Baños (Rio Verde), Ecuador

​5th August – 8th August 2017

Leaving the Amazon lodge, I woke up with my first insects bites of the trip – a nice little souvenir of the place. Me and Ruth did our first duty as back locker team and we smashed it! We were meant to start at 7.45 but because people were very punctual, we were done by 7.50 and in record time apparently. It also wasn’t too hard because the space is made for 24 people and there are only 13 of us. We had breakfast (and I ate a lot because it was the last meal there) and then we loaded ourselves on the bus and we were off to the next destination – we were actually staying just outside Rio Verde but close to Baños.

We stopped off after about 2 hours for our first food shop for the meals over the next few days. I was put in a cooking group with Joe (one of the Americans), Celine, MC and Anke. Joe was chef and as the chef he was meant to take charge: decide what to cook for each meal we had been given and then take charge of the rest of the group to make sure we stick to the budget. This didn’t quite happen with our group as Joe didn’t make any decisions and kind of left it up to us. We did stay under budget but I had no idea what we were cooking! We then had chance for a quick lunch – but I was still full from breakfast so just sat with the others while they ate.

We got back on the coach and I had a snooze. Rianne said it would be another couple of hours until we got to the campsite, but we were there within the hour. On the journey, Rianne told us about a game we’re going to play along the trip and it will last until our last camping night. The game is called the murder game and it’s a bit like cluedo. We were all given an object, a place and a person in the group and we have to kill the person we have been given by giving them the object we’ve been given, in the place we’ve been given and it’s all top secret! The example we were given is: someone might have toilet roll and truck and then the person, so you would have to give that person a toilet roll on the truck and if they accept, you have to secretly tell them that they’re dead and then they give you their victim and you have a new victim to try and kill. The last alive or the person who kills the most, wins.

When we got to the campsite it was raining slightly and my raincoat was in the back locker in my backpack, so I got wet – I soon dried though. We put up our tents before getting our bags (we are staying in Chile).

Once we went inside the tent it was so dark! Ruth had a little flashlight, which helped, slightly but it didn’t light up the whole tent. We got our sleeping bags out and set up our beds ready for the three nights we had ahead of us. We had a welcome talk from the owners – it’s a very hippy campsite and we were the only ones staying there.

After the talk and a run down of activities, we went for a walk to Rio Verde (the closest town) which was about a 15 minutes walk away. One of the dogs from the campsite (Rita) walked with us to Rio Verde. She kept running on ahead and then stopping and waiting for us to catch up and then he would run on again. Just through the town was a beautiful waterfall (Pailon del Diablo) which we walked up to. It was so nice to walk to and was only $1.50 – although it was very wet! We had to crawl through a tiny gap in the rocks to get higher up but it was definitely worth it! Rita waited for us at the top of the waterfall and then walked all the way back to the campsite with us. It was normal for her apparently.

We got back to the campsite and had a chill before the owners put on a barbecue for us – they are Argentinian and apparently they cook the best steaks so I had high hopes which were most certainly met!

Already on the table when we came in, were two large bowls of salad and a full tray of avocado. Next they brought out a wooden board full of freshly made bread which was still warm and pieces of chicken, which were very tasty! Next they brought out the tastiest chorizo sausages and then pieces of pork and then pieces of beef. There was so much food and it was all so good! Possibly the best tea we’ve had so far! They then brought out a treacle type flapjack which was also very good! The washing up ritual for camping is we have to wash our own plates in soapy water, then bleached water, then rinse them in clean water. The drying ritual was the best as we just stood there and flapped our arms with the plates in them – we looked great!

After dinner, we all sat around and had a chat before some of them decided to go for a night out in Baños. At this time, we left and went to bed.

My sleep wasn’t the best, it really wasn’t very comfy and I kept going from hot to cold throughout the night.

We had a bit extra in bed when it was our first full day, as it was now over to us to cook food, so the first group (Hayley, Naomi, Dan, Judie and Rianne) were up making breakfast and a packed lunch for the day (even though 3 out of the 5 didn’t get robbed until like 4/5am). Breakfast was very good! They made banana pancakes from scratch and I had chocolate and syrup on mine with chopped apple on the side. It was a good start to the day; it was that good, I even had seconds!

At around 9.30am, me, Ruth and Naomi started to head into Baños. We were told that if we walk onto the main road, we can just put our arm out for a bus and it will take us to Baños for 50 cents; we waited a while but nothing came, so instead we walked into Rio Verde. It wasn’t a far walk and the bus was the same price so it was much easier. It took about 30 minutes to get into Baños.

Once we were in the centre, the plan was to hire bikes and ride around the mountains. There were loads of bike shop around to hire bikes and they weren’t massively expensive, so we hired them for $5 and it came with all the necessary equipment. The woman in the shop pointed us in the direction of the most popular ride and gave us a map, so we set off. After about 15 minutes of cycling downhill, we realised we were heading back towards the campsite and towards the waterfall we saw yesterday. This is the most popular route because it’s 65km downhill to the falls and then a bus ride back up. As we didn’t want to do this, we turned around and head back up the hill towards the town – on the map it looked like there was a route on the other side of town we could do and it would take us through the mountains. When we got into town Ruth wasn’t feeling well and wanted to return her bike and go back to the campsite. She didn’t want us to go with her and I didn’t like leaving her but she insisted.

