the bus trip from quito to baños was uneventful except for the revolving vendors on the bus... within the first hour, there was someone selling kids clothes, electronic goods and selfie sticks and a myriad of food vendors!
baños is a cute town nestled between a number of mountains/volcanoes, making it quite picturesque as well as popular spot with tourists because of the range of activities available. i opted to go whitewater rafting down the rio negro which was awesome fun! the river was quite big & pushy with class III and IV rapids - it made me regret not having been whitewater kayaking in ~10 years as i think i would've really enjoyed running that river! after rafting, i figured i'd pamper myself with a full body massage and facial - absolutely wonderful!
the next day i had a very quick visit to la selva, a jungle near baños. we learned a bit about local indigenous customs and food, got our faces painted and then headed to lunch via canoe. after lunch, we headed to the national park for a hike with a naturalist guide to a waterfall for a swim. baños is a cute town nestled between a number of mountains/volcanoes, making it quite picturesque as well as popular spot with tourists because of the range of activities available. i opted to go whitewater rafting down the rio negro which was awesome fun! the river was quite big & pushy with class III and IV rapids - it made me regret not having been whitewater kayaking in ~10 years as i think i would've really enjoyed running that river! after rafting, i figured i'd pamper myself with a full body massage and facial - absolutely wonderful!
my final day in baños, i rented a bike and rode along "ruta de cascades", stopping every kilometer or so to see a different waterfall. the grand finale was about 16kms from baños and is called "pailon de diable" or the devil's cauldron. it was a breathtaking waterfall with tons of water flowing through it! i lazily took a mini bus back to town as my butt was sore (the bike wasn't super comfy).
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