Who Knew, So Much Fun in a Banos!

Having received mixed reviews from other folks we talked to in/about Ecuador, I wasn’t sure what to expect from Banos.  Having little expectations + Banos Ecuador = Blown Away.

Having said that, you can’t judge Banos simply on the town of Banos.  It does not have the old world charm of a Spanish Colonial town.  It’s younger, and grittier, and less beautiful than Cusco Peru, Sucre Bolivia, or Cuenca.  That’s the town.  The location of the town is another matter.  It’s nestled into a river valley amongst some of the most beautiful, lush, mountains we’ve seen.  I was reminded of places like Hyder or Valdez Alaska.  Lush rainforest, significant, but approachable mountains, rivers, streams and lots of waterfalls.  It’s hard not to love Banos if you like nature.

Bus Trip and Arrival:

The other thing Banos has become known for is “extreme sports”.  Tourists come here to raft on the rivers, rappel down the waterfalls, and jump off bridges to name a few.  We happened to be here for Kane’s birthday, so we allowed him to choose… rock climbing or water fall rappelling (Canyoning).  After much churning, nashing of teeth, and flip-flopping he chose the new experience… Canyoning.

The guys working at MTS were really friendly, and we enjoyed visiting their office to sign up and to get fitted for our wetsuits. We also enjoyed watching videos of the route we would take, accompanied by AC/DC tunes. We’d heard plenty of Guns n’ Roses (and lots of Sweet Child o Mine Covers) in Argentina, so I had a hunch. I asked the gal there if Rene (the owner) also liked GNR, she paused for a moment and said “well, his son’s name is Axel, if that tells you anything!”. Later, I looked up on the shelf behind the desk and saw a 12 inch figure of Slash for good measure.

The day we went to go Canyoning, Rene sent his son (the one not named Axel) to pick us up at 8:00. We went to the office to gear-up and to get some training. Rene took us through canyoning 101 on their rock wall. We also got acquainted with a guy from Austria named Peter who would be joining us.

The Canyoning experience started with a short ride by car, and a pretty significant hike up a hill. We hoofed it straight up for about 1/2 hour. It was actually a really good way to get started, as one might be inclined to get cold in the water in spite of a thick wetsuit.

We suffered through some “mixed emotions” during the first couple of rappels. The guides announced that the kids would not be able to do them, and would have to walk down with the guide. Kat was happy, Kane was dejected. I think Rene had told us this, but with his broken english, we didn’t understand. By the third fall, both kids were cold, and Kane was pretty down.

On the second fall, the guide told Kim and I that we were both going to go down together (two ropes). I pushed back as much as I felt appropriate, but he would not budge. It seemed as if much like golf, the group behind us was pushing us, and wrecking our course management skills. Of course, going side-by-side meant somebody got the more difficult route. They put me on the right edge of the falls, essentially where the rocks are covered with slime and like ice. 1/3 of the way down I slipped and swung over to the left, practically wiping out Kim with my rope. We did make it down, but I expressed my dismay at the bottom. This was my only complaint… we got a bit rushed because of the group behind us, which I think is kind of normal.

Kanes attitude did a 180, after the third waterfall, when he was finally allowed to rappel by himself. He loved it, and did great. The smile was a mile wide.

One of the runs, we rappelled down about 15 feet, then got to “let go” and zipline down the rest. The last couple, we actually slid down like water slides. One of them was a bit of a surprise, pretty deep at the bottom, but we really enjoyed it.

It was a great experience for all of us, and Kane was thrilled with his choice by the end. We were all glad to get back to the van, dry off, and change into regular clothes! It was a pretty exhausting few hours.

We celebrated with what seemed like a modest party that night at the B&B. Kim made our favorite lemon cake (thanks Steph for bringing the makings). We had a nice dinner, and Kane opened a few presents (movies, cards, money, and a certificate to jump off a bridge).

Canyoning and Kane’s Birthday:

That’s right, Kane got a certificate to jump off a bridge… it’s called “Puenting”. The Ecuadorian version of bungie jumping. The rope is not really stretchy like a bungie, much more ridged, but they set it up, such that when you hit bottom, you are “mostly” swinging rather than bouncing. Peter had mentioned it to us while Canyoning, and started the wheels turning. It took about 1/2 a day to convince Kim that we should try this.

Clearly, Kane was intrigued and wanted to do this from the beginning. I, being really curious about whether Kane would do it, had quite a few thought processes going on about the idea. I loved the idea of a super intense moment of forcing my body to do something completely un-natural. I also didn’t want to deny my son this experience, and I would never let him do this without doing it myself first. So, within a few minutes, I was pretty excited about the possibility. I also liked the idea of turning Kim from a staunch “NO” to a tacit “YES”… that is always fun too. I must admit I thought we were done for when the B&B owners told Kim about the local boy who died puenting, but it was a lower bridge, and accidents happen. Evidently, they let out too much rope, and he swung into the rocks. Any way, we chose the tall bridge.

So we stopped by MTS to talk with Renee about Puenting, and schedule a time. A funny thing happened, he said “how about right now?”. That was the first “moment of truth”. OK big mouth, you ready to go or what? We said yes, and jumped into the car with Renee.

We arrived at the “San Francisco Bridge”, and I was instantly taken aback by the “platform” from which Puenters jump. It’s built from re-bar, with a piece of plywood and PVC pipe. It’s 18 inches wide by 12 inches long, and simply hooks onto the top railing of the bridge. Thankfully, another guy was just getting ready to go, and we got to watch. It was a young European, and he set a good example for “taking it like a man”. I was inspired.

