Banos - Adventure Capital of Ecuador

From Quito it was on to Baños, a small town nestled at the base of an active volacano. Aside from the hot springs from which it gets its name, Baños is renowned for its multitude of adventure activities. These include: white-water rafting, bungee jumping, mountain biking, zip-lining, hiking, and my personal favorite, canyoning. Getting to Baños was an easy 4 hour bus ride, my first bus since Cuba. The van is clearly my preferred method of transportation but it was nice to just sit back and have no responsibility with navigation, advising when to pass, random speed bump monitoring, etc.

The most difficult part of Banos is deciding which activity to do first. We reunited with our Salento/Cali/Otavalo travel family who had booked rafting the next morning, so that was up first. Rafting is one of the simplest activities in the world and a perfect example of how stupid people can be when they panic. The guide tells you to either paddle forward, backward, or do nothing. If you fall out keep your feet pointed down-river so they don't catch on any hidden rocks and hold onto your paddle so you can be pulled back into the raft. That's it. The two people in front need to sync their paddling cadence, but all everyone else needs to do is match the person in front of you. We had a particularly moronic group who clunked paddles the second we hit any sort of big water and two people involuntarily pressed the eject button to go swimming in the rapids. Still, everyone managed to have a good time, and I can't complain about $25 for a full morning of action.

The next day we rented mountain bikes for a very comfortable all-downhill ride to a giant waterfall. Along the way we stopped for a 1km zipline. 2 minutes later, we were strapped into harnesses and flying down the mountain. A friendly man picked is up in his truck at the bottom, drove us back to the top, and we were on our way again.

                                  

Waterfalls are probably my favorite natural marvel to visit and this one did not disappoint. There were actually two entrances run by two separate businesses - one at the base and one at the top - and we splurged the $1.50 to visit both.

                

When we were ready to head back to Baños we hopped into the back of a truck with our bikes and napped the 30 minutes back up the hill. Not a bad system.
If you ever get the chance to do canyoning, do it. It is one of the best outdoor activities you can do. Imagine a collection of jumps, rappels, and natural slides down a series of waterfalls, surrounded by lush, vibrant jungle, and you've got the right idea. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures from this specific adventure but here are a few from Bali last summer.

Our final activity was the most relaxing: a swing. But this wasn't just any old swing, this was a swing at the end of the world! Not quite, but it was fun to swing off of a cliff at sunset.

See that volcano in the background? Turns out it was feeling frisky that afternoon, and we were treated to a giant smoke-eruption.

Quito - Goodbye to the Van

We packed up the van one last time and headed to Quito, a quick 3-hour jaunt south on a delightfully paved 3-lane highway. Along the way we stopped at the equator for a photo-op and a science experiment. Who knew the Coriolis effect actually worked?

We only spent a few days in Quito but from the limited time we did spend it was quite enjoyable. Our first 2 nights were in the Mariscal district, a gringo-ed out 5 square block corral filled with hostels, bars, and every type of western food you could imagine. Lucky for us it was 25-cent wing Wednesdays.

Aside from gorging on fowl phalanges we kept the activities to a minimum. Pete and I got haircuts, Caroline did some shopping, and we all caught up with the outside world. I was last in Quito in 1999 and one of my distinct memories as a 9-year-old was the cafe The Magic Bean. Other memories include: putting popcorn into cream of asparagus soup; seeing A Bug's Life in Spanish at a movie theater; reading about 10 Redwall books; watching the Vikings lose to the Falcons in the NFC Championship game followed by a fruitless search for a place to watch the Super Bowl; and finally, passing a communal, Big Gulp sized beer to the person next to me in the bleachers at an Ecuadorian soccer game. Needless to say, I was happy to see an old childhood landmark.

All too quickly the final morning arrived. We piled into the van for a farewell voyage through town, Pete dropped us off in the historic district, and after a misty-eyed hug it was gone (see the tribute to the van at the bottom).

Caroline and I explored the historical district of Quito the rest of the afternoon.

                                    

The highlight by far was the few hours we spent at Bandido Brewing, a micro-brewery run by 3 American guys in their mid-20s. They had previously run a hostel but got tired of the same watery Ecuadorian Pilsener every night, and with zero brewing experience taught themselves everything and opened Bandido last year. Aside from the delicious Amber, Porter, and Passionfruit Cider I sampled, it was quite inspiring to see a group of friends actually commit to something they wanted to do. I've lost count of the conversations I've had about opening bars, hostels, websites, and a random assortment of wacky ideas that died when we went to bed that night. Hats off to the Bandido Bros for making it happen.

Alright, tribute to the van time. I cannot express how happy and fortunate I am to have met Pete and ridden in that glorious grey Odyssey. We descended through the entirety of Colombia and the northern part of Ecuador together and each day was an adventure. Like in college (or at least like my college experience), while traveling you meet many pleasant people and have numerous acquaintances but only keep a few true friends; Pete will be a lifelong friend. The experience further reinforces the incredible power of spontaneity while traveling alone: I woke up that morning in Cartagena with one plan, saw another that looked more interesting, and 30 minutes later I had launched into 3-week unforgettable journey. Sometimes it's not the worst idea in the world to get into a van with a stranger.

Cali, Crossing the Border, and on to Ecuador

The next few weeks after Salento were a series of short, 2-3 day stops as we made our way across the border into Ecuador. While each of these places had its endearing qualities only Cali and Otavalo deserve special mention. I'm also incredibly behind on these posts and am never going to catch up unless I gloss over some of the more mundane adventures.

