I arrived in Baños (de Ambato, aka Baños de Agua Santa), Ecuador at about 8pm. I wasn’t in the mood for humping it around the city to find a backpacker hostel with good vibes, so I went to a place right next to the bus station. I got a decent private room for $10. I dropped my bags and headed out to walk around and have dinner.
Baños is a tiny city located in a valley halfway between Cuenca and Quito on the west side of the Andes. It is home to famous hot springs, or baths (baños), heated by volcanic lava that the people believe have miraculous curative powers. The Virgin Mary is said to have appeared at nearby waterfalls, and the water of the springs is blessed holy water. Baños is located in lush green mountains that are spectacular, reminiscent of scenery in Jurassic Park. It is a popular tourist destination due to an abundance of adventure sports available in the nearby mountains.
I wound up at Leoni Pizzeria. It had a brick oven and the menu looked appealing. I ordered a personal pizza with the works. Unfortunately, it was lackluster. I have yet to have good pizza in South America. The toppings were on the gourmet end of the spectrum, but, like every other pizza I’ve tried in South America, the crust was horrible, like cardboard. I almost wanted to give them a recipe for pizza dough that is not devoid of flavor and gets nice and crispy after cooking I have saved on my phone. Would that be out of line? This place was rated #2 places to eat in Baños on TripAdvisor with glowing reviews. Who are these people? They’ve clearly never been to Chicago.
The next day, I headed out early for breakfast and found a lovely café, Honey, located on the east side of Parque Palomino Flores, the main plaza in Baños. As is my usual when I have nothing planned, I had a long, leisurely breakfast and coffee while reading the news and doing some writing.
I struck up conversation with a gentlemen and his daughter at the table next to me. Turns out Dave was the former head of international travel for American Airlines. He had been instrumental in AA adding service to Ecuador and larger South America in the 70s and 80s. He had been coming to Ecuador since then, and had much knowledge to offer which I gladly received.
After breakfast, I headed went to scout out other hostels. As is typical, I just want one with a kitchen and if there’s ambience, all the better. I settled at Kiwi Hostel, where I got a small, but acceptable private room for $10/night. Plus there were good vibes among the backpackers staying there. I said hi to some of the people in the kitchen and got advice on what to do in Baños.
Later I went for a walk and found a recommended tour operator, Imagine Ecuador, and inquired about rafting and canyoning. They had a rafting expedition at 2pm that afternoon with an open spot. It was 12:30, so I headed back to the hostel to grab my bathing suit and a towel then went out for lunch.
I went to Blah-Blah café, a place recommended by Dave. He had been coming to Blah-Blah for 30 years and was friends with the owner. He explained to me that the owner is good friends with President Correa, and is #3 to the President in political power in Ecuador, which I found hard to believe. But sure enough, there were pictures in the restaurant of the owner and Correa on the walls. The sandwiches were really tasty and good value as well!
I showed up to Imagine Ecuador at 2pm and changed into a full body wet suit, canvas sneakers, and a helmet. I met Patricio, our guide, and Edwin, our safety escort who kayaks with the raft. We piled into the bus and had a 40 minute ride north to our disembarkation point for Rio Pastaza. Along the way, the group all got introduced. There was Dora from Arizona, a 21 year old student at ASU, who was there visiting Felipe, her friend from Quito, Ecuador, and two of his buddies. There were two French guys as well, for a team of seven rowers plus Patricio.
Patricio asked us if we wanted to do a standard route or a tougher route that wasn’t usually open, but happened to be open that day due to an excess of rain over the past week. He explained this route was more dangerous, a Level 3 Class 4, telling us there would be a fair chance we’d flip the raft, but it was also more thrilling and fun. The group agreed to the tougher route.
We had about a 30 minute training and safety session on the bank of Rio Pastaza. The nearby river was moving frighteningly fast from all the rain. Patricio put me on the front right position in the raft, later telling me he found Americans to be dependable and brave. The two front seats are the most important. At the end of each piece of instruction, Patricio would conclude with, “If you do not do this as instructed, we will all be going for a nice swim!”
