Banos

So after our aborted attempt on Chimborazo it was necessary to have a bit of rest and relaxation.

We therefore headed towards the Ecuadorian town of Banos for this. Banos is on the slopes of Mount Tungurahua which is a volcano that is currently erupting.

We had not had lunch before leaving the 4800m refuge on Chimborazo so whilst travelling through to Banos we stopped at a local fast food joint and we sampled the local delicacy of “Papas con Cuy” (Potatoes with Guinea Pig). To me, the cuy tasted pretty good but there was a bit too many bones and the skin was a bit rubbery – apparently the skin was the best bit. Like most terrestrial obscure meats – it tasted a bit like chicken, unlike badger which I’ve been told tastes just like dog (according to Tom Horrocks of Caithness).

Upon arrival in Banos, Chasqui offered us numerous options – bungie jumping, quad biking, mountain biking, white water river rafting, zip lining, etc. Straightaway I was getting the feeling that Banos is Ecuador’s equivalent to New Zealand’s Queenstown. Before I could say anything George had selected white water rafting and it was organised instantaneously through Chasqui’s network (Chasqui mafia). We swung in behind a vehicle heading to the river, and headed to their starting point.

We were soon in front and Chasqui stopped to show us a couple of waterfalls. Then said “do you want to fly like Condor?” George of course said yes and within a minute or two found himself strapped in, head first, to a 1km long zip wire that went from the height of the road all of the way down to the river. Crazy.

We collected George and headed to the start of the white water rafting. Neither of us knew what Chasqui had got us into. Was it grade 4 or 5 white water rafting? Who knows? We donned life jackets and mounted our go-pro cameras onto helmets then had a briefing in Spanish/English from the rafting company. I was slightly more relieved when I heard it was only grade 3 rapids (having never white water rafted before).

There were about 6 boats all to proceed along the river at a similar time and whilst our boat was hand pumped up, the occupants of the other boats were practising their actions on land as bellowed by the instructor for their boat. As soon as our boat was pumped up, our instructor took out our boat straight to the water, told us to get in and said that we’d learn what to do quicker in the water having to do it for real. So in we got.

We had an exhilarating 30 minutes ride down the river, getting soaked and riding the rapids. One of the other boats over turned ejecting all of its occupants and some of the other boats lost oars but with George and I at the helm of the boat we steered a good course, took the brunt of the waves and made it through unscathed.

After this experience we quickly showered before being taken out for a full on meat experience at a small local place known by Chasqui. It was then off to bed.

On Monday 7th, we started the day by debating the internet weather forecast for Cotopaxi for whether or not we should attempt it again before we flew out. We felt we needed a rest day and that the forecast for the night of Tuesday 8th looked most promising so stayed around Banos for a day of R&R.

Chasqui took us for a walking tour around town, visited local markets/shops and he tried to get us to bungie jump off of a bridge – we didn’t take him up on this offer as it looked like the bungie line was simply a dynamic climbing rope of unknown wear and tear.

We investigated the costs of quad biking and decided that they were taking the michael (after about 20 hours quad biking you could buy your own quadbike in the UK for the prices they were asking).

After some more local food Chasqui took us to the San Martin Zoological Park. This gave us an insight into the fascinating natural world of Ecuadorian animals and plants. I could have watched the spider monkeys playing for hours.

Later that afternoon, George and I escaped our escort and had dinner by ourselves for the first time on the exped. Was nice to have some space.

After dinner we both had a full body massage at the hotel to relieve our tired muscles. Their was certainly some tension in our calves and thigh muscles – shame they didn’t work on my shoulder more though.

It was off to bed then, missing a (second) dinner with Chasqui.