Getting adventurous in Ecuador

  Ibarra, Ecuador
Thursday, February 5, 2009

Zip, zip, tube, rapel
Its the Aussie influence
Wild on Ecuador!

Into the canyon! Waterfalls here we come!

Ecuador continues to surprise and delight as we move northward through the lush green countryside. We journeyed on from Riobamba with Luke and Holly, our Aussie buddies, and found ourselves in a beautiful town called Baņos. Tranquil and lovely, nestled in an Andean valley, Baņos is known for its thermal baths (thus the name) and as an adventure sports hotspot. Thus we found ourselves signed up for something called canyoning, thanks to our friends from Oz, which turned out to be a day long expedition rapelling down waterfalls in climbing gear. Once we got over the terror, it was awesome: beautiful scenery and a feeling of accomplishment after climbing backwards through four waterfalls and sliding forwards down a fifth cascade. A night at the thermal baths felt fantastic after so much adventure. Thanks Luke and Holly for pushing our limits!

La Basilica, Quito

Next stop was Quito, Ecuador's capital, where we spent just one night after hearing too many stories of people getting robbed on their way to, from, and inside the city. We made the most of our one afternoon there, exploring the charming old part of town and climbing to the tippy top of the beautiful Basilica. This involved multiple stairways and a few rickety metal ladders, with the reward of a 360 view of the city and a bit of vertigo. Quito is a strange mix of old and new, with the fanciest "gringolandia" area we've seen yet and a very party vibe (which, a little spooked by robbery stories, we skipped to watch movies in the hostel. Better safe than sorry!)

Rio Bravo Bio Station, Mindo

After getting the hell out of Quito we high-tailed it to nearby Mindo, a fantastic little rain forest town recommended by our cousin Ethan, who lived in Ecuador for a time. Here we kept up our extreme sports with a great ziplining tour through the cloud forest. Weeeeeee!  We also tubed down a raging river (too raging, actually) and spent an evening at a laguna reserve observing wild singing frogs and 5 inch cockroaches (eek!). Our final treat in Mindo, thanks to an emailed introduction by Ethan, was to spend the night in a gorgeous biological station in the cloud forest. We hiked to waterfalls, went midnight frog spotting, and had great meals and conversations with Sonia who runs the station.  It was a wonderful experience.

Best Ice Cream in Ecuador - The Making Of

Our final stop in Ecuador was Ibarra, a colonial town to the north with beautiful churches and view of the hills (if you can call the Andes "hills). We recharged our batteries while enjoying delicious ceviche, afternoon walks, and cable TV in our hostel. This friendly little town is also home to Rosalia Suarez ice cream parlor, which has been hand-making ice cream in the traditional way for over 90 years and is hailed as "the best in Ecuador".  After sampling their product several times (once for breakfast) we have to agree its the best in the country, and maybe the best of our lives!  All in all Ecuador has been fun, friendly and beautiful.  We are excited to see what Colombia has in store for us.

Bron descends her first cascada

Stained Glass, Basilica, Quito

Wa-ha-ha-hooey! Ziplining in Mindo.

Eli zips into the cloud forest!

Transparent butterfly, Bio Station

Searching for frogs in the Bio Station Laguna.

Lets go fly a kite! Public art in Ibarra

Iglesia de La Merced, Ibarra