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Adventure Week in Banos…
Ryon arrived on Friday the 21st of May and we immediately took off for Baños.Baños is one of Ecuador's most popular vacation towns, not only foreigners but also Ecuadorian natives.This quaint town is nestled in the Sierra, surrounded by tall Andean mountain peaks including one of Ecuador's most active volcanoes, Tungurahua.Another thing making Baños ideal for "getting a glimpse of it all" is that it lies on the edge of The Oriente, aka, The Amazon Jungle!We made Baños our base camp for the first few days, taking day trips (bike rides and hikes) to get a closer look at some of the amazing things nature had to offer.On Wednesday we decided to hop on a bus headed for The Amazon and wrap up the week with a three day jungle adventure.
For our first day trip we rented a couple of mountain bikes (yes Mom, we wore helmets! ;-) with hopes of doing the 60k ride from Baños to Puyo (which is the last town before your enter the unpaved, and un-named roads heading into the jungle). We took off down the "Ruta de las Cascadas", or Waterfall Route and were quickly distracted by the beautiful scenery as we rode along this canyon road.We found ourselves stopping every five minutes or less to take pictures, ride a sky tram across the canyon and back, feed the horses along the road, and buy Ecuadorian treats such as Maduros(sweet ripened bananas) with fresh cheese, or the town specialty, hand pulled taffy.
About three hours into our ride we pulled into Rio Verde.Up to this point we had solely been observing the waterfalls from afar as we were on a tentative mission to make it to Puyo. Upon arriving at Rio Verde however, I got this feeling in my stomach telling me that we should take a stroll down the trail which would take us to a close up view of the waterfall here (which cannot be seen from the main road).Ryon agreed, and after eating a lunch of fresh grilled trout served by an Ecuadorian Elvis look-alike (and he wasn't trying on purpose, he was a natural!), we took off down the beautiful nature-rich trail.
The trail was fascinating with all the tropical vegetation. The sounds of streams running through the forest and birds chirping in every direction made for a very peaceful walk.Simply put, there was positive energy in the air.It was marked all along the way with Eco-friendly, spiritually-laced quotes, and… trash cans, YES trash cans, where people were actually putting their garbage, in contrast to the more popular trash can in most parts of Ecuador which unfortunately is along the side of the road.When we finally reached the entrance to the falls we were greeted by the kindest mad who obviously had a passion for the popular tourist site.We got to talking to him and found out the whole property, the trail, the mountainside, the falls, belong to him and his family and they were also the ones responsible for what we were about to see…
We paid our $1 entrance fee and began the short climb around the edge of the cliff when we were greeted by the Devil's Cauldron, the mighty falls we walked all this way to get a glimpse at.There was a steep stairwell which took us closer to where the falls were hitting the ground after the 200m drop.The power of the mighty water is unexplainable, I was completely in a trance observing this phenomenon of nature.We stood there, getting soaked by the mist, and enjoying every second of what we were getting the pleasure of observing.We climbed the stairwell back up to the main viewpoint (where visitors were safe from the drench zone) and took the next trail to the viewpoint from BEHIND the falls!To get to this viewpoint you had to literally climb on all fours through the dug-out dirt/rock path in the side of the cliff.The last little part had us climbing our way up through walls of rocks, and when we finally made it to the viewpoint both of our jaws dropped to the ground.I can't remember a time when I have been so humbled by the power of nature.Just seeing this mountain of water from about 3m away, from the side and also from underneath the falls with all its momentum and un-relentless power was breathtaking.After spending a good amount of time under the falls, we headed back up the trail, making our way back to the main road in silence, having just been blessed with a shot of serenity.
Our next stop was about 1k past Rio Verde at Machay falls where we decided to take our chances at another hike to observe the falls which were also "off the beaten path".This ended up being our last stop of the day as once we got down to the falls we sat on this flat rock bed to relax and ended up staying there for almost an hour.I sat there staring at the river and up at Machay Falls, and as I listened to the water rushing by just a few meters away I got lost in a deep gratitude meditation.
