As life continued to roll on in Quito, so did my plans for weekend trips away. My American friends were soon to be leaving these southern lands and returning to a whole new hemisphere. Before they did so, they wanted one final Ecuador trip together. The place they chose was Mindo and I was asked along for the ride.
They had actually all been to Mindo, and so had I, but no-one was ever going to complain, heading back again. It´s definately one of my favourite places in this country and I couldn´t wait to return. The ride is just two and a half hours from Quito and a weekend trip to Mindo is just - easy.
Out in the cloud forests, this lazy town (one street) is perfectly designed to escape the craziness of the big city. When we arrived, everyone had one thing in mind - canopy swinging. I was certainly up for another go as heavy rain and thunder clouds cut my last expedition short. We must have done 12 or 13 lines, flying above the trees from one part of the jungle to the next. I had already experienced swinging normally so many times, so I decided to go for the superman position where you essentially fly over the forest like a bird. I, along with a few others in our group also attempted the Mariposa (Butterfly) position, where they hang you upside-down so you head faces the floor, your legs are up in the air and your arms just dangle all over the place. It was fairly disorientating as you glide over the tree line but all worth it. we also had the interesting experience of finding two Ecuadorians (one with a guitar) in the middle of the jungle, completely drunk (to the point they could hardly walk). We all had to help rescue them with great difficulty, as paraletic didn´t quite do these two justice.
We later headed on a long jeep ride out of Mindo. We were all standing in the back when it proceeded to pour on us. It was one of the most interesting taxi rides I have ever experienced but also one of the most fun. We ended up at a pool, where we stayed and everyone ate Cerviche (cold fish soup) - I had pork. I did try the Cerviche, and despite my hatred for all things fishy, this actually wasn´t too bad. I´m not sure I am at the level of having a whole bowl just yet though!!!
That night while eating our deliceous pizza (Mindo is famous for pizza), all the lights went out in the entire town. We spent the rest of that night partying with Mindo in the dark. On our second day, we took the 30 minute walk to the Mariposa farm. You pay a few dollars and then walk through into a large open area with plants and many Mariposa´s, that´s butterflies to the average English speaker. Butterflies of every colour and size would fly around your head or land on your brightly coloured t-shirt. We also got a talk on the evolution of the butterfly and saw the whole process (cocoon and all) with live examples - very cool.
We later headed back and left the beautiful town of Mindo. Now it was time to get back to business. My fun was over - I had work to do and it wasn´t volcanic - it was beaurocratic. My time in Ecuador was nearly up and I still didn´t have my new visa..........................
Sunday 16 May 2010
Back In Mindo
Saturday 15 May 2010
Baños
Some weeks after our trip to Tena, we arranged our trip south to the town of Baños. Only 4 of the American group ended up going along with me, but later we would also meet up with Jefferson (my Ecuadorian brother) and Sarah, a good friend of mine from the Hostal.
Baños which means `baths´(because of it´s geothermal pools) in Spanish but is also used to describe the toilet, is located about 4 hours south of Quito and slightly east of the capital too. It lurks under the highly active volcano of Tungurahua which over the past few months had, to the suprise of many of us, calmed down somewhat. I had spent some-time in January, just 15 minutes outside of Baños, in the observatory, watching Tungurahua during it´s highly active phase. I only came in to Baños only once, to eat pizza, but I neaver really got the chance to experience the place, so I was happy to see it properly this time. During the whole weekend - I never saw Tungurahua, as it was constantly covered in cloud, as it often is!!!
Baños is a pretty small town, and in some ways is very similar to Tena, due to it´s location on the fringes of the Amazon Jungle, but it has a far greater tourist population, of which there is no escape. The hostals in the town though are well catered and the restaurants are varied and of very high quality - the food here is really good. The town appears famous for making Taffy, a chewy, sugar candy very similar to English sea-side `rock´ but not quite as tough. Baños is also, quite simply an adventure play-ground of activities - it is definately New Zealand´s version of Queenstown. There are tons of things to do, from hiking to mountain biking, bathing in geothermal pools and jumping off bridges. You can hire quad-bikes and take off to where-ever you desire or do night time volcano tours.
