Ecuador!

In addition to the souvenir that keeps on giving (I'm still sick!), Ecuador also gave us many memorable moments of adventure, fun, and laughter. Our adventure spa did not disappoint! After a fairly easy and smooth day of traveling, we made it to our home away from home late Saturday evening. My first reaction was, "This is the best summer camp EVER!"

Sunday's highlight was a morning hike down to the little town in the valley below us, Banos. (Yes, that would be Spanish for "bathroom", but in this case, it's referring to the natural hot springs found in the town.) It was quite the hike because it was less of a path than a drainage ditch, and because we had a few unique encounters...

I accidentally startled some cows that were on our trail and before I knew it, a farmer came barreling out of the trees with a machete! He threw it into the ground and went running after his livestock. Whoops.

This little guy showed me his goats.
And then I found a unicorn. Almost.

On Monday we met up with some friends we had made the night before and spent the day biking to another town, visiting the waterfalls along the way. Supposedly it was 90% downhill. My legs and behind beg to differ. We got to see the 10th highest water drop in the world: Pailon del Diablo.

Ben did not appreciate it when I jumped on the bridge to make it swing. He yelled something about Indiana Jones and quickly made his way to the other side, making sure he only looked straight ahead.

Tuesday found us canyoning (rappelling down waterfalls). Unfortunately, I have no pictures since I didn't want to risk damaging my camera with water or because of falling to my death and landing on top of it. It was by far the most unique and exciting experience of the trip - so exhilarating and thrilling! It was just the two of us with our guide, so we got to know him pretty well. Ben and I would take five to eight minutes to get down a waterfall, and Angelo would essentially run down it in 30 seconds! He was ridiculous.

The next day we took the bus to a neighboring town, Puyo, which serves as an entrance to the Amazon Rain Forrest. We didn't have the time or money to really explore it (i.e. I did not get to hug a monkey), but did get to see some beautiful foliage and learn about indigenous culture. FYI: there is one tribe that can still legally shrink the heads of those they kill. So...watch your back.

Thursday found us galloping up and down trails along the mountain en route to see the active Tungurahua volcano, followed by full-body massages at the spa. Followed by the Beginning Of The Sickness.

And here is the infamous volcano. This is the clearest view we had the whole week. Ben was obsessed with it and took about twenty pictures. He was sad that we didn't get to see any lava.

We had planned to take it easy and relax on our last day, so getting sick only meant that I had to cancel a volcanic ash body treatment at the spa. We ended up holing up in the lodge's den, reading and watching reruns of House all day long. I pulled myself together enough to make it out for one more dinner in Banos that night...which was what ended up revisiting me early Saturday morning. It might be awhile before I can stomach any heuvos rancheros again.

This is one of the shots Ben took while I was passed out on Friday. Giving me a run for my money - pretty soon he's going to want his own fancy camera!
Altogether it was a great trip. I'm bummed it ended on such a bad note, but at least we managed to do all the fun things we had planned to before I got sick. We realized that staying in one spot for a full week made us a little antsy - there was so much more we could have done, but we were locked in, having paid for lodging already. Next time we'll backpack more and have more flexibility to come and go as we please. Now, as for the next trip....hmmm...any suggestions?!