The 15 minute wait on the bridge was excruciating. I was happy to see two ropes and to be strapped into two harnesses. I asked the guy if one rope was strong enough, but he didn’t understand. We waited for Renee to return to his office to get his camera. I paced a little.

Finally, it was my time (so to speak). I got hooked to the ropes, Renee inspected the connection of the ropes to the bridge and gave me a thumbs up. I went to climb up onto the platform, and my legs were jelly. Worse yet, the grid on the handrail on which I was climbing was too tight for my feet to enter. I was climbing on my tip-toes. I was mortified, mostly that I would stumble and fall straight off trying to stand up on the platform.

As I stood up, the guy said “don’t look down”. I looked down. I’ve never been good at being told what not to do, maybe I can blame my intense curiosity. My breath was taken away by the view and the moment. The river was straight down, probably 3-400 feet below. Nothing but lush green hillsides and rocks funneling down to the water. I would never stand there without the ropes. The jump came in stages, mentally. It all happened in about 10 seconds though. All the permutations of choices and outcomes ran through my head. Ultimately, I did not want my kids to be limited by my fears (at least not in this regard). Stage one, resolving that jumping was the only option.

Stage two was a bit easier… deciding when to jump. I wondered if a delay here would be viewed by the onlookers as savoring the moment, or being chicken. I wanted to delay, and I did want to savor the moment… I was torn. Then the guide started to count.

Obviously, waiting an undue amount of time after he got to 3, would inexorably be interpreted as fear. This helps.

Stage three, though brief, was both the toughest, and the easiest. I had decided that my best option was to jump as far out as I could to avoid a “snap” at the end of the rope. I was fighting every visceral synapse in my brain to ready my body for a jump. It was “go time” and I really had to commit. It was intense. Once the final switch flipped, and I decided to jump now (and I let out a barely audible “Good God”), everything cut loose, my conscience was completely clear, all of those thought threads running to completion in an instant. For a moment, I was free.

I did have a momentary concern at the bottom, just to make sure nothing snapped. Once that happened, I just dangled there, swung, and felt victorious.

At the bottom, I waited for Kane, and chatted with the guy who throws the rope over to you, pulls you to the side, and unhooks your harness from the ropes. He jumps every day and loves it. He was also fun to talk with because he was the most curious of Ecuadorians.

The next jumper jumped, and there was an intense set of screams. I thought “I’ve never heard Kane make any sound remotely like that!”. Then I realized it wasn’t Kane. My heart sank… maybe Kane decided not to jump. The girl was unhooked, and I asked her about Kane. She said, oh, he’s jumping, he’s coming next.

Kane jumped, and if I wasn’t watching, I’d have never known. He didn’t make a sound. When he got down, he was ecstatic. The whole way back up the hill, he was just amazed and thrilled. He wanted to go again. It wasn’t until later (much later) that he confessed that he had hurt his neck. The guide told him to drop straight down (not jump out), and as a result, he got a pretty good jolt at the bottom. He still wanted more and was willing to pay with his own money.

We decided not to press our luck with any more punting here. The returns would be marginal anyway, and Kane could use his 20 bucks on something better.

But, it was the best 40 bucks I’ve spent. And, I’ll never get tired of watching the video of Kane, bravely climbing up, and jumping.

BTW, the photographer/videographers who offer to sell you photos and video for 5 bucks/person, absolutely will not negotiate on the 5 bucks.

Puenting:

Another adventure here is place called the “tree house”. We took a lengthy cab ride up one of the mountains adjacent to town. When we were dropped off, there was no tree house in sight, nor sign. We were instructed to walk up the hill. A guy tried to sell us some found sticks for walking.

After a decent walk up a steep and wet/slippery hillside, we arrived at a path to the tree house. I think the tree house has been overrated. The house itself is modest sized, old, and locked up tighter than a drum. There is an old kitchen at ground level that looks like a trash heap. The famous swing is there, and after waiting our turn, we put money in the donation bucket and let the kids swing. After some vigorous swings, and some photo shooting, a guy came up, looked in the bucket and complained in Spanish. He took the swing and put a padlock on it. “We paid” said kim, and he left for a moment. He returned with an official memo that stated the swing was unsafe and closed for repairs. Thanks mister!

We still got our photos, but none of them showed the Volcano that sits behind this mountain… it was too cloudy and foggy. We got to see that Volcano later though so it was OK.

The highlight of this side-trip was the hike back down to town from the Tree House. It was long, windy, steep, slippery, and deserted. It was magnificent. The views were amazing. We love nature.

Tree House & Hike:

Another reason for the mixed reviews of Banos, may be that the public pools (bathhouse) are pretty utilitarian, slightly gross, and not all that relaxing. If you came here for the spa, I hope you found something different than the public pools downtown! We still enjoyed the experience of waiting with the locals for the pool to open (while Ecuador was playing a World Cup match), buying our shower caps, figuring out the process by trial & error etc. We met some nice folks from Socorro New Mexico and tried to recruit some new fans for the Sabinal Sisters.

Another thing we “had” to do was a bus tour on a “chiva”… an open air bus complete with disco lights and sound system. It was way better than I expected, and they took us mostly outside of town to visit/view some amazing valleys and water falls. We stopped longer than I would have liked at the zip lining place, but overall, it was great. We got to ride a cable car across the river to some falls, and at the end, we got to hike down to some really impressive falls for a photo pop. A great way to round out our visit here.

Lots of people will say “Banos is a visit once and be done kind of place”, but I think it’s a place with tremendous potential for living. It’s very approachable, affordable, and it’s such a temperate and beautiful area. They say the foothills save it from the destruction of the nearby Volcano… I hope that is the case! I’d go back.

Bathhouse and Bus Tour: