Today we took a truck ride and a hike through the mountain jungle to some waterfalls (“cascadas”) and pools. The hike was nice, with a little rope assisted scrambling. The waterfalls are unimpressive even compared to those in New Hampshire, but there is a nice area both locals and tourists use for swimming jumping into the water. We swam by the cascades and it was very relaxing. There is a water slide using a natural waterfall with a fun eight foot drop into the water. We all went down. There was also an option to jump down 30+ ft below the waterfall. None of us would go near it, but when discussing it I noticed that the bruises from the last jump are finally gone.
River crossing.
Copyright 2015 CC-BY-SA
After lunch we went ziplining (“canopy”). I was a bit worried about how safe it would be here but it seemed fine. Doing the “superman” looking down into the valley was a fantastic flight, despite having to hold on to the guide with my legs in a rather awkward position. At one point while waiting my turn I had a fairly smooth Spanish conversation with an Ecuadorian woman.
There are some interesting Americans staying at the cabins with us. Two are in the Peace Corps. Another just arrived with no intent to go back. These are the first people I’ve met who are not doing short to medium term (volun)tourism.
Copyright 2015 CC-BY-SA
Costs
Cost today: $46.20
Cumulative cost: $749.64