Baños

    If you’re going to Ecuador, pretty much anyone will ask you if you’re planning on taking a stop in Baños, and for good reason. Baños is a small town to the east of Quito, right as you’re getting into the Amazon region of Ecuador. Sadly we only had a short 3 days in Baños towards the tail end of our trip but we definitely made the most of it. If you’re ever planning on taking a trip to Baños, keep in mind that there are two cities in Ecuador called Baños, one which is Baños de Agua Santa, and another that is near the city of Cuenca, which is farther south. We made the mistake of mixing them up and on our way from Vilcabamba to Cuenca and then Cuenca to Baños, our travel time ended up being drastically extended and we didn’t arrive in Baños until 1AM since it’s 6 hours away by bus from Cuenca.

    Our first day in Baños we got some breakfast at a yummy little spot called Rico pan and started exploring the town: seeing the sights and doing a bit more shopping. Then we figured we should probably make plans to do something actually fun and adventurous like you’re supposed to do in Baños and we scheduled some tours. I did forget to mention: part of the reason that Baños is so popular is that it’s a big spot for outdoor adventure sports like rafting, ziplining, canyoning and many more. So this first day we went to one of the many tour agencies along the road and they helped us book tours for our next two days in Baños. It is very easy to book tours in Baños either the day of or the day before, so don't worry about booking ahead of time.

    Our first activity was a ride in a chiva. A chiva is a type of bus that they have in Ecuador that is open air so if you can imagine an open air Jeep combined with a party bus, you get a chiva. This particular chiva was being used for our tour around some waterfalls in Baños but a lot of times they’re used more as party busses where people rent them and drink with their friends while dancing to blaring reggaeton. So in our case there was no drinking or dancing, but the reggaeton was blatantly present. We drove up some long roads listening to the music and took a couple of stops along the way. There was a gondola ride, a short hike, and an adventure type activity where Elise and I sat in this metal ball that swung us out over a river. Keep in mind that when you go on these tours, while the initial price may be cheap, there may be options to do other things along the way that are not covered by your tour fee. So bring some extra $$$.

    The last stretch on this day tour was to the Casa del Arbol. As the name suggests it is basically a spot with a tree house. It is only a dollar to enter and it is beyond worth it. Not only do you get to sit in the famous swing that hangs from the tree and get the classic touristy picture out in the clouds, but the view on every side of the hill is gorgeous. From the top you can see the entire valley below. Plus, there’s a little spot where you can buy empanadas, choclo, hot chocolate, coffee and canelazo (a traditional Ecuadorian alcoholic drink that is a bit like spiked apple cider). After our long day filled with so many activities, we went back to our air bnb and rested up because we had a big day planned the next day through the same tour company (they sweet talked us into buying more than one tour).

    The next day we were up bright and early to do our “jungle tour” with the tour company. We left the center of Baños at about 9AM and headed to our first stop which was a wildlife reserve or more specifically monkey reserve/sanctuary farther out into the jungle. We saw different monkeys like capuchins and these little creatures that looked a bit like anteaters called coatis’. We also got to see turtles, capybaras, boar, and a bunch of other little creatures native to the region. There were spaces within the reserve where the animals got really close and you could observe them from close which was really cool but they also had the freedom to run around in more spacious parts of the reserve so they live like normal animals in the wild instead of the restricted caged animals that you see at zoos.  

    After visiting the animals, we went to visit an indigenous community in Puyo, just outside of Baños. It was a community called Cotocochi and a big way that they get enough income to sustain themselves is through teaching the tourist groups who come through about their cultural practices and by selling artisanal products like jewelry and ceramics. They taught us about their culture by painting our faces with a dye made out of a red fruit, letting us try chicha de yuca (a fermented drink meant to help workers remain energized throughout the day), and shot some hunting weapon type thing that was basically a giant tube that you blow on and a thin arrow shoots out. They did a traditional dance and invited us to join in, and I had almost too much fun spinning around in the grass skirt (see above).

After we were done we took rickety little canoes down the river to get our lunch. We ate, and started to explore the little property that we were on and hiked up to a viewpoint where there was a rope swing that swung over the side of the hill. It was by no means a professional grade swing, and the safety was questionable to say the least. I don’t like heights and so it took a lot of convincing, but once I saw three people do it before me, I hopped on and hoped that my turn wouldn’t be the one in which the rope gave and I plummeted to my death.

    Our day was over and we returned to the town to get our last dinner before we left. We got pizza and hot coffee at about 8PM before heading back to fall asleep. In the morning we woke up, went to breakfast at a café that I really enjoyed called Honey Coffee and Tea and caught an early bus to drive us the four hours back into Quito. We could feel our travel days quickly coming to an end, and as unhappy as that made me, I was so excited to get back to Quito, to a place that felt like home.

Chao por ahora,

Claire