We put the raft in the water and took our positions. We entered a rapid less than 30 seconds after boarding. The front end plunged downward and was blasted to the left be a group of rocks, sending a huge surge of water into my face and nearly knocking me backwards off the right side of the raft. I regained my seat, hearing Patricio in the back yelling with urgency, “Right, Right, Right!” I spat out water, shook water from my face, and quickly resumed leading the “One, two, one, two…” chant the team paddled in synchronicity to. We made it through that first rapid, but it was quite the introduction for the team as we were all soaked in the freezing water and had went into a hole that Patricio was trying to avoid.
We managed another rapid, then got to a rapid with a steep drop at the end. We took the first bit of the rapid, but didn’t get as far right as Patricio was directing us. We hit a group of rocks on the left and entered a spin. The raft wound up backwards. “Mierda, mierda…MIERDA!!” Shit, shit…SHIT! I heard Patricio shouting from behind me. We were entering the steep part of the rapid with our backs to the rapid, the back of the raft facing downriver, and the front of the raft facing upriver. No one knew what to do. I spun around. Patricio was futilely trying to use his oar as a rudder and steer the raft. I tried to do the same, but it was too late. We hit the rapid hard, were tossed back, forth, and upward out of our seats. The raft nearly flipped to the left side.
We hit the flatwater, and had made it through unscathed. Edwin cruised up beside the raft in his kayak shaking his head and smiling with wide eyes. We turned the raft right side forward, and then Patricio reprimanded the team, telling us we would have to paddle harder and with more cohesion, or we would all be going for a nice swim.
The team pulled together and performed better. I led the team chant, bellowing out, “One, two! One, two!” Still the rapids were rough. At one point we lost Felipe, who was sitting behind me, over the right side of the raft. There is a procedure for pulling a man overboard back in the raft, but the others were trying to not go overboard themselves and nobody did anything.
Felipe was barely holding on, with his lower body under the raft, getting sucked away. I jumped up, dropped my oar, and grabbed the top shoulders of his life vest. I dropped to the bottom of the raft, pressed my legs into the right side of the raft while heaving my back to the left side of the raft, pulling Felipe back into the raft and on top of me. I rolled him off me to the right and scrambled back to my position while being jostled about and almost tossed overboard myself. I locked my foot into the harness, grabbed my oar, and resumed the “One, two…” chant.
We hit the flatwater, and Patricio again reprimanded the team, saying we needed to be faster to pull a man overboard back into the raft. He told Felipe he owed me a beer.
About 1/2 of the way through, Patricio decided the odd number of people in the raft was creating an imbalance. To remedy this (and for fun), he strapped a person to the front of the raft, with butt on the front edge of the raft between me and the French guy on the front-left, and legs hanging over the front into the water. First, Felipe was strapped on the front, then one of the French guys (who went overboard briefly but was able to pull himself back in), and last Dora.
Dora predictably went overboard soon after she was put up front. Dora was separated from the raft by a couple feet and had a look of terror in her face. I stuck out the handle of my oar beckoning her to grab it. After a couple failed attempts she gripped it and I pulled her back to the raft, seized her by the life vest, and pressed backwards pulling her into the raft. She sat in the bottom of the raft, holding on for dear life, while I got back into my position and resumed leading the “One, two…” chant.
We made it through the course without flipping or losing anyone else over board. Patricio acknowledged and congratulated us for pulling together as a team. I felt proud of my role, leading the group chant and rescuing Felipe and Dora. I think I lived up to Patricio’s expectations for being dependable and brave. I had an amazing time! Rafting is exhilarating! I couldn’t believe I’d never whitewater rafted before, but will be sure to seize opportunities to raft in the future.
I took a long, hot shower after the freezing water of Rio Pastaza. I put on my alpaca sweater and headed to dinner at Casa Hood. I had a gourmet grilled fish that really hit the spot. Afterwards, I went back to book a canyoning trip for the following day. I went back to the hostel and shot the shit with some fellow travelers in the kitchen over tea before retiring.
The next morning I woke up early for my canyoning trip. It was raining and I had a WhatsApp message from Imagine Ecuador telling me the trip was cancelled due to the rain. I made breakfast and read while waiting for the rain to stop. Late morning it was barely raining, and I decided to head out for some hiking. A little rain can’t stop me! I headed north to the Bellevista trail in the mountains that tower over Baños .
I spent about five hours hiking the muddy trails. Many of the trails were basically old, dried up streams. With the deluge of rain in Baños over the last week, the streams were no longer dried up and had water trickling through them, making for a slippery muddy go of it. I hiked for a while with two guys from Germany. One of them was wearing just sneakers. He had a rough time.
