Banos, Ecuador

Banos is a small town in SE Ecuador, set in a jungle area and known for adventure sports. The affordable access to activities like canyoning, white water rafting and paragliding is what draws many here. I however have done many of these adventure excursions in the past couple of years and didn't really want to do them on this trip for reasons of time and budget.

The only adventure sport I did try was the bungee jump. It was something I did as more of a "check off the bucket list". I went into it pretty sure it would be a one time activity and my thoughts were confirmed. (Parents, stop reading here). First, it only costs about $20 - my first question to this was is it safe?!?! The response I got was "Well they wouldn't keep doing it if it wasn't". The whole preparation was pretty unceremonious. No real safety prep. My instructions were to climb over the bridge railing, over the ledge, and onto a platform. Then I was to jump out as far as I could and spread my arms. That's all! As I got onto the platform all I could think was I'm stupid and you have to be pretty insane to stand on this ledge and jump. The counted to three - I hesitated. He steadied me and then gave me a push.  Just watch the video. It is hilarious!!!

the bridge I jumped off of - 100 m high

view from the jump 

deciding I don't want to do it 

When I made it down, there was an Israeli family watching me. The wife made me do breathing exercises while the husband massaged my hands to relax me. It was so sweet! But also awkward. I was a little shaky but I really just wanted to get back on the bridge to where my stuff was!

Banos is also known for the Casa del Arbol, which is home to the "Swing at the End of the World".  This makes many magazines' travel lists for its photogenic shots swinging off a cliff into the tree tops. It also has great views of the area's volcano. However, when I visited here, it was a cloudy day. The visit is cool, but a bit anti-climatic when you first arrive - it is just a tree house with a swing. However, the actual swing ride is fun and a bit scarier than imagined. Even without the view of the trees and volcano, the pictures turned out pretty cool since we were basically swinging into a cloud.

Instead of the quick taxi back down, I hiked down the mountain back to town with a German girl from my hostel. It had rained the previous day so the paths were muddy. It made me glad that we hiked down! However we must have made a wrong turn because the 2 km / 1.5 hour hike down turned into about 5 km and 3 hours! Nonetheless we enjoyed the walk, ruled out our second planned uphill hike, and had a nice view of the town along our way.

To round out my activities in Banos, I did a hike up to a look out point (separate to the one after the swing but equally muddy), and had an amazing hour massage for $20.

The place I stayed at was really cool. They had a great bar area with delicious cocktails - all 2 for $6. And the daiquiris were more like martinis made with fresh fruit. And both nights I was there happened to be free pasta dinner nights, which were actually tasty. It was a good atmosphere and I was lucky to get an upgraded room!

Banos was a great stop! Since I decided not to do many activities, I didn't need much time there and decided to go to the farther and better rainforest area (Cuyabeno). However I mis-planned the logistics (or honestly didn't really look into it until too late) - it was a farther from Banos than I thought, and much farther from the stops I had left for after.