Cuenca and Banos - Ecuador

Cuenca is the 3rd largest city in Ecuador, and whilst we have preferred to spend time in smaller towns, this really was a nice city to visit. But at our cracking pace, we only had one day and night so we set out exploring the cobblestone streets and white buildings of this charming tidy city. We walked along the river and had a great Middle Eastern meal (how very un-Sth American!), before taking another night bus to the town of Banos. With a bus change at 4am in the morning, and arriving about 6am, we were a little spaced out and went to sleep before tackling this town of adventure.


Banos is at the foot of an active volcano and a waterfall that is visible throughout the whole town. The word Banos means baths (some people may remember this from our toilet sign at home!) and at the base of the waterfall there are thermal baths. Unintentionally arriving on a weekend and also Mothers Day, the town was really busy and we subsequently avoided the very crowded baths. Instead, we rented bikes and set of for a full day of biking (67km) on the spectacular road to Puyo that leads into the gateway of the upper Amazon Basin. Accompanied by endless buses and Chevrolet trucks filled with extended families enjoying the Sunday ride, we passed by many waterfalls, cable cars and through pitch black tunnels on this highway ride. Which i must say, is not all downhill as claimed...for the record, there are alot of flat parts and uphill too! Add to this, the hardest seats you have ever sat on...ouch! But the sore bum was very worth it as we passed through local communities selling the freshest of fruits and sugarcane, and outdoors resturants selling bbq corn on the cob with cheese (a common food here) whilst watching the Amazon river tributaries meet and bulge at the Rio Negro (Black River). And dont forget folks, its the tropics and to complete the day, we got absolutely drenched in an Amazonian downpour with only 5km left to our destination! Cerveza (beer) well deserved, we boarded the next bus back to Banos with our bikes underneath, and slept well that night.

But this town is ¨Full Action¨...or so we were told by our hostel/tour operator. And so 9am the next morning we were getting kitted up with wetsuits, harnesses, helmets etc and off we went for a half day of canoning down 5 waterfalls. The base of the waterfall was in a fruit orchid and the setting was serene and dense and hidden. Abseiling down waterfalls and also sliding down some parts like a rough slippery dip was great fun, really enjoyable day. But its FULL ACTION folks, so next up was Swing Jumping...similar to bungee but with a big circular swing motion afterwards. Having bungee jumped once in my life, i did not feel the need to do it again, so Jeb was on his own here. The bridge is a regular bridge with cars that drive along it and no permanent jump set up. Within minutes, there were all the necessary ropes and cords and harnesses and jump platforms. At a height of 80 metres and a flowing river below, Jeb had the look of excitement in his eyes and did not hesitate at the countdown. Pure adrenalin, he loved it.

All actioned out, we left Banos for Quito, the capital of Ecuador which is where we are now. We were originally flying out of Quito to Santiago, Chile and from there, fly back to Sydney. However on our travels, we have met so many people people who have told us how awesome Columbia is and also how safe it is now. So we have adjusted things and are no longer flying out of Quito, and instead Bogota on the 15th June. More on Quito and Ecuador later...im hogging the hostel computer.