The Canadian girls took an early exit from Salento, leaving our van with the all-star team of myself, Pete, and Caroline. This would be our crew until a tearful departure in Quito two weeks later. Cali was only a 3 hour drive and we made quick work of the multi-lane, newly paved highways.

In all fairness to Cali, any place that we went after Salento was going to be a letdown. And we really never gave it much of a chance staying only two nights with little exploration. But Cali was not my favorite place of the trip.

If there has been a theme of South America so far it has been how incredibly nice everything has been. Cali was the first city that felt like how you might think a South American city would be - crowded, dilapidated, with a noticeable edge at night. Again this could have just been the area we were staying at and I really did not explore beyond a 10-block radius, but that was the general vibe.

With that out of the way, I did have one of my favorite nights of the trip there. Cali is known as the salsa capital of the world and it certainly did not disappoint in that department. Unfortunately there are no pictures, but our second night we ventured to a nearby salsa club for an incredible night of dancing. There was a good mix of tourists and locals and it was arguably more fun to watch some of the incredible couples twirl and glide about. At one point the entire club was salsa line-dancing, maybe my single favorite 10-minute snippet of the entire trip.

We left Cali for a two-day slog to the Ecuadorian border. We spent one night at another less-than-immaculate roadside motel and splurged on a very nice room in Pasto to wash the previous night away.

Aside from a quick jaunt once to Tiajuana I'd never crossed a border under my own power. Pete had warned of miserable checkpoints greased by hefty bribes in Central America, so we braced ourselves for a long day. Fortunately this one was easy -- we breezed through the Colombian immigration and car inspection and were only held up about 30 minutes in Ecuador as we scrambled to find an open photocopy shop for Pete's papers. With everything checked out we headed for Otavalo.

Otavalo rivals Salento for its beauty. Situated in the mountains a few hours outside of Quito, Otavalo is best known for its Saturday animal market that draws farmers from all over northern Ecuador. Unfortunately we were a day late for the market, but we still managed to have a good time.



For the most part we just enjoyed the nature: hikes to waterfalls, and lounging in hammocks, and looking out over this sweet land pier.

Otavalo also solidified the union of two groups into one travel family. As I mentioned earlier travelers tend to coalesce when on the same route. In Salento we met a group of 3 friends from Minnesota and a solo French backpacker who had joined together. We saw each other again in Cali and this marked the third time we had all stayed at the same hostel. For the next three weeks we would see each other at just about every place we went.



The hostel, Rose Cottage, was a series of small houses scattered across a grassy plateau.

With the exception of one elderly couple, the only residents of the hostal were our travel family, the 

staff, and this guy who followed us around everywhere.

The dormitory was its own building, and with no one else around we essentially had our own house for a few days. Our last night we enjoyed a relaxing family dinner of chicken quesadillas and the Emperor's New Groove.

These are the kind of views that you never grow tired of, but it was time to head to Quito and say goodbye to the van.

Salento - Mountain Paradise

After a few days in Medellin it was time to pack up the van and head to the mountains for some relaxation out of the city. We said goodbye to the Kiwi couple and the Danish med students and picked up two Canadian girls that Pete had met crossing Panama and a solo British girl.

It was a bit of a rough start, the van had some brake issues descending the mountains, so we took a little rest by the side of the road. Moral was less than high.

But eventually we got moving again. We couldn't quite make it to Salento before dark so we found a surprisingly comfortable hotel on the outskirts of Manizales, the nearest big city. We set out the next morning refreshed and ready for the mountains. I'm not quite sure why everything in Colombia is named after some other location, but throughout our drive we either saw or passed through Rio De Janeiro, Finland, Montenegro, Palestine, and Armenia... just to name a few.

We arrived in Salento to breathtaking views. I am not nearly skilled enough as a photographer (or writer) to capture the scenery, but imagine rolling green hills, giant eucalyptus trees, trickling rivers and you'll have an idea.

The ecohostal we wanted to stay at was booked for the night so we were left scrambling for accommodation. Fortunately just down there road we round this winner, which despite its title was really just some family's house with a few extra rooms.

Salento is a small town of about 7000 people that fills up on the weekends with Colombian tourists. As can be expected, the majority of our activities revolved around hiking, enjoying nature, and of course relaxing in hammocks.

There was space at La Serrana (our original desired hostal) the next day, so we packed into the van for a bumpy 1km drive. La Serrana was perfect - hot showers, fast wifi, big kitchen for cooking, plenty of space for lounging, and spectacular views. There was a wide field for camping so Pete was able to set up his van-tent, where we enjoyed a few nice bottles of wine.

The town itself was small but really had everything you needed - grocery stores, atms, and number of bars and restaurants. Guided by this beacon of hope, I even got to watch the incredibly boring Super Bowl.

We stumbled upon a bar owned by a Colombian who had lived in the Bay Area for years. The girls elected not to watch the game, so the population of the bar consisted of myself, Pete, the bartender, and his girlfriend.

There also was a surprisingly police presence considering the size and apparent tranquility of the town, but we made friends.

Our favorite eatery deserves a special shout-out. Brunch, an American owned establishment, served the most incredible breakfasts and burgers that we did not eat anywhere else after we discovered it. A quick note on food - if I'm traveling for a week somewhere of course I'm going to stick with the local cuisine. But when you have been gone for months, a good burger or greasy hash browns are slices of heaven and I really have no qualms sticking with a good thing once I've found it. You can always go back to meat and rice, you never know when your going to see a place like this again. There was even homemade peanut-butter!

It was tough to say goodbye to Salento, by far my favorite stop of the trip so far. But the van needed to keep heading south so off we went. Next stop, Cali, self proclaimed Salsa capital of the world.