Bridge Jumping
The Falls of Banos
Canyoning
Lazy canoe trips down the piranha infested river!
The Shaman doing his work
Que Pasa Amigos!
Wow, what an adventurous past week it has been! I didn´t hear much about Ecuador before this trip (other than about the Galapagos), but it sure is a fun and exciting country!
Let’s start by talking a bit about Ecuador:
Dollarization: Ecuador is the only major country, besides Cambodia I can remember travelling to which uses the US Dollar. They even us US coins here - however some are Ecuadorian made with their own pictures, smartly they even have a 50 cent coin!
Ecuador versus the equator: Ecuador is right smack in the middle of the equator, but its far from the infomercials about baking hot Africa. Much of the country is mountainous so despite being on the equator, it’s a fairly mild climate. Quito the capital is almost at 3000 meters (10,000 feet).
So what have we been up to: Cuenca > Banos > Amazonia (aka the Orient or the Amazon)
Saturday - Crossing the border: After crossing the Peru/Ecuador boarder, we had a night out in lovely Cuenca. This well preserved historical city shows its character with gorgeous buildings, lively squares and a rambunctious nightlife.
Sunday - Pigs: I´ll start the topic with what I believe to be the more interesting pig - Coy (Espanol) or Guinea Pig to us English speakers. This is a delicacy in Peru and Ecuador. We went to check out the central market, which is always a great source of delicious local food and constantly buzzing with activity. On the second floor where the food stalls are located, we found this bizarre delicacy. You can even see guinea pig cages around, which are similar to the ones of childhood friends of mine. It’s not as bad as you would think, more kind of like chicken, with a funny taste and obviously ugly with the sharp teeth poking out. Later we saw half a dozen full roasted (normal) pigs. Of course we couldn´t pass up this culinary pleasure. Let me say, it was divine!
Monday - Bridge Jumping: Today we arrived in Banos, the adventure capital of Ecuador and yes as mentioned before, Banos is also the term for bathrooms in Spanish. Well this city is by far the nicest bathroom I have ever seen. Nestled among large green mountains and volcanoes, the outdoor activities are not in short supply. We started the day with a waterfall tour which stopped at various wild locations. The first was a zipline going across the canyon (roughly 800 meters/yards). Given they missed me and I rolled back over the canyon, Marina was very brave to follow. Next, we approached the bridge jumping spot. They offered a bungee/swing 45 meters/yards off the ground - below would be death on the rocks of a small creek. This would be Marina´s craziest adventure sport choice since that bad decision to sky dive in Russia. This time the landing was easy once the swinging stopped - slowly being guided to solid ground; what a rush!! The last main adrenaline booster was the open cable car over the canyon - only a few hundred meters/yards down!! Finishing on the top of a huge double waterfall! That night we took a soak in the banos - the hot spring baths the city is named after - which was just under another huge waterfall!
Tuesday - Canyoning: What, you thought yesterday’s adventure was enough for one week - think again! Canyoning involves abseiling or rappelling down mountains - in this instance, waterfalls! Being Marina´s first time abseiling - this was the most terrified I had seen her since I explained how much drinking would be involved in our annual St. Louis Soulard Pub Crawl! After a few 10-25 meter/yard waterfalls, she was getting the hang of it and relaxing. By the time we descended the 45 meter monster, she was like Fanzie! Back in Banos we hired a dune buggy and drove to the outskirts taking in the local zoo - hilarious - several teenagers ran this place - no adults! Monkeys had escaped from their enclosure and were running around. If you think that’s bad, later we saw two HUGE tapirs running around and terrorizing families who thought this was a safe place!
Wednesday to Sunday - The Amazon: After hearing about Amazon trips in Ecuador, we decided to call an audible and change our plans. The Amazon rain forest is not just in Brazil, but also in Peru, Ecuador, Columbia, Venezuela, etc. We booked a 4 night trip and after an 8 hour bus ride, 3 hour truck ride, and a 3 hour canoe trip down the Cuyabeno River (a tributary of the Amazon) we reached our camp. The river is full of everything you´d expect - gators, piranhas, anacondas, giant catfish (up to 300kg) and many more. On the way there we saw numerous types of monkeys in the trees. Our camp was modest, but we had a private room with bathroom, so not too bad, however the 5 foot spider web on the ceiling made me think Martha Stewart hadn´t been here recently. I hate to imagine what made that monster! In the common area where we relaxed and had dinner lived a tarantula (yes a wild one) which first showed itself on the second night. We also saw a much smaller one in our camp a few days later, but this was only the size of a baseball. We had night safaris, which seemed more like looking for nasty bugs and spiders. On these trips we saw many dangerous types of spiders such as huge Wolf Spiders which are very poisoness. We also found scorpion spiders, centipedes, grasshoppers the size of your hand, bizarre beady eyed frogs and lots of other strange things. In our room we also found one of these crazy Amazon looking frogs. Marina´s eyes were so big when she saw it, I thought for sure it was a tarantula! We learned how to make bread from Cassava root, which is commonly eaten in the Amazon region. During the day we took boat trips, fished (unsuccessfully) for piranhas and spotted monkeys, anacondas and river dolphins. One day it rained so hard, the river rose about a meter! Yes, 3 feet! This is a rain forest! So as a result, fishing wasn´t so good, but at least it cooled off the scorching temperatures. In the Amazon you don´t have the luxury of the high mountains. People always ask about the bugs in the Amazon, yes they are everywhere, and you can´t be too chicken as you may find a huge spider on your back on day. When we took the boat out at night, I´d shine my flashlight and the amount of bugs would be so thick it was like a blizzard! We also visited a shaman who was fully dressed as you would expect and performed a ritual to clear us of any evil spirits. Such good timing as I was just complaining to Marina about these annoying spirits that wouldn´t leave me alone... :D
Now we are in Quito and here for a few days until we go to the Galapagos for 9 days! Also, very notably is the 5th anniversary of the day Marina and i met.
PS, my prediction for Peru was spot on! Ollanta took the Presidential victory!
Hasta Luego!
Dan and Marina
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