Adventure in Banos

Christmas Day is always an issue when you are travelling. You have no family or friends around and everything is usually closed. That's why this year we went to Banos, Ecuador on Christmas Eve.  Banos is a small city where you can do almost any adventure sport you want.  There are mountains for hiking, rivers for rafting, biking, canyoning, bungee jumping, ATVs, etc, etc. We arrived in the evening on Christmas Eve, walked around town after dinner, and watched as all the locals went to church for mass.

The next day we had breakfast, got a trail map and planned our hike up the mountain.  The plan was simple, first hike up to the statue of the Virgin Mary for a great view of the city. Second, follow the trail up to the Tree House, we didn't really know what this would be like. Finally on the way back, hike to Bellavista for another view of the city. We made it to the Virgin Mary statue without any problems and then we continued to follow the trail.  This is where things got confusing. There are signs that give the direction and distance but the distances don't mean shit. The trails even start to be questionable because you walk through peoples farms and when you ask them for directions they tell you to keep going. Near the end, Mareen thought we were lost and we should turn around but we were at a road and I wanted to see what was around the corner.  What would you know, around the corner was the Tree House.  The highlight of the Tree House is that you can sit in a giant swing and swing over the slope of the mountain to see the beautiful view of the valley below. It was the same story on the way back, we gave up on finding Bellavista and then BAM!!!! there it was.  I don't know how but we managed to get to all the places we wanted to go.

The next day we rented bikes and headed down the waterfalls route.  This was an easy, mostly downhill bike ride with views of some nice waterfalls.  Along the way we stopped to watch a few people jump of a bridge for a rope swing.  Mareen was interested but I was a little hesitant.  I think I am willing to do it but I would need somebody to push me off because I don't think I can bring myself to jump off a bridge.  We decided to skip this and continued to bike to the next waterfall. The last waterfall was the highlight, the impressive Pailon del Diablo.  There are great views of the falls from a suspension bridge and several balconies.  There is also a tunnel that I had to crawl through (Mareen just crouched a little) that takes you to a balcony behind the falls.  You can take a shower in the cold water if you want. We decided to not to bike back to town. The 17km ride, mostly uphill didn't seem too appealing. Instead we paid $2 to have a pick-up truck take us and our bikes back to Banos. An American family living in Costa Rica also were in the truck with us, and we had a really nice conversation about travelling and their decision to move to Costa Rica.

On the third day, we went rafting in a Class III river just outside of Banos.  In the morning we picked up our wetsuits and shoes from the tour agency and met our fellow rafters, Katherine, Dennis, and Andrew. When we started rafting, the guide had Andrew and Dennis, the two biggest people, in the front of the raft which made it front heavy.  This caused them to go for a swim a couple of times and fortunately nobody was hurt.  We have rafted once before, (in the summer at Whistler) but this time was way better. We had a blast and liked it so much that we decided we are going to go rafting again on this trip.

Our four days in Banos were action packed! The last day we tried canyoning, which is basically rappelling down waterfalls.  We started off with a smaller waterfall to practise, then moved onto bigger falls, the final one being the biggest.  The water was always cold but the adrenaline keeps you warm and you don't really feel the cold unless you are waiting for someone else to rappel down.  They throw in a make-shift zipline near the end to keep things interesting. And for the finally, we slid down a small waterfall into a deep pool of cold water.  Refreshing!!!

Banos was a terrific place to spend Christmas! We did something fun and interesting everyday! There are also two thermal pools on each end of town and we headed to the the larger thermal pool with our friends from rafting on the third day. Mareen and I both really liked Banos because there is a lot to do and the prices are very reasonable. Too bad there isn't any Jiu-Jitsu there because we would probably still be there!