Exploring Banos

Keta and I have spent the past few days doing a little bit of exploring around Banos. Already I am seeing the benefits of hanging out in one area for a while. There is so much to do here and I feel that even with a month we will barely be able to scratch the surface.

Over the past couple days, we have managed to meet a lot of people, mostly local, who are not only wonderfully friendly people, but are also a great (and free) way to practice our practical Spanish. Tuesday was spent mostly hanging out with Alex, the local guitarist. He showed us around the city a bit, as well as up a short hike onto the hillside giving a great view of the entire city. Later that evening we had a few people over for a little dinner party. Included were Carolina, a German girl teaching English here, Alex, and his friend Luis. After dinner and listening to Alex play a while, we headed off to the same small bar of Saturday, which we now know is owned by Luis. It was a fun, low key night of dancing and me learning a little bit about bartending…

Yesterday we woke up early and headed out for a day of botany with Lou and his English friend Nigel. Nigel works for a conservation organization that works to purchase and preserve the jungles of Ecuador. They invited us along to visit a specific site that Nigel’s organization is considering purchasing. About 20 min. into the drive we came to a road block (go figure). This time the problem was a landslide that occurred in the road overnight. They said the road would open back up but not until 3pm. Our original plan was to spend all day deep in the jungle, but due to the landslide, we would have to resort to plan B.

Lou knew of a wonderful drive that would take us up into the mountains allowing for some amazing views, as well as containing a wide variety of orchids (Lou’s love in life as well as his specialty). We spent the first part of the drive climbing up on the hillside checking out the variety of plant species as well as catching a nice view of the Rio Chico Verde in the valley below.

It was interesting to watch and observe Lou and Nigel in action. I have never seen two people more excited about plants in my life. They knew every species, family and genius of every plant on the mountain. I learned a lot throughout the day, and had fun simply studying the two real life botanists.

We continued driving on until we reached the peak of the mountain, where we were totally engulfed in clouds. After finally emerging from the clouds we were granted some absolutely magnificent views of both Volcan Tungurahua (the local active volcano) and Chimborazo (the highest mountain in Ecuador).

After finishing up the drive we headed back for a second attempt at making it to the jungle. We waited for about 30 more minutes and the road finally opened up. It was a race against the sun to make it into the jungle and back out before dark. We started our walk at about 4:30 and had the plan of just making it to this gorge located on the Anzu river. It was definitely more rushed than Lou had planned, but in Ecuador things like closed roads happen often, so you must always expect a change in plans. The hike might have been short, but it was well worth the effort. It was the densest forest Keta and I had ever seen and had such a wide variety of plant life.

We eventually made it to the river gorge that Lou had spoken of and it too was amazing. The geology of the river was extraordinary and the river itself stunning.

While Keta and I were checking out the river, Lou and Nigel were very closely inspecting what they had come for, a very rare species of orchid. I do not know much about this orchid except that it was very interesting looking and that Lou and Nigel were ecstatic to have found it. That alone tells me it must be something very special.

Besides all that, Keta and I have been spending most of our time drinking coffee and studying our Spanish. Banos has good cafes around just about every corner, so you never have to go without your daily cappuccino.