Our first day was what would be described by the average human as jam-packed. We first headed off to the San Franscisco Bridge. Here there is an activity which the locals call puenting. It is simply jumping off the bridge with a rope attached to you while the other end is attched to the opposite side of the bridge. Basically you jump just like a bungee, freefall, before swinging under the bridge. You are then lowered to ground. You don´t fall as far as you would on a bungee jump, but the bridge is high and the fear factor is equally daunting - you still have to take the plunge which is always the scariest part.
All the people that I went with hadn´t done anything like this before and they all wanted to face their fear. I hadn´t done anything like this since New Zealand and I was equally as fearful, especially when I saw that they don´t use a bungee rope, but simply two ropes used for rock climbing. I had told my parents (especially my Mother) that I wouldn´t do anything like this again after my New Zealand adventures, but parents have to understand that their children are designed not to do everything they say - it´s just how we are!!!
The cool thing about this bridge jump (puenting) is that they have two platforms, so two people can go at the same time. So, surrounded by georgeous jungle and cloud forest scenery Brenna and I took the plunge together. You could see the pure fear in Brenna´s face before she jumped - but then to put your body and your mind in that situation is exactly why we do it in the first place. It´s the same reason we go sky-diving or on rollercoatsers. The jump was brilliant, as the adrenaline and memories of New Zealand came flooding back. When we had completed the jump I could see that Brenna was hooked and I knew this wouldn´t be the last bridge jump we did on this trip. It wasn´t, we did one the next day.
After everyone had jumped, we rented mountain bikes and rode from the road which leads out of Baños. It takes you along a large river in a deep valley. You get great views over the whole area. Waterfalls are a prime feature of this part of Ecuador and they are everywhere. All along our ride, we could see waterfalls springing out of the surrounding cliffs. The interesting thing about this road is that waterfalls actually fall onto it, so during this journey you often get wet, which is no bad thing in the heat of Ecuador. We rode for someway. Eventually we found a place where you could get a cable-car across the valley and right over, perhaps the largest waterfall in the area. We took the bucket cable-car across. At the other side we took a short trek in the jungle surroundings before returning. The way out of Baños is mostly down-hill, which was nice. We had treked some miles out of town but there was no way that we would go back up-hill by bike, so we hailed down a Chiva (bus) and headed back to town.
The food in Baños is pretty amazing. They have high class restaurants of all nationalities of which we endulged greatly. However, after some months in Ecuador, it was finally time to try Guinea Pig. At home it is a dear pet to many, but here, this rodent known as Cuy is a delicasy, though I´m not exactly sure why. It is cooked on a stick and looks vile. We shared one between four of us. It is placed whole, in front of you and then with a hacksaw, is chopped into quaters. Someone will be entertained with the head, another with the rib-cage, others get the legs etc etc. It tastes about as good as it looks. It´s like very chewy chicken, well at least thats when you can find any meat on the damn thing. I wouldn´t describe this lunch as a meal, instead it was more like an autopsy. One enthusiastic guy with us (Josh) decided to really get involved, scouring out the eyes and eating some of the brain like it was some sort of biology lesson. I always had one eye on that boy after that lunch. The rodent was served with a plate of rice and a potato. The thing that worried and confused me most about this whole meal experience was that the rice and potato tasted equally as bad as the Guniea Pig. In summary, I am in no hurry to try it again.
Later that evening, we also hiked up a famous walk-way, which is mostly a large number of steps behind the town of Baños, and which eventually reaches a small statue. The views over Baños are pretty special from up there. We also headed out on the town as the night-life in Baños is suprisingly good. Bars appear quite hippy, but everyone is in for a good time. A cervaza or two was consumed.
The next day, we took our second bridge jump. Brenna and I jumped together again. It went exactly as the first time except that while hanging under the bridge about a 5 seconds after we had left the platform, a small plastic tube flew past me from above and hit the rock floor below, smashing into pieces. We later found out that it is used to protect the rope and it had fallen off, but we were told that we were never in danger. My thoughts to all this was.........hmmmmm!!!
After our second bridge jump, myself and Max headed over to the geothermal pools for some hot bathing. The girls all went for massages. The pools were packed full of Ecuadorians but they were hot (some a little too hot). We had a good soak in there as my bottom was still recovering from the bike ride, of which (apart from a short stint in Samoa) I hadn´t participated since I was about 6 years old.
