Baños – the adventure capital of Ecuador
What a great day!
Baños is a fairly small town in Ecuador and it’s a great place do go hiking and do adventure activities. Although it’s really touristy, with one agency next to another I liked it. Because it’s surrounded by mountains and the scenery is simply stunning.
On the first day, I took a local bus to get to the waterfall called El Pailón de Diablo. The trip takes about half an hour and the fare is 50 cents. The bus dropped me off just next to the path leading to the waterfall.
There are actually two entrances to the waterfall from two different sides and with separate entrance fees. One path is at the end of the village and you hike down to get to see the waterfall from the bottom while another path is more from the central part of the village allowing you to see the waterfall from the top. The paths are not connected although it might seem so in maps.
I liked the view from the top a bit more but I recommend you to see it from both places. It’s powerful. It’s stunning. It’s exciting. I loved it. The entrance fee is 2 dollars from each side.
On the second day, I went hiking to la Casa del Árbol. 4.2 km, 800 m altitude difference, 1 hour and 45 minutes hiking up. It was a tough one because the trail was rather steep. At the top there is a very small adventure park with big swings and zip-line. A few steps away there is El Torre del Cielo, a set of two swings, one of which rotates 360°, vertically and horizontally.
What I liked the best, however, was el Columpio Extremo, a giant swing, about a kilometre further downhill. It’s a 35 m high swing, the highest one in Ecuador and it swings you over the valley of the town of Baños some 600 m down below you. I wanted to do it before going there and knowing what it actually was like. When I came there I was amazed at what I saw and also reluctant to do it. It looked scary. It took me a few minutes to overcome the fear I had and decide to go for it. And so I did. And it was super cool. I loved it. I loved it so much that I went for a swing twice. I was glad that they gave me a 50% discount the second time. The swinging lasts for about 2 minutes and is amazing. 100% recommended.
Also, drinking a cup of coffee at the Café del Cielo located at one of the viewpoints was a really nice way to spend the afternoon.
I’m lovin’ Ecuador. 😊
