We made it back to Baños! This is my favorite little Ecuadorian town, I just can't get enough of the adventure tours, food, or the beauty and quiet quaintness of this tiny little place. This time we are here meeting up with our friends we met in the jungle: Juan, Katie, Eric and Aleah. We arrived one day before them and checked into the hostel we all shared, Princessa Maria. A private room with private bathroom is only $10/night each, not too bad. One of my...

We finally made it to the Amazon jungle, one of the most biodiverse places on Earth! After a long 8 hour bus ride from Quito (we were told it would only be 6, but apparently it takes longer if you leave from the North Terminal like we did) we arrived in Lago Agrio, the jumping off point for trips into the Cuyabeno Reserve. We were told to meet at a certain hotel and we were given a small map of Lago Agrio with 6 streets on it, so we figured it was a small to...

From hot to cold, low to high, small and quiet to huge and noisy, we made our way to the capital of Ecuador. We arrived in Quito at around midnight after a 5 hour bus ride from Tena. The southern bus terminal in Quito called Quitumbre is quite impressive; upon arrival I thought we had somehow found ourselves at the airport. I had never before seen such a large and extravagant bus terminal. We caught a taxi to our hostel, Casa Bambu, for $8, yikes. Welcome to...

Finally made it over the mountains and to the beautiful land of trees and rivers! Lauren and I arrived in Puyo last Tuesday in mid afternoon. We were welcomed by a total and complete downpour, which made finding our host's house all the more interesting. Lauren had found a couple we could stay with on couchsurfing.com and this was our first experience trying it out. Hugo and Carolina were a very nice middle aged couple that welcomed us warmly into their home...

We are finally in Baños! This city is an extremely popular tourist town for all the amazing outdoor activities it has to offer, and it's one of the places I was most looking forward to in Ecuador. Because it was dark and we were tired we got a taxi for $1 to the hostel we had decided to stay in, called Plantas y Blanco on Calle Martinez, though the bus terminal in Baños is very central and within easy walking distance of most of the small city. We were sta...