Banos Ecuador

Hey everyone! How's it going? Bob and I are doing really well. We just spent 4 days in Banos and had a wonderful time. Banos is a small tourist town. Many tourist come here for hiking, biking, rafting, canyoning and tons of outdoor adventures. The town also sits below a large volcano called Tungurahua. The volcano had been dormant for the past 8 decades but in 1999 it started to spew some ashes and started steaming which caused the town to evacuate for several months. It never erupted so the residents started returning to their homes by October 2000. In the meantime, experts are continuing to monitor and residents have evacuation drills twice a year. Pretty impressive too. They can have the whole city evacuated in 12 mins and get this, no one uses their vehicles. They all evacuate by foot. Incredible. So what's the attraction to Banos that brings so many tourists to this small town year after year? The city is full of waterfalls, natural hot springs, tons of hiking, horseback riding, river rafting, canyoning and lots of outdoor adventures.

Bob and I rented a buggy one afternoon and went all over the place with it. We saw fantastic waterfalls, did a little hiking and explored the city.

Of course Bob picked

a cool helmet.

We went thru tunnels

On the highway

Saw some amazing views.

All kinds of waterfalls Some were pretty powerful

Others where high in the mountains

The scenery was beautiful.

I have to admit; I'm disappointed in myself. My sense of adventure has weakened. Bob on the other hand is ready to tackle new challenges all the time. He signed up for the Canyoning Tour. What does that mean...canyoning? Something I couldn't bring myself to do. He repelled down waterfalls. While hanging on to a rope he jumped down the rocks in front of the waterfall and he repelled down. He had a blast.

Check him out!

Can you believe it. Walking over the boulders and down you go.

This would be one of waterfalls he repelled down. Crazy! Maybe I need to bump up that insurance policy.

Down safe and soundly. He repelled down 4 different waterfalls and had a good time.

While Bob did his day of adventure; I hung back and did a spa day. I went in for a stone massage, facial, pedicure and manicure. Unfortunately for me, the electricity went out and the only thing I could have done was the pedi & manicure. I was so disappointed!

But I did start my mornings with a steam bath.

So invigorating. This is called a

a cajon or box. Steam fills the

box and just sit back and relax.

After 10 mins of sweating. I

stepped out of the box was splashed

with very cold water for a few minutes

and back in the box I went. This process lasted

an hour. My skin felt so soft and I sweated

a few pounds of water weight. This process supposedly has a lot of health benefits and helps relieve aches and pains. I need one for my house. O'wait! I don't have a house. Well maybe when we settle down; I can have one installed.

We saw lots of folks doing the swing from the bridge. Bob thought it looked boring. I'm thinking...No way would I do this. I told you my sense of adventure is lost. A few years ago I would have been all over this.

It's very similar to

Bungy jumping but

there's no bounce. Just

jump and swing from the

rope.

This town was fun with beautiful scenery and lots to do.

Our next venture is our cruise. We fly tomorrow (Tuesday) to the Galapago Islands where we board a catamaran for an 8 day cruise. I doubt we'll have access to the internet so stay tuned and I'll blog out the adventures of the islands. We hope everyone is doing well. As you can see we're having a great time. Wish you could be here with us!

Love to all - B&B