Adventuring in Baños

Baños is known as the adventure capital of Ecuador and we all got the opportunity to experience just what makes that statement true last week. With opportunities to go bridge-jumping, paragliding and canyoning, this week was very adventurous for all of us. All the exciting activities were well offset by 3 hours of Spanish class every morning at the Marco Polo Spanish School. After sitting in class all morning, it was nice to spend the afternoons exploring Baños through epic experiences. Bridge-jumping, or "puenting" was a highlight for the half of our group that went. Jumping off of a bridge and swinging underneath it seems to be thrilling for some of our group, but not for all of us. It was fun to watch them fly through the air and disappear under the bridge though!

Paragliding was an activity that most of our group chose to participate it. Half of us went Tuesday afternoon and the other half, after being cancelled on twice due to weather, got to fly Saturday. Flying through the air with nothing but a harness and parachute (and a pilot) while Mt. Tungurahua produced ash clouds in the background is something that few people can say they've experienced and it was a huge highlight of my week.

One of the most fun activities for me was our salsa dancing lesson from Ellen and Makayla's host father, Oscar. We took a 2 hour lesson on their roof top Salsateca. It was so funny to watch us fail at dancing and Oscar judge us harshly on how unable we are to move our hips correctly. We did get to go out to Leprechaun, the actual Salsateca, to try out our new moves. Definitely a weekly highlight.

Saturday, we said goodbye to our fourth and final homestay families, and went canyoning! Basically, canyoning is when you repel down waterfalls in a wetsuit. It was an exhilarating mix of being pounded by rushing water and making waterslides out of rocks. Our last morning in Baños was spent the way it should be, adventurous water sports in nature.

Baños definitely treated us well. We got to fully experience everything that this city had to offer. We even survived a mild earthquake and an erupting volcano! From Spanish classes and homestays, this week was a week of first...and lasts. It seems like the end of this trip is on the horizon. But we still have some really amazing weeks ahead of us. We are excited to finally be back as a group and spend time all together again. Baños treated us well, but we are definitely ready to move on to the next chapter of our trip!

Bridget Dubus and Ellen Mahoney