In the late afternoon, I stopped for tea at Café del Cielos, a café located way up in the hills that is supposed to have excellent views. At this point it was so misty, nothing could be seen of the city below. It was a complete white-out. Pretty cool.
I eventually hiked down to the monument of the Virgin of Baños , a statue a couple hundred meters above the city. As I was making my way there, I was accompanied by a local of about 65 who came up moving swiftly from behind. This guy lived in the hills over Baños , and was quite the character, singing joyously with bright, shining eyes as we plodded down the muddy trails together. He put me to shame hiking. I had to mind every step, while he was looking out over the hills, surefooted without even paying attention. Moving with large, gliding steps he’d quickly wind up 100 yards ahead of me. He’d realize I was way behind and stop and wait for me to catch up, beckoning with a raspy laughter. He did this two or three times. It was clear he’d travelled this trail thousands of times.
At the juncture in the trail heading to the monument I parted ways with Viejo (old one), as I was calling him in my head. The monument was quite lackluster. I should have kept hiking with Viejo. He was much more entertaining and fun.
I made my way down a few hundred steps that lead to the monument. I walked to the Baños (baths), hot springs, for which the city is named. I was wet to the bone from hiking all day in the spitting rain, and looking forward to soaking my muscles in the steaming water at the hot springs. Unfortunately, when I arrived the hot springs were closed for cleaning, reopening at 8pm. I wandered back to my hostel and settled for a hot shower instead.
I decided I needed a big dinner after hiking in dampness all day. I headed to the Swiss Bistro and had an awesome steak, prepared Paris-style with a heaps of compound butter and herbs on top. A hearty meal that hit the spot after battling the elements.
After dinner, I went back to Imagine Ecuador and scheduled another canyoning trip for 2pm the next day. I headed home and did some writing and reading before turning in.
I awoke to rain again. I made breakfast and coffee, while again waiting for the rain to subside. It didn’t relent and I was bored, so I headed to Honey Café again and had tea while writing. Around noon I got a message telling me canyoning was cancelled again due to the rain.
Shortly thereafter the rain relented and the sun began to poke through the clouds. I didn’t feel like sitting around, so rented a mountain bike to ride to El Diablo, the biggest waterfall on the continent. I had a quick sandwich at Blah-Blah, packed a backpack, and took off. The ride to El Diablo is 17km, or a bit over 10 miles. It was going to take everything I had to get there and back by dark.
The first part of the ride there is mostly downhill and an easy cruise without much pedaling. About the time that I passed by the hydroelectric dam on Rio Pastaza beneath Baños , the rain started again. At this point I was past the downhill pleasure cruise and into the mountains.
Riding in the mountains is hard work, especially when it’s raining. On uphill portions I had to battle for every foot, pumping away in low gear. On the downhill portions I wasn’t able to fully use gravity and enjoy the fruits of my labor going uphill because I’d have to brake when I reached high speed as I had limited traction. Not to mention the fact that I was riding on the side of the road with cars and trucks zooming by. Quite unnerving when you’re flying downhill on a slick mountain road with minimal traction and an Ecuadorian diesel truck carrying a few tons of lumber is flying by a foot to the left.
I did wipe out once while leaning into a right-hand curve and my front tire hit a slimy moss patch. My front wheel slipped out to the left. It felt like when you hit a banana peel in Mario Kart. Luckily, I was able to get my right foot down, and was able to almost step off the bike as it went horizontal skidding out to the left. I tumbled a bit but got up unscathed, besides my right pant leg being muddy. Luckily, there were no trucks passing at that point.
After about two hours I made it to El Diablo, stopping a couple times on the way to see other waterfalls. I was soaked to the bone by time I arrived, and covered with muck flung up by the bike tires. It would have been a pleasant ride if sunny, but it was miserable after the rain started. I hiked 15 minutes in my wet jeans to see El Diablo.
The waterfall was indeed impressive. Endless water blasted over the ledge with such power that you could feel it vibrate through you like a freight train passing at full speed. The impact the water made when it hit the pool below sounded like a helicopter was constantly hovering nearby. It sent clouds of water vapor into the air rising up higher than the waterfall itself misting everything within a hundred yard radius.
