Baños de Agua Santa, Ecuador

Day 12

Secret Garden Hostel is the best hostel, if I have not already mentioned that; they provide onwards transportation door to door to a selection of places. I already had my heart set on Baños, a valley region south of Cotopaxi, between Cuenca and Quito, prime for outdoor activities and waterfalls. Since we’ve now established that I’m the woman who jumps into waterfalls, I needed to find some waterfalls.

It was a four hour shuttle ride from Cotopaxi to my hostel, Mama Tungu, in Baños. I chose Mama Tungu because it was just outside the town and apparently closer to the waterfall hikes. Two friends from Cotopaxi, Jasmin and Lars, decided to stay there with me. My bed in the mixed-gender dorm cost $7 a night.

Day 13

Our first morning in Baños, Jasmin, Lars, and I signed up to the white water rafting with the hostel. On the bus to rafting from the hostel, I met someone called Branden. You’ll hear more about him later.

Rafting down Rio Pastaza was exhilarating. It was one of the more intense and long rafting trips I’ve taken so far. The valley of the Andes Mountains we floated down stretched far into the sky above us with dense greenery flourishing in the nutritious, volcanic earth. This valley is formed from three massive volcanos in the region, Tungurahua, Cotopaxi, and Sangay. Although there are other volcanos in the region as well. The frigid water streams down from glaciers on the highest parts of these mountains.

As we neared the end of our rafting journey, nearly 2 hours from the start, a giant boom of thunder echoed through the valley. I took my eyes off the water and saw a dark curtain of rain approaching us, darkening the blue sky directly before us. Within the next 10 minutes, the rain covered us, clouds producing the largest drops I’ve ever felt. The water poured down, as if in a movie set, completely drenching whatever was dry. We pulled the rafts out and onto the vans and changed into dry clothes on the bus as we headed into town for lunch of river tilapia.

That evening, Jasmin and I, along with some girls we met from Utah, went for dinner in town. We went to an authentic, upscale Ecuadorian restaurant called Haycha, which I recommend for anyone visiting. I asked the waitress what she recommended, and found myself face to face with a large bowl of chicken and rice on a plantain leaf. The dish was wholesome, filling, and homey, and I fully enjoyed every bite.

After dinner we hit the town. Chocolate covered frozen bananas in hand (trust me, better than ice cream!), we moved down the street in the direction of the sounds of live music and gathering people. At then end of the street a whole stage was set up and we enjoyed live salsa amongst the crowds of local Ecuadorians.

Day 14

I know, waterfalls. The truth is, hiking to the waterfalls challenged me to the point where I didn’t actually get to swim in any. The tendionitus in my knees make me question my body’s ability to land on a rock if I have to jump, and that’s when I turned back. Maybe I could have, but I started freaking out and so I didn’t jump, and I didn’t make it to the waterfall. I felt frustrated and disapointed, why can’t my body do what other people’s can. I want to be able to do anything I want to do.

Needless to say, despite my efforts to stay positive, this experience left me in a pretty shit mood. It’s hard to talk about these kinds of things with new friends, so I just got quiet and tried to enjoy my last few hours in Baños.

This evening, I bought a ticket on the night bus to Montañita. Remember Branden? Well, he told me about this little beach town where people surf, do yoga, and party, and I decided I wanted to go there. Next stop, la playa!