Today was wheels up at 8:00AM leaving Tena and heading for Banos: the adventure capital of mainland Ecuador! I decided to get up at 6:00AM and for some strange reason decided today was the day I would shave off my beard. Perhaps it was the humidity or maybe I was just possessed. Either way, after 20 short minutes my face was smoother than it had ever been in over 6 years! I had made a mental note to never bring my razor with me on another vacation ever again! Something about being beardless just felt wrong… Afterwards, I packed up my suitcase, grabbed some breakfast and made my way to the bus where I got some compliments on my new face!
On our way out to Banos, we stopped by Devil’s Cauldron (Pailon del Diablo) a phenomenal site! From the bus drop off, we took a brief hike over to the viewpoint. But to get there, we had to traverse a wobbly suspension bridge with a downward gradient, descend down a windy dirt staircase, and walk across a slippery stone walkway!! The path to the viewpoint was well worth the struggle. We arrived under perfect viewing conditions to see the double rainbow cross over the lower path below as the roaring waterfall came crashing down on the other side of the stone wall just barely out of arms reach. Though that didn’t stop some of us (namely me) from trying! After having our fill of the cauldron, we made the return journey back up to the bus. Crossing the suspension bridge a second time seemed a bit more daunting for some members of the group who were hesitant to cross the first time. I crossed quickly to resist the urge to shake the bridge back and forth which I guarantee would’ve freaked out some people who were talking their time crossing at a pace they felt comfortable with. Back at the bus, I was awarded the title of group daredevil. A title that would live up to its name in the days to come!
After reaching Banos, we settled into our hotel briefly and then made our way to the downtown area where we were sized up for wetsuits to go canyoneering! Upon arriving at the drop off zone wearing our wetsuits, we were given an all too brief crash course on rappelling. With only a few moments of practicing hand placement and foot spacing, we were off. Walking down a narrow, crudely marked trail along river’s edge, we had to hop across several gaps in the trail as we passed through several patches of light brush. At the first waterfall, we scaled several boulders to get up to the top of a waterfall! From there, our tour guides attached ropes to our harnesses and we went for it! Rappelling down a 50ft waterfall a couple small hops at a time. As a made my way down the waterfall, I slipped and fell on my butt. I couldn’t help but think about the song Tubthumping by Chumbawamba as I got back up to finish the descent. That will teach me to lose focus on my center of gravity! One by one the rest of the group made it to the bottom. Once everyone made it down, we continued along the river to an area where we sat down in the shallows and slid down about 20ft over another waterfall!
And then came the third and final waterfall! This one came as extra experience because we all completed the other 2 so quickly. We were all so excited, but no one was prepared for what we encountered! As we approached the edge of a 120ft cliff, one of the tour guides told us to wait single file as we each would get a turn jumping off the cliff with the waterfall below. Cristiana went first and quickly disappeared as she made the jump. As we were standing so far back from the edge, none of us could really see exactly what we were getting ourselves into. Alexandra and Erica were ready to turn back but were urged to finish the activity by the rest of the group! I was up second and as I spotted the edge of the 120ft cliff, my eyes lit up and I saw my opportunity and knew what I must do! After being attached the ropes and being given the thumbs up to go, I jumped and for a few seconds, I relived my glory of skydiving in New Zealand. Once the rope caught and j was suspended, I took the opportunity I had seen mere moments before and flipped myself upside down as if I was Spider-man hanging from a web. I was lowered to the ground and turned back upright as the waterfall gushed over me! At the bottom I unhooked the carabiner from my harness and went to go cheer on the rest of the group with Cristiana! Every jumper that came down grew our cheer squad a little bit and eventually once everyone had made the jump, we climbed back up to the top along a steep path using only rope handrails to to ascend. What an exhilarating experience!
Around noon we made it back to the hotel for lunch. How was it only lunchtime after all that? I ordered a cheese pizza from the little restaurant attached to the hotel. What I got was a margarita pizza. Close enough, right?! After that, I was hooked… not a single cheese pizza was ordered the rest of the trip! But no sooner had we finished stuffing our faces with food were we already off on the next bus ride out to go ziplining!
Only a few of us signed up for this one. After a quick bus ride across the city, Alicia, Elliot, Sarah S, Brian, Nigel, Jamie, Erica, David, Shelby, Aliya, Sam W, and I arrived at Parque Adventura and grabbed helmets and harnesses. One by one we laid down on a blanket and were clipped in for the first zip line across the canyon. This was the Superman experience! I stayed back in line to take videos of everyone else as they crossed the canyon by cable with arms out wide. When my turn came, I held my phone tight and got the first of many POV ziplining videos! Crossing the canyon went by much too quick but that was just the beginning!
Once I got to the other side, the rest of the group was already moving on through. The next challenge was to cross a swaying suspension bridge with steps ~3ft apart. One step at I time, I traversed the bridge and threw my hands up and cheered on the last step! Next came the cliff. Similar in height to the waterfall we jumped off earlier, the climb was a vertical ascent using only rebar handles jutting out the side of the cliff. I scaled up the side with ease, looked down upon my progress and caught up with the rest of the group before the reaching the top.
At the top, we took a quick breather, drank some water, and zip-lined back to the other side past a gorgeous sunset disappearing beyond the canyon!
As night drew in, we made our way back to the hotel where we cleaned up before heading out for salsa lessons. Salsa the dance that is, not the chip dip! The lessons walked us through 6 steps before combining it all together. Just before dinner, the salsa king and salsa queen were chosen. Congrats to Nigel and Chelsea!
After the lessons most of us danced our way down the sidewalk to a local family’s house where they had prepared a massive Christmas Eve feast for us! They opened their home and shared with us their culture, their stories, and their favorite music! One of the delicacies found in Ecuador is cuy: guinea pig. And Nigel partook of that without a moment of hesitation! The rest of the spread included various rices, chicken, pork, veggies, fried plantain, empanadas, and many bottles of wine! That night we feasted! And as dinner conversations and the meal came to and end Nigel took the guinea pig’s head, filled it up, and slurped it down! After that we danced the night away until 2AM and then continued the party til almost 4AM back at the hotel before turning in for the night. A day filled with canyons and dancing is not a day to be taken lightly!
No Regrets: The Only Way To Live 