Next to the steel bridge, there was this 'dare devil' bridge with only separated wooden steps-

But the sketchy bridge was not enough of a thrill for this one group who added swaying back and forth to the mix-

We continued to the famous Cascada Del Dablo which I think means 'waterfall, famous' en espanol and it was an interesting waterfall with the trail winding up it-

The taxi driver decided not to make the 1km hike down to the falls.  But we stopped at the end for a picture of the local volcan (wires are unavoidable often).  The pic does it no justice, but it is just massive-

My guide book says that Banos is something of a mixed bag, but nearly everyone leaves with a smile on their face.  Certainly, I will- it lived up to its billing.  

Retirement Square

 I returned from the jungle more or less in one piece and spent my last day in Quito.  I took a walking tour of the city and it was quite informative.  We visited the 3 most historic churches in the city and also the main square where the Presidential palace is located across from the oldest cathedral in South America (1545)-

The Bishop's palace is on the other side of the square opposite the ancient cathedral-

In the center of the square there is a monument to those who rose against Spain and lost their lives in a bid for independence in 1809 (Equador gained independence about 25 yrs later).  So the square is known as Revolution Square, but it is mostly populated nowadays by seniors looking to finish out their golden years hanging about the square and so is locally actually known as Retirement Square-

I am thinking I may be back one day soon to join this active retired crowd and sit in pleasant Revolution Square and snooze away.  

San Francisco is a church built in the 1700s and, occupying 4 blocks is one of the largest churches in the world.  I could believe it as it seemed to go on forever-

The Jesuits also built a church beginning the 1600s (tho they were later kicked out apparently).  It looked like barroque on steriods if that isn't somehow redundant-

Finally, our guide pointed out the most expensive hotel in Ecuador which was ironically abutted by the cheapest hotel in Quito (which is actually saying something).   He indicated that  lot of people will stay in the cheap hotel (pink and on the right below) and eat at the 5 star restaurant at the expensive place.  I think I could fit in without a problem at the cheap digs, but not sure about the pricey restaurant in my blue raincoat and hiking pants-

After a morning of riding the cable car above the city to get a view from far above (but saw little but clouds), I left Quito for the last time and traveled south to the city of Banios, which is reputedly Equador's adventure center and party town.  God knows I am a party animal.  

Amazonia, baking bread, boa constrictors, shaman and pink dolphins

 I left for the jungle region of Ecuador that is called Amazonia after some obscure local river.  In fact, I had hoped to find the source of this little known river which was reportedly near some place called the Dolphin River Lodge.  

In any case, I set out with about 25 other intrepid explorers to this remote region aboard the explorer vehicle of choice- a  mini bus.  We left about 11:30 pm and it was a mere 10 hours to the jungle.  I had little trouble sleeping on this bus, what with the smooth Ecuadorian roads to occasionally bounce you out of your seat.  Upon arrival, we took a 2 hour boat ride to the remote lodge-

As

I found the boat ride a bit more relaxing and sleep inducing but the guide kept prompting me about monkeys and sloths, which seemed to be more awake than I.  

In any case, I spent 3.5 days in the jungle and saw quite a few interesting and colorful birds and some boa constrictors, piranha and caymens (crockadiles) while swimming about in the Amazon basin (i.e. River Cuyabeno) 

Swimming with anacondas, piranhas, boa constrictors, etc, etc, etc 

We also saw some of the famous pink dolphins, though they mostly appeared more gray than pink (evidently they turn pink when they are more active and excited).

  It was kind of cool to see dolphins swimming in a river, but what they were doing thousands of miles from the Atlantic Ocean where they belong, I have no idea.  As my friend Craze and others know, I have made some navigation errors in my time, but  none of the magnitude of these dolphins.  

We visited an indigenous community in the Amazon as part of the tour and they put us to work making some sort of local puya bread-

I did take the opportunity of hobnobbing with the local shaman.  He extolled the restorative virtues of Amazon fauna and I briefly discussed various Bordeaux vintages in exchange-

We did see the largest tree in the Amazon and some great jungle sunsets-

On the 10 hour bus return trip to Quito- the Cuyobena River and the Amazon basin are near the Peru and Columbian borders and a long way from Quito- the bus got stuck in the mud and the river trying to board a ferry.  Fortunately, we stuck a few wooden planks under the bus wheels and managed to avoid calling a tow truck in the wilds of the jungle, tho it was a near run thing.  

One thing I did observe in the jungle is that there is a lot of truth in the description 'rain forest'.  Both a lot of rain and a lot of forest-

Back to Quito and civilization.