Later, we all met up and took our bus back to Quito for another week of work. It would be a busy week. I really needed to sort out my work contract and get my new visa as the time was fast running out for me in this country. Still, it didn´t stop me planning my next weekend trip away. But where???
Tena
During my Spanish course at the Catolica Universidad I was introduced to Lori, a young American who was on a University exchange programme, where essentially she can pick from a few places in the world and spend a couple of semesters learning there. She choose Ecuador. Along with Lori were another 20 or so American´s all doing the same and over the last couple of months here, I became good friends with this group, often spending my time out on the town with them or being asked to join them on a weekend trip away.
Of all of them, I became closest with Brenna - born in the States, she lived in New Zealand from the ages of 1 till 11 before moving back to America where she has been living in Orange County ever since. Her dad is a geologist and worked in New Zealand for GNS (Geological and Nuclear Science), where 9 months earlier, I had been working!!!
Tena is a small town located on the western edges of the Amazon Jungle. It´s technically part of the expansive foresty landscape but is more cloud forest than deep interior jungle. It takes about 5 hours to get there from Quito and when you arrive you realise it´s a place you could easily forget to leave. It was the first weekend trip away that I did with the all American group, and it was fun.
We were actually quite lucky on this trip as everything, from food, accommodation and activities had all been planned for us. As part of the exchange programme, each of the students has to stay with an Ecuadorian family. One of the girls on the programme, Serena, had parents with friends out in Tena, who sorted out our whole weekend. We essentially had an entire house for all 12 of us to roam in. The mother would cook us breakfast every day and she had also arranged some day trips out for us. This woman was pretty amazing.
You don´t have to travel far out of the relaxing and peaceful town of Tena before you´re riding in the back of a jeep, traveling on dirt roads and out into beautiful jungle surroundings. There are numerous rivers around the area of Tena, known as the Napo Province and our first trip was to head out on those rivers. We had hired big rubber tubes, like the ones from the inside of a tyre and we each hopped on one and then let the rapids guide us down-stream. It reminded me of floating down the river in Vang Vieng (Laos) except this was a little less relaxing and there were no bamboo bars ready to tempt you to shore. Instead, stunning jungle scenery was on view 360 degrees. The river was often deserted, apart from interspersed periods where Ecuadorian kids would be splashing around in the water and would often climb aboard your tube to get a lift - mostly with the result of capsize!!!
The tubing was mostly relaxing but always fun. Often a rock would pop out of no-where as we headed down the rapids and would graze a bum cheek now and again, but it was all worth it in the end. You would also see one of the others lodged between two rocks and unable to move. The general help I gave was to simply laugh at them as I floated past, beyond the point of aid. Of course my lack of assistance would come back to play on me as 15 minutes later there they were, sailing on past as I frantically try and get myself out of a thick tree branch which had somehow impaled my tube. I also spent 20 minutes trying to attack a bug that simply wouldn´t leave me alone as I glided down this river. It only took a bite of me once and it damn hurt. After an hour of tubing we pulled alongside the shore and there was the family, cooking a BBQ for us. It was a good day.
The second day we headed out to a cave. You go in groups and are taken by a guide. It´s pretty amazing. A dark cave with Stalagmites and Stalagtites as well as the odd bat and underground waterfall. Most of it is pitch dark so you walk in pairs, one of whom has a head-light. I spent most of the time in that cave falling over or bumping into the people in front. The head-lights weren´t great!!!
The rest of the day we spent checking out Tena. The town does have an influx of tourists but on the weekend we were there I don´t remember seeing a single one, apart from those in our group of course. The town is small, built around the river and has a very peaceful feel to it. Local indigenous communities surround the area, speaking mostly in the original tounge of Quichua (or Kichwa), a language I feel is beyond my learning powers as I still struggle to grasp `simplistic´ Spanish. We covered most of Tena in an hour, in the pleasant climate that radiates in this part of the world.
At night we sat outside in our garden, swinging on hammocks and playing drinking games, and late on Sunday afternoon we returned back to Quito, for the others had University to attend and I had to return back to work. On the way back, we discussed our next trip away. We agreed on Banos......................
