We’re Getting Plenty of Exercise

After relaxing in Misahualli, we had a few days of doing completely the opposite. We moved on to Banos, which like Tena, is known for outdoor activities. It’s a lovely town too, and has lots of nice places to hang out in, which was good after we had some busy days.

On our first day in Banos we hired mountain bikes for $5 for the whole day. This was probably about right as mine had only one working gear out of twenty-one, and no back brake; but as we were mainly going downhill, this wasn’t such a major problem.

We were taking the main road down to Puyo, but stopping at various waterfalls on the way. The first one, at Agoyan, was a straightforward waterfall, but the added fun was going across the canyon in a metal cage powered by some ancient motor. We managed to get across and back without any mishaps and carried on.

The third waterfall was a real find. We walked down to the bottom of the canyon to a series of steps. The Pailon de Diablo was incredibly powerful, and we climbed up the steps, in some cases on our hands and knees through rocks, and actually got behind the waterfall. It was very impressive.

The final waterfall was also down and up the steep canyon. The waterfall at Manchay was very high, but the exertion of climbing several hundred feet in the heat was the biggest factor. Overall, we had had a great day, but were glad that there was a truck waiting to carry us, and our bikes, back up the hill to Banos and home.

After a day of cycling and lots of climbing, we decided to drop the bikes and just climb instead. Behind Banos was a hill with a cross on it, which gets illuminated at night. We walked up dirt tracks to the cross, and to get a great view of the town; but at this point it started to rain so we put on all our wet weather gear.

We then walked another three miles uphill to the Casa del Arbol mostly in the rain. This “viewpoint” is a park, but also where a local man has been monitoring the Tungurahua Volcano opposite. This is one of the top ten most active volcanoes in the world, and it was probably good that we couldn’t see it smoking through the rain and mist.

We descended on an unmade road, which soon turned into a narrow, steep and slippery path. We spent half an hour trying not to fall over and twist our ankles, and eventually made it to the opposite side of Banos where there is a large statue of the Virgin Mary, also lit up at night. After what seemed like a thousand steps down, we reappeared back in the town.

Rather than take it easy, after that we travelled on to Latacunga. We immediately hired a guide, Edwin, for two days. The first day with Edwin was in the Cotopaxi National Park. We started in a 4×4 and got to see some great snow-capped volcanoes as the sun came and went, before we eventually drove up the side of the biggest one, Cotopaxi.

Visible from Quito, this is the second highest peak in Ecuador at almost 6,000 metres above sea level. We stopped at a car park at around 4,500 metres and proceeded to climb another 300 metres by foot. With our lungs gasping for air, we eventually arrived at a mountain refuge for a well-earned break. We then carried on to around 4,900 meters, where we could see the start of the glacier, and the ice and snow, but unfortunately the clouds never cleared completely for us to see the top.

We descended through the falling snow to the car park, where we were re-united with the 4×4 and two bikes. We drove a short distance before we were invited to put on various bits of padding and a helmet before cycling the rest of the way down the track. This was bone-shattering as the dirt track was both steep and rutted. We did eventually arrive at the lake at the bottom still in one piece, and happy to be back in the car for the journey back to Latacunga.

We weren’t yet finished, as the fourth day of high activity involved another volcano. This time we drove up to Quilatoa Volcano, but not before stopping at an indigenous family home, and also the market at Zambahua, where men and women in traditional costumes congregated for the weekly market.

Once at the top, we were met by the incredible sight of a complete rim of a volcano. The rim is sixteen miles in circumference, and in the bottom of the crater is a massive lake. It is truly beautiful, and we spent the next two hours trekking around the rim itself. Again we were at very high altitude, at around 4,000 metres as we walked up and down the ridges on the rim. We then walked back to Quilatoa town for lunch and headed back to Latacunga, for a rest, and vowed not to do anything so energetic, or at altitude, for a few days at least.