Me and Naomi went through the town and head towards the route we saw on the map. We got to the beginning of it and the hills were huge! They were so steep and there was no way we could cycle them. We then noticed there weren’t any cycle signs around the route we were looking at, only hiking signs. We checked the map again and we really couldn’t see anywhere to cycle properly – it seemed like there was just the one route back down towards the campsite. Instead of cycling, we decided to chain the bikes up and hike the route we had found.

We started off and it didn’t feel so bad but it got very steep, very quickly and Naomi was practically running rings around me. I kept going though (quite a few steps behind Naomi) and we made it to what we thought was the top (The El Virgen Statue). We sat there for a while over looking the whole of Baños and it was a beautiful view. We ate our packed lunch, which was a quinoa salad in a bag – it was very tasty and very healthy – we felt great! After lunch, we asked a local man to point us in the right direction (showing him our map). He didn’t do this. We carried on walking in the direction he told us and realised the town was getting a lot closer to us than we wanted, so we checked the map and realised we had taken the wrong route.

After turning back round and hiking back up what we had just gone down, we found the right path. There were still a lot of uphills, even though we thought we were at the top.

Once we knew we were on the right path, we had motivation to keep going as we wanted to complete the route we had seen on the map – we also knew there was a cafe at the real top. We found the cafe and the views were amazing! The terrace overlooked the whole of Baños, so we stopped for a rest break and a drink. While we were there Hayley and Stephanie turned up, which was a complete coincidence. We had a drink and a rest and then decided to head back down.

There were two routes we could have taken: one next to the cafe which went straight down back to Baños, or a route that makes a whole loop and goes a bit further. We opted for the full loop but it didn’t go off to a great start as we started off in the wrong direction going uphill even further. After a while, we thought something wasn’t right, do double checked the map (which we now realised was quite deceiving) and we had gone up the wrong path (and it was all uphill)! We turned back around and found the right path and started heading back down the hill. We were now convinced that we were on a constant downhill trek back into Baños.

As we saw the town of Baños getting further and further away, we realised we were wrong and we had, once again, taken the wrong turning. Naomi started to panic now because the bike shop had her passport and we had to return them by 6 and we kept getting lost. We had to turn around again and head back up the hill to where we missed our turning. Naomi powered on up the mountainside (I couldn’t blame her) but it wasn’t as far as we thought and were back on the right track within 15 minutes.

We were now convinced (again, again) that we were on the right track and only going downhill. This time we were right and found our bikes at the bottom of the hill, so we unchained them and returned them with plenty of time to spare!

After 4 hours of hiking, including 3 uphill detours, we were back at the bottom with our bikes and we were very tired.

We met up with Ruth again, who was feeling much better now and joined her, Hayley and Stephanie in a coffee shop, but me and Naomi were so tired we could barely speak, so we just sat in silence.

After a short stop at the supermarket for some snacks, we got the bus back to Rio Verde – it was just me, Naomi and Ruth again now. It went dark very quickly on the way back and it started to rain. Ruth had to be back for 6.45 to help cook dinner but it was 6.37 when we got off the bus and we had at least a 15 minute walk ahead of us. We power walked it back in the dark and the rain and made it back only a little bit late. When we got off the bus, Rita was still waiting for us, after waiting all day for us! We had no idea until we started walking and she just appeared next to us and back at the campsite they said they hadn’t seen her all day, so she must have waited for us!

Stephanie’s group (with Ruth, Elisa, David and Char) were on dinner duty, so I had a short chill in the tent before I ate. Dinner was mushroom fritters with broccoli and cabbage, but I just had a fried egg with veg (I’m not sure that that went down too well but I did say I would just eat the veg).

After dinner, my group (which should be run by Joe but he passed the role onto Celine) began to prepare lunch for the next day. That caused a few heated debates as some people said they didn’t want to prepare until the day we were in charge for. We did it anyway as it made like easier the next morning.

Once lunch was prepped, we cleaned up and chilled for a little bit before heading to bed.

Sleeping in a tent is really not so enjoyable when it’s always raining and you have to walk outside to get to the toilets in the middle of the night but luckily camping is only 40% of the whole trip so I’ll be in a proper bed for the majority of the time.

Stephanie’s group were on breakfast duty and our group were on lunch, so while they prepared breakfast, we made the sandwiches for the day – which most people didn’t actually take even though they were really good!

After breakfast, a group of us all walked into Rio Verde again, to get a bus to go Baños. Me, Ruth and Naomi were all going zip lining and Celine, Dan, Judie and Elisa were going rock climbing but all through the same company.

For only $20 each, the three of us got picked up from the shop and taken up to the canopy in the mountain (Puntzan Canopy). When we got there, we got kitted out and the guide talked us through the route we were going to take – it was like a loop through the forest, with 6 zip lines and a little walk between each. It was well worth what we paid, as we also got a lift back down to Baños centre at the end!

The first zip line was the shortest (150m) but it was the best way to ease us in! We did this one sat up in the normal position and it was fun but it only got better from there. The second zip line was a little bit longer and we had the chance to go upside down, so we all did. That was cool but I could only see the sky and all the blood rushed to my head and hurt, so I only went upside down once. The next one we got to try was the superman position, so we were lay on our front and attached to the wire from our back. It wasn’t particularly long but it was definitely my favourite up until that point!

After a steep incline (not what I needed after the hike I’d already completed), we arrived at zip line number 4 – the incline was that bad, we needed a drink before carrying on! The fourth line was the longest yet and we could choose to either sit upright or go upside down – I stayed upright because as I said, going upside down hurt my head. Line number 5 was a good one because we got to go in twos, so me and Ruth went on lines next to each other, in the superman position. They attached us so we would stay together but Ruth seemed to zoom off way ahead of me and drag me along with her – it was still so fun though and the superman position was definitely my favourite.

The sixth and final zip line was up another steep incline – worse than the last incline but not as bad as the hike around the mountains! We needed water again when we got to the top but the last zip line was my favourite line! We could choose again whether to go upright or upside down – I chose upright. It was the longest line (550m) and fastest zip and it went over a river – it was very beautiful!

We walked back to the main office and gave our equipment back before getting a lift back down to Baños, all for 12. It was such a bargain trip for $20!

We got into Baños and we were really tired – especially after the hike! So we sat on a bench and ate our lunch (an egg mayo sandwich and a cheese and avocado – it seemed a strange combo to me at first but it tasted delicious). I was full after my sandwiches, so didn’t eat my fruit.

After lunch, me and Ruth wanted to find a hot spring to relax in (considering Baños is famous for its hot springs from the mountains). We walked to one with a waterfall, close to the centre but from the outside we didn’t like the look of it. We climbed up some steps to see into it and it looked quite dirty and it was very busy, so we didn’t want to pay to sit in one; it also didn’t look like what I expected, it was like a man made swimming pool next to the mountain, so I’m not even 100% convinced it was natural water.

We were disappointed, so we went back to the shop who we booked zip lining through, to see what they recommended. The man said there were two: the one we had just seen and one the other side of town (about a 20 minute walk away). We thought a 20 minute walk wouldn’t be so bad, so off we set. We were wrong (and so was the man in the shop); it was about an hour walk and it was all uphill! My day of relaxing wasn’t going so well. We took a slight detour at one point, but luckily found a map so it wasn’t as bad as it could have been and no where near as bad as the previous hike! We kept on going, determined to find the other thermal spas, but when we did we still weren’t happy. The man made swimming pools made it look artificial and we weren’t impressed. Instead of paying to go in and sit with a load of locals, we walked back down into Baños – it was obviously much easier going back downhill and we were happy to have had the exercise and not have wasted our money.

We met back up with Naomi, in a little cafe where me and Ruth both got hot chocolates to warm ourselves up on a cold, rainy day. We sat in the cafe for a while but me and Ruth both had our eyes on a frozen yoghurt shop, so we wandered to that and spent our hot springs money on a pot of frozen yoghurt, and it was so worth it! While we sat and ate it, the man in the shop asked if he could take our photo so we said yes but we have no idea what he wanted it for or if he put it anywhere!

From here we were so tired, so we head back to the campsite early. A few of us sat in the common areas and chatted about our days (as we had all done different things) and then it was my groups turn to cook dinner. Before we started cooking, I had no idea what we were doing but I got on with it and managed fine. I was in charge of salad originally and I did a great job! After the salad was ready I just pottered about, helping with different parts of the cooking, being on call for the chef – although I did get kicked out of the kitchen at one point for trying to help.

Dinner was tasty but Joe served too much for the others, so that when it came to us getting food, we almost ran out, so our portion was small. It was okay though because I just ate loads of the salad with a dressing that Celine had made and that was really good. During dinner, Elisa announced that she had been killed with her own shoes in the rain, but she couldn’t say who killed her.

After dinner, we were in charge of washing all the pots we had used (and that was a lot – I think Joe had prepared the tea using every single pot available). We had to wash and dry (by flapping) all the dishes. We had a good system going and loads of the others helped out – even more than some of the actual team who were on duty.

We stayed up a bit later – me and Ruth always seem to be one of the first to go to bed, so tried to party on a bit later (although we didn’t make it much later because it goes dark so early so it always feels much later than it is).

When we got back to the tent and were zipping up the windows we had left open earlier (which have netting over to keep the bugs out), there was a weird centipede/ caterpillar thing on Ruth’s side and we had no idea how it got in. We both just sat and stared for a while before we cleared a pathway and lit it well with torches in order to remove the bug. We may have screamed once, but I only did because Ruth screamed and flicked the bug around the tent because it touched her hand. Good job we were one of the first to go to bed!

Baños and Rio Verde have been beautiful to see and I’m sure with less rain it would have been even better!

To travel is to live, Katie x