bethany.shines: Road Trip!

The ever-welcoming and wonderful Telmo and Diana invited me along on yet another vacation of theirs. This time we were joined by Jerry, a semi-retired gentleman from the U.S. now living in Ecuador. Telmo drove his car, and the four of us took a fun road trip from Quito, ending up in the jungle somewhere between Puyo and Tena.

The first incredible thing we saw on our trip was the The Avenue of Volcanos. While driving, and often stopping for pictures, we could see many of Ecuador’s volcanos along this stretch of road. Among others, we could see Volcano Cotopaxi, Volcano Corozon, Volcano Illinizas and the active Volcano Tunguragua. This part of our road trip was breathtakingly beautiful! We watched smoke billow out of Tunguragua most of the day, as we were lucky that the normally clouded sky was clear.

Later, we stopped in Baños for the night, and coincidentally it was Canton Founding Day there! We were greeted by parades, and in the evening, from the main park, saw the most amazing fireworks display that I may have ever seen. The fireworks continued exploding, on and on and on, long after we were impressed. The four of us talked late into the night. They happily shared shots of scotch, as I only tried to, for I was still quite ill and didn’t feel up to it. Stories were exchanged and friendships formed, as I learned of their incredible lives. Did you know that Telmo was in the Special Forces? I didn’t either! He had jaw-dropping stories to share.

The next day we drove La Ruta de Las Cascadas, “Highway of the Waterfalls” on the road from BaNos to Puyo, stopping in Salcero for a taste of this town famous for its’ homemade ice cream. This route was incredible, as we passed more than a dozen waterfalls along the way, stopping to enjoy many of them, including the hike to El Pailón del Diablo (The Devil’s Cauldron.) This waterfall is immense, and is so powerful that when the waterfall hits the river below, it creates a giant swirl in the river that one would be wise to not go near. At the top of this hike, one may continue by crouching into a wet cave, and somewhat crawling through the passage, arriving behind the dominant waterfall. Standