Banos is known for its wide range of silly things to do in the mountains. After a quick look at the bridge jump into the gorge Cara decided that maybe it was a bit too much adrenaline too early in the day. The same could be said of the drive up the mountain through the clouds which we chose instead. Although we did all shut our eyes when Geoff overtook a bus, we were pleased when we arrived at Casa Del Arbol ahead of the throng of tourists it contained.

The girls did this – a large swing out over the edge powered by this incredibly acrobatic chap.

And this

360° swing video

The views of Banos from the top were quite something once the mist had cleared.

After all that excitement we had a wander round the animal park where Cara did a spot of horse whispering and after much patience was rewarded with a nuzzle from this little chap.

More waterfall walking complete with wobbly bridge to work off the large lunch. Almost made it for another power shower but scuppered by a locked Alice in Wonderland type door in the middle of the path which stated that a $1 fee was required to continue any further but there was no one there to pay.

The day began in sunshine as we meandered along the mountain road in search of waterfalls and a monkey sanctuary. As we came around one side of the mountain it began to rain and the lower the altitude the heavier the rain – ah yes that’s why it’s called a rainforest!

We drove down into Puyo (about 60k east) with our first sight of the Amazon sprawling out below. With a bit of expert navigation we found the not very well publicized Paseo Los Monos, a sanctuary for monkeys who have fallen foul of hunters and deforestation.

Here we saw Cappuchins, spider monkeys, squirrel monkeys and woolly monkeys. Some lived in large natural enclosures with overhead tunnels running around the sanctuary. Some like the very clever cappuchin Newton preferred to roam around freely having worked out how to dig his way out at an early age.

The squirrel monkeys tended just to wander freely as you can see. The cappuchin above is a hand reared baby, he has a large enclosure but is pressed against the cage wire as he was trying to get our attention. He lives with this baby squirrel monkey and we spent ages watching them play like 2 siblings squabbling over the same piece of wood.

My favourite photo is Pepito the Coati, it looks like he is trapped in some nightmare cage but it’s part of the network of tunnels that run around the sanctuary. This one is open at the end so he can come and go as he pleases but this is his favourite sleeping spot.

On the road back up the mountain we hit torrential rain. We stopped at the viewpoint where the Rio Pastaza suddenly widens out as it meets the Rio Muyu. 

The road up to Banos is punctuated by a series of tunnels blasted out of the rock. We entered one of the longest ones in pouring tropical rain and came out the other side in bright sunshine, like a magic portal.

Pailon del Diablo  (devils cauldron) is the most impressive of the waterfalls here. 1200 (I counted on the march back up!) footsteps down then a climb through narrow tunnels to see the falls and receive a power shower for free.

Here are the links for the videos we made.

Crawl to the Falls

Power Shower

The visit includes a walk across a rickety swing bridge for the bargain price of $2 per person.

Now onto Geoff’s favorite part of the day, a trip across the gorge in a metal basket running on 2 cables powered by an old car engine and a couple of dodgy batteries. He couldn’t quite let go of his inner engineer as we swung above the gorge. Lots of pictures to show the marvel of Ecuadorean ingenuity and safety standards.

Click here for cable car ecuadorean style

Cara was still full of energy so we sent her across the gorge on a zip line. Here she is – Cara in action

Meanwhile i soaked up the afternoon sun with my new friend.

Volcan Tungurahua  showed himself for a beautiful photo on the way to the hot springs at El Salado  where we enjoyed the steaming hot water and some banter with the locals in the chilly mountain river.

After a short drive and 800 meters drop in altitude, our next stop was the very aptly named Abbey’s Hideaway  just outside Banos. See if you can spot it next to the river on the photos.

No? Well it is there, down a winding hill with beautiful gardens, just above the river. The house is very Spanish in style, lots of terracotta colours with hammocks overlooking the river. You can lie there swinging and watch humming birds feeding and big hawks swooping down into the gorge.

Banos itself is a large city and a centre for mountain sports and adrenaline activities. There is a strange anomaly here that all the meteorological websites state that is 2 to 3 degrees but in fact its nearer 18. Even my phone insists its at least 10 degrees colder than it is. The city centre is busy but it doesn’t feel that big and once you get the gist of the one way streets its easy to drive round. We took a quick trip in for supplies.

After a chilled out lunch at the house we walked to the Cascada Ines Maria (there are a lot of waterfalls here).  I do love the Spanish word “Mirador”, it conveys the idea of a wonderful sight so much better than the English word “view point”.

Then, a lightening tour of the small zoo. It wasn’t too bad as zoos go, only native animals and a definite desire to educate. It is always more interesting to go somewhere the locals go rather than attractions designed for foreign tourists. They had a couple of little stalls in the zoo which bizarrely sold practical jokes. Cara and Geoff bought a set of car keys which gave  an electric shock when pressed.

Cara made a friend at the Parque Aventura (Violetta) whilst we looked at the options for cliff jumping, bridge swinging and throwing yourself into the middle of the gorge with minimal safety precautions.

A beer helped the steeper parts of the walk home seem altogether more cheerful followed by a lovely home cooked spag bol. Much hilarity at poor Drew’s expense when she was asked to unlock the car using joke set of keys (see above re items bought from zoo). Slight low point was that the glowing fire I had been looking forward to turned into a serious smoke inhalation risk so we all had an early night to escape the fog. 3rd rule of travel……..never assume that the wood is actually dry enough to burn.

 

 

 

 

 

After a poor night’s sleep dreaming of monsters coming down from the mountain (never read kichwa folklore before bed time) and being chased by angry dogs, I gave up on sleep and went down to make breakfast. Geoff, having complained (at fairly regular intervals since 3am that he couldn’t sleep) chose this moment to go back into a deep sleep uninterrupted by the alarm he had failed to set.

After a hearty breakfast followed the usual family bickering, we were collected by our guide Alejandro from Probici , met our co riders Gaba from Chile and Simone from Holland before setting off up the mountain. We stopped en route to see a canyon and learn about local flowers. The fire flower to help with altitude, and oreja de conejo a small blue flower to help you sleep.

We saw the farm  where bulls are bred and exported all over S.America for bull fighting. Finally we arrived at the start point. From there most of the group climbed up another km to the refuge.

Cara and Geoff made it up to the Whymper refuge, no small achievement given the altitude and the lack of time to adjust. Gaba practised her yoga at 5100m…….as you do

Sadly as poor Drew was feeling unwell we walked down to the car where a brief snooze followed by a reviving cup of  Coca Tea  soon had her back on form.

Once the whole group were back it was time to get pedalling. Well actually it was more time to put on every piece of clothing you could find and keep your hands on the brakes.

The first part of the ride was a steep descent on a volcanic dirt road. The road bends sharply round the mountain until it crosses an off road track. After an episode of skidding sideways in the deep dirt I wimped out of the first off road part and Cara and I continued on the road. Cara was cold and not happy, I was having a lovely time but would have been better if I had had a pair of ear defenders or Cara had been wearing a full face helmet so I couldn’t hear her moans. Geoff meanwhile was enjoying the off road track and a few close encounters with the wild vicunya.

After the initial descent we joined up with the van for water and gator-aid, Cara (who by now was very very cross) swapped with Drew and off we went again.

This time the descent was mainly off road, riding on hard packed tracks, through small streams and down a few rocky patches. The temperature started to rise slightly and everyone was having a blast. After a few more van stops and a bathroom stop we tackled the uphill section. What can I say except that it was very hard. Drew and I were a long way at the back before the climb so luckily the van caught us up. I jumped in for the last part then we caught up with Drew who had almost made it but was defeated when she saw the van with me in. Then a welcome stop for lunch. By now the sun was fully out and the layers were coming off and time for a spot more yoga.

Now warmed up and feeling much happier Cara joined us for the afternoon ride. We did an easy descent through mountain meadows down to look at some Inca ruins.

Sadly what Drew, Cara and I had failed to understand was that after seeing the ruins we would have to cycle the 1km uphill back to the track. It may not sound far but in the hot sun, at high altitude, with too many clothes on, it might as well have been the final ascent up to Everest. Drew gave valiant moral support in a few of my over dramatic moments. Whilst Cara once again got very cross.

The final part of the ride took us through small villages and a number of encounters with livestock. The mountain views were spectacular.

 

The whole ride was 38km descending from the first refuge at Chimborazo down to the outskirts of Riobamba. We started in snow and ended with a race along the tarmac road in brilliant sunshine, mostly it was off road and mostly downhill. Only one minor dog altercation (just Geoff) where I learned that the benefit of being a long way behind is that the dogs are bored by the time you get there. Thank you Simone, Gava, Anna and Carolina for being great company and sharing your photos with us. Thank you to Alejandro and the team from Probici for making the day one of my favourite so far,

And of course thanks to Chimborazo for seeing us safely down and bringing the sunshine

We left Alausi early and hit the mountain road once more. A scenic journey with the usual array of people and animals along the way. As we passed through a particularly scenic stretch next to a river Drew announced that this was a perfect place to live, when I suggested that she might enjoy living in the Alps her hilarious reply was “oh no I don’t like those mountains they are much too pointy”.

We stopped here by the lake at Colta which had some slightly incongrous American style boats on it. Couldn’t get close enough for a picture and we couldn’t quite work out who they belonged too.

Finally we drove into Riobamba with the beautiful Mount Chimborazo ahead of us. The top was hidden by clouds but it was literally a breath taking site.

Choice of residence for tonight was Hostal Rincon Aleman  not an obvious location for a hotel being on a suburban street but magically, inside is a pretty walled courtyard with rooms built around it. The garden is a perfect sun trap and best of all it has a large kitchen so tonight we are eating in for the first time in a few days which is an absolute joy.

This afternoon’s plan was to go to Probici where we met Gallo. He explained in detail everything we needed to know for tomorrow’s adventure, a descent down Chimborazo on mountain bikes. It sounded a little scary but we can opt out of the parts we don’t like as there will be a support vehicle close behind. The most worrying part was the advice on what to do if we encounter an aggressive dog:-

Option 1 – cycle faster than the dog! Option 2 – jump off bike and threaten dog with it.

Guess what my nightmares will be made of tonight!

 

 

This is what we did today – click to see  Cara’s video of the devils nose train ride

The plan was to take the train from Alausi through the mountains down to  Silambe. Its a beautiful ride where the train descends nearly a vertical kilometre in height. Quite impressive given it was built at the turn of the 20th century. Our guide informed us that this makes it the most difficult train line in Ecuador.

Back in the day, when health and safety was something other countries did, the Devil’s Nose train ride was a steam powered affair where the passengers were allowed to sit on the roof of the train’s carriages. Lots of fun but just a tad dangerous, with a solid cliff wall on one side and a sheer drop on the other. These Ecuadoreans like their day trips to be edgy. Inevitably there was the odd fatality, and these days it’s indoor riding only much to Geoff’s disappointment.

We took the 11am train, the weather was sunny with blue skies on the way down. It did start to cloud over on the return journey but this just added to the variety.

The train spends 45 minutes winding down the hillside from Alausi, and you can often see the tracks below you where you’ll be riding soon. There are waterfalls and rivers and gorges, and vertigo inducing drops. The actual descent of the Devil’s Nose is incredible, as the train has to switchback on itself twice in order to get down the, once thought impassable, hillside.

The views are stunning but the photos explain it better than I can. In Silambe there are traditional dancers (bit dodgy), craft stalls, one man with a horse and one with a llama providing photo opportunities. This part is a bit touristy but the trip is spectacular and not to be missed.

 

Always expect the unexpected

So today’s “unexpecteds” were several detours where roads were closed and crowds gathered to vote in local elections. Geoff did read somewhere that election time was not necessarily the best choice safety wise to travel to any S. American country but as these are only local there weren’t any obvious signs of rioting.

Once out of Guayaquil’s rush hour traffic we drove through miles of banana and cocoa plantations. Eventually we began the slow climb along twisting roads up above the clouds. At times it was difficult to make out much except the steep drop on one side.

Driving through the clouds to Alausi

As Geoff expertly negotiated hairpin bends, (yes really) and avoided  landslides where the road almost disappeared we encountered our second unexpected, a large number of animals sitting or standing in the road. A pretty dun horse just carried on calmly standing there dozing as we drove round it. 3 dogs which at first appeared dead but then looked up as if to say “what the heck are you doing here”. The third surprise was a large dog which threw itself in front of the car (yes Cara you do need to wear a seat belt at all times!). Then as we screeched to a horrified halt ran round the back and proceeded to chew the rear tyres even as we drove off. We saw sleeping pigs, cows and alpacas along the roadside as we drove through tiny mountain hamlets. As the road suddenly changed levels by about a foot (but its ok because there was a precaution sign right next to it!) I remembered the wise words of a friend who had travelled by bus this way as a student. I think he said something along the lines of “good god I’m not sure I would fancy driving on those roads”

We stopped to say hello to some school children then stumbled on the lovely Cascada Panama.

3 hours and a few wrong turns later we arrived at  Hostel Killa Wasi  in the pretty mountain town of Alausi. We were greeted enthusiastically by our canine hosts Lily and Laki

We had lunch at Meson del Tren, explored on foot (usual dog tagging along) and bought tickets for our mountain train trip tomorrow.

Its quite chilly here but we have the right clothes and as we sit here outside the hostel drinking tea and catching the last of the daylight, life seems pretty good.

Check the opening times!!

So after 2 weeks of generally doing not much at all we woke up bright and early ready to explore Guayaquil. I say we but after 2 weeks of academic challenges (Drew) at Harvard and 2 weeks of running around in the Southern Carolina Hills at Camp Chatuga (Cara) the teenagers were less than enthusiastic.

The hire car arrived, it’s worryingly small but we will deal with that tomorrow when all our luggage has to go in!

A quick walk to the Parc Seminario   to visit the Iguanas and the Cathedral

The usual hunt round the mobile phone shops to acquire a local sim. Quick thought that I should really have spent last 2 weeks practicing Spanish instead of drinking mojitos. First shop said they are not allowed to sell to foreigners as we don’t have a proper ID, the second shop said no problem (they were more than happy to use the fake ID they kept especially for these circumstances!)

So with Google maps and search engine in full working order we took a cab to Parc Historico.

Once again we should have done our research a little more carefully as we arrived to find that it shuts on Tuesdays which is a bit random. Undeterred we found a great food place with big fat crêpes (not very traditional ecuadorean fare but very yummy and chocolatey).

From there we went to the river front where the girls did lots of this… “screaming fair ride” and we saw the city from their very own London Eye. All in all a good first day

Cara is now very happily having her nails manicured in the shopping centre next to the hotel.

After a fantastic adventure in Colombia last summer and after surviving the horror of Gcse’s (one taking then whilst the other 3 suffered in relative silence) we decided to embark on another S American adventure. So after a lot of careful research, which responsible parent doesn’t do this when taking their precious daughters half way round the world? Ideally we would like them to enjoy the experience but nothing in life is perfect so we returned to the tried and tested method of selecting the cheapest flights and here we are in Guayaquil the largest city in Ecuador. We didn’t do a huge amount of planning before we left the UK, just flights, a spot of reading and a rental car. The idea was that we would use the 2 weeks we had in the USA whilst the girls were at summer camp to go over the finer details. However the 2 weeks (first holiday alone in 16 years) quickly vanished in catching up with old friends, fishing, sleeping on the beach and just possibly a strawberry mojito or 3. So here we are in Hotel Unipark  in the middle of the city trying to come up with a plan. Should be interesting.. ….