Zip Lining over the Canopy and Chocolate!

We decided to go Zip lining over the Canopy of the Cloud Forest in Mindo.  We first had to get suited up.  Again, we did not have to sign any waivers.

Cassi and Hayes went first.

It was a gorgeous ride over the canopy.  This tour had 12 lines that we got to zip over.  It took about an hour to complete all 12 of them.

One of the things they do is guide us over in a Superman position or a Mariposa position. The Superman position, I think you know what it looks like.

However, the Mariposa has you upside down, legs spread and arms hanging down.  Cassi was glad she put on her long pants and wasn't wearing her short shorts!

Hayes did the Superman as well, but, loved the Mariposa.

The kids talked me into doing the Mariposa as well - I preferred right side up.

Afterward, we decided that we deserved chocolate.  So, we went to El Quetzel, which is  a restaurant that grows and makes it's own chocolate.  We got to see how it is grown and processed. It was interesting.....

.....but, we preferred to just eat it.

We will be back tomorrow!

Public Transportation

Public transportation in Ecuador is really amazing and allows you to get all over the country quite easily and cheaply.  

I want to take a moment to show you the different ways there are.

There is the pedi-cab (50 cents a ride)

The Panga (50 cents a person)

The bus - price varies.  Mostly 50 cents to a dollar between close towns.  From the coast to Quito (a 10 hour ride) is $8/person.

The taxi, of course.  Usually $1.  The driver had a seatbelt, but, never were there seatbelts in the back where we sat.

The bike and motorbike as depicted below.  Most were filled with 3-4 people on road bikes and the motor cycles.  The were usually families - mom, dad, and 2 kids - sometimes infants.

The motor cab - never seemed like the motorcycle was going to make it far before breaking down - but, usually it got us there.  $1.

And gas prices!!  This is NOT $1.48/liter....it is $1.48/GALLON!!  Boy, would I like to see these prices back in the U.S.

Well, we have tried all of these and survived.  Thank you Ecuador!

Volcano and Thermal Baths

There is an active volcano here in Baños.  It is the one in the background with the snow on top.  It always has clouds around it, but, some of that is the smoke from the activity.  They just had some explosion 2 weeks ago.  Yikes!

We then went over to the Thermal Baths that Baños (bath) is known for.  We were very confused as we thought they told us to take a shower with caps before getting in.

What they really meant was that everyone is required to wear caps in the thermal bath area!  When in Rome...

Then we took the cool dunk (freezing really).  My kids kept asking me why this was healthy.  I told them, "it just is, so do it".

They became happy participants.

There was a beautiful waterfall that fell just next to the thermal pools.

So, another way to do the "cool down" was to get under the diversion tubes set up directly from the waterfalls.  It was especially, delightfully, cold.

Well, this is goodbye to Baños.  Tomorrow, we head up to Mindo Cloud Forest - yes - on the bus - but, during the day!

Monos (Monkeys) in Puyo

So, we took the day and went a bit further east to Puyo to go to the Paseo de Monos - a monkey refuge.

We also got a bit of the jungle in some of the trails we walked.

Monkeys were swinging from the trees...

Sleeping in the trees....

Great trees to stand in/under....

But, many monkeys were behind bars to protect them.  We weren't allowed to touch them.  They sure looked like they wanted to be touched.

This one, we called Ladronito (little thief).  He was not behind bars and he lost an arm - probably from stealing.

He liked to jump on anyone's bag and try to open it to take whatever he could.  We were warned to make sure our bags were closed tightly.  Here he is trying to figure out the zipper on my bag.

Good thing he didn't get in....our hostel keys and Cassi's sunglasses were in there.

Baños - City of waterfalls, thermal baths and an active volcano

So, when we finally woke up, we got to look around at Baños.  It is a beautiful town nestled in the valley of the Andes.

Our hostel overlooks a small park.

And every other shop is a taffy shop - this is how they pull the taffy.  It was all fun to see and eat, until we saw one of the men wipe the sweat from his brow with his hand and go right back to pulling the taffy.

This is a land of waterfalls.  We were going to rent bikes to go on the route, but, it was pouring rain.  A bus tour was our next option, but, we were a bit put off of bus rides still.  I talked to a taxi driver and he said he could take us all for $20.  Probably paid too much, but, it was so worth not getting on a bus again!

We took a "gondola" across the river gorge to our first waterfall.

The kids loved it - I just looked forward.

We found a little tire swing.

Then we got to hike to the most spectacular falls by way of suspension bridge.

It was lovely.

Powerful and deep.

Again the sun came out to shine in the afternoon allowing another relaxing day in this beautiful country.

Tomorrow, we will go to visit the monkeys - even though I feel like I have been traveling with 2 the whole trip. ;)

Off to Baños by night bus and a prayer

NO PICTURES BECAUSE I HAD MY EYES CLOSED THE WHOLE TIME!! - and not because I was sleeping.

Seriously, I NEVER have to take a night bus in a foreign country again.  The only thing that I kept thinking, was that if we were taking this route during the day, it may have been worse because I could have seen how near death we actually were.

We left Bahía to go to Baños at 6:30.  You would think because we would be on this bus for 10 hours, it would have a bathroom - nope.  It was also a very old Greyhound type bus with ripped seats and seats that didn't go back very far.  The windows were struck open a bit, and it was cold.  

We were stopped at some point during the night and told to get off the bus by the police.  I should feel lucky that they just checked my backpack because all the men had to stand with their hands against the bus and their legs spread so they could get a pat down.

The bus was going quite fast at all times especially around the curves.  Cassi said there were cliffs that she was glad she couldn't see in the dark.  It was like trying to sleep while being tumbled in a drying machine.  At one point, I dozed for a few minutes, but, woke feeling very panicked.  I reached for my backpack that I put under my seat and it was gone.  Of course, being the only adult, I had everything in it - passports, money, ATM card, credit card, phones, computer.  I made the bus driver turn the lights on (it was probably 3am) and woke everyone.  Cassi and I were on our hands and knees (yuck) looking for it.  Luckily, we did find it a few seats down and across the isle -it had slid all the way there.

We also had a 2 hour delay because of construction, and again, was glad I couldn't really see what they were fixing.  As we drove over the area of the road they were fixing, it felt like we were four wheeling in a huge bus.  These bus drivers can put any professionals to shame.  We finally arrived, alive, but shell shocked, in Baños in 1 piece.  We promptly went to our hostel and slept until early afternoon.  I send out a special thanks to my guardian angels, again and again.

Agua Blanca and Los Frailes

We were off the next day to Agua Blanca.  We hired our motorcab to take us their.  Some wear helmets, but, not the straps that attach them to their head.

Agua Blanca is an indigenous area that is protected by the government.

They did have a museum with pre-Columbian figurines and arts, but, we found the preserved wildlife most interesting - especially because it was part of the museum exhibits.

Agua Blanca is a small "lake" that comes up from hot springs - thus, the familiar sulfur smell greeted us.

However, taking a swim in it, the "hot" part of the hot springs did not do much to warm up the water.  It did make our skin feel soft.

and was quite scenic.

Just as we were going to go back to puerto Lopez, the sun came out!  We have not had much sun since we have been here.  Alfredo, our driver, recommended Los Frailes - a protected and secluded beach with white sand.  We were excited to go...and it was beautiful.

Also, great wave fun for us - very powerful and close to shore.

Cassi's dismount off of the wave.

Another fun day.  Tomorrow, we are going back to Bahía to regroup before we head inland to Quito and it's surrounding areas.