Eventually we made our way back to our bikes and backtracked to Rio Verde to hitch a ride back to Baños.Before catching our bus, we had a quick snack of fresh-squeezed sugar cane juice (a popular picker-upper here) and were lucky enough to find the best empanadas in the world!This turned out to be an important stop as we ended up having a very enlightening chat with the woman making the empanadas…
She filled us in on the latest volcanic activity on Tungurahua which is actually quite active at the moment.She filled us in on some of the folklore behind the mountain (who actually has a female spirit), and enlightened us with theories of what the farmers who grow crops on the mountainside believe to be the secret ingredient to large, healthy produce and successful organic farming which is none other than volcano smoke and ash.
In lieu of our conversation with the woman the day before and wanting to get a glimpse of the volcano and the view from the mountains, we decided to take a cab up the steep hill to Pondoa from where we would hike up the volcano and try to get as close as we could to the top.Pondoa is purely a farming community spread out all along the steep northeast face of Tungurahua.The woman wasn't lying when she told us that the produce that comes from Pondoa is consistently larger and healthier than normal.The tomates de arbol (tree tomatoes) in particular were gigantic and all of the fields were green and lush as could be.Ryon and I were just as taken away as my Mom and I were in Cuenca by the steep grades of the fields, the men digging rows using their strongest bulls to pull the hoe, and the fact that there is hardly an inch of land not in use on these impressive mountains for farming or grazing purposes.
The day turned out to be quite cloudy and unfortunately we were only able to catch a glimpse of the smoke coming out of the mountain peak on our way back down the mountain toward the end of the day.And while we didn't quite make it up to the top due to the steep, muddy condition of the trail, we did have the unique pleasure of feeling the mountain rumble lightly under our feet and listening to Her talk to us all day long!Oh, and I can't forget to mention my intelligent realization that day…on our hike we passed a short (4'7" at most) elderly Ecuadorian woman walking along the steep path.In general, Ecuadorians are very short, just as this woman had been.It hit me that day that people would have to be short if they were to thrive in the trecherously steep Andean mountains.Logically, it is far easier to make it up and down the mountainsides if you have short legs and your center of gravity is closer to the ground.In any case, this was my brilliant theory for the trip and my answer to why the whole country is in general, shorter than I am… and I'm stickin' to it!
On our third day we decided to take another (steep) hike up San Francisco, the mountain across from Tungurahua with hopes of getting a glimpse at the volcano.It was another bust as the clouds kept the mountain from our view.The sky over our heads however, was sunny the whole way up.We enjoyed looking at more agriculture along the way-this time the fields were full of Maracuya or passion fruit.It is interesting how passion fruit grows as it grows on vines set on nets about 5ft. above the ground and workers walk under the nets to harvest the fruit from the vines above.
The fourth day we decided to head into the jungle for a three day adventure.Our guide was one of 18 children of a couple who have dedicated the last 17 years of their lives to introducing tourists to the Amazon and teaching them (us) about their culture and the fascinating flora, fauna, and animals the live in and amongst.The mother of the family is Cichua and the father Shuar, both cultures having rich history in this part of Ecuador.We got quite the education while walking the muddy trails, learning the names of the vegetation and what the people use it for.It seems there is a natural treatment/remedy for everything from an upset stomach to curing anxiety to sterilization!
Our guide informed us of the Shamanes and their methods of healing and diagnosis.He told us stories of ancient traditions, one of particular interest, the Shrinking of Heads ceremony once practiced by the Shuar and educated us on the reformed ceremony today.And unfortunately, the act actually still happens though not supported by the tribe.There are stories, he told us, (the most recent being just a few months ago), of tribe members who know how to perform the ceremony killing innocent people, shrinking their heads, and taking them to other countries and selling them for thousands of dollars.
We returned from the jungle, stinky and dirty, spent one more relaxing night in Baños, and then headed back to Guyaquil for Ryon to catch his plane. There are a lot of pictures posted so I hope you check them out!And p.s. Thank you Ryon for the great trip!
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