Everyone there was wearing ponchos. I was already wet, so didn’t give a damn and hiked right up to it for viewing while people looked at me like I was crazy. I crawled through caves get to a spot where I briefly stood under the waterfall.
After snapping some pictures I hiked back to the entrance. There was no way I was riding back to Baños, mostly uphill in the damp dusk. I heard there were some buses that you could find to shuttle you back, but after looking about none were to be found. A Brit named Garrett spotted me looking around and told me he found a guy with a truck who would take us back for $10. I happily agreed to pay $5 to avoid the nightmare ride back. We loaded our bikes into the back of the truck, climbed in for the 25 minute drive back to Baños.
I showered, went out to eat at Café Hood (different from earlier Casa Hood), and had an excellent beef stew. Aside from the pizza, my food choices in Baños were on point. I went and scheduled a canyoning trip for 9am the next day with a different tour company, MTS. I went back to have some tea in the kitchen and wrapped myself up in bed. Activities in the rain take it out of you!
The next morning I woke early, and made breakfast in the kitchen. While making breakfast, I shot the shit with Charlie, a 60 year old expat from California who has been living in Mexico for the past 20 years. He was an interesting and lively character who talked my ear off, mainly about the oil business having been an engineer on oil rigs for most of his career. I excused myself and hustled off for canyoning.
At MTS, I met Ricardo and Maladia, a quiet but friendly couple from Uruguay, who were going on the canyoning tour with me. I also our guide Javier. After suiting up in full body wet suits, helmets, and waterproof sneakers, we headed outside to receive instruction and practice repelling down a makeshift training wall. We took a 20 minute drive to Rio Blanco. This was a half-day adventure at one of the easier canyoning sites in Baños .
We hiked 20 minutes to the top of the chain of six water falls at Rio Blanco. Javier tied in two ropes, one for repelling and a safety line, and pointed at me. I strapped in and was the first to go. It’s a little scary at first leaning back over the edge of a 70ft waterfall, but after feeling myself sitting comfortably in my harness, I slowly walked myself backward down to the pool at the foot of the waterfall. I slipped downward once and almost face-planted into the rock wall. A different time I slipped sideways and almost spun out such that my feet would lose contact with the wall and I’d just be dangling on the rope, but was able to catch myself with my other foot.
All six waterfalls progressed similarly. By the third one, I was getting bolder. I would jump backward off the wall and let 10-20ft of rope go at a time, and catching myself with my legs on the rocky wall after clamping off. True repelling now. I got down a couple waterfalls in just 3 or 4 leaps.
I was fascinated by how Javier, last to go, would rig the lines to get himself down the waterfall, then get his bag down on the line, then get the ropes to release down too. How the fuck does he do that? I need to learn that.
I wasn’t sure what to expect coming in, but it was a lot of fun and I highly recommend canyoning.
After canyoning, I promptly headed to the hot springs for an hour and a half. I spent the whole time in the baths, soaking in the steaming mineral laden water. There was also a cold water shower, which I made good use of alternating between the hot springs and cold shower for some amazing hot-cold therapy. One of the springs was 48C, which is over 118F. It was ridiculous. I was one of the only people in there. I’d get in a meditative mode and quickly submerge myself up to my neck. I’d stay for 5-10 minutes then go to the cold shower for a blast of heaven.
Afterwards, I felt like jelly and sauntered back to Kiwi. With all the magnesium from the spring water I absorbed, I had to lay down and take a nap. I woke up in late afternoon and went back to my favorite spot, Honey Café for an amazing green-macca tea.
I went to Stray Dog Brewery, owned and operated by an expat from Chicago, for dinner. I ran into William and Laura, two Brits I had previously met in Barranco, Lima. We shot the shit discussing our travels over beers and dinner.
The next morning, I booked a bus to Guayaquil for 12:40 that afternoon. I was enjoying Baños , but also wanted to get back to the coast and the sunshine. I went out for an early almuerzo, then packed up and walked to the bus station. I got there just before 12:40 and was surprised to see the bus was about to leave without me. Usually buses in South America leave a minimum of 10 minutes late. I threw my backpack in the luggage compartment and hopped aboard for the six hour ride southwest to Guayquil, Ecuador.
Last but not least, Street Art! Baños had by far the best street art of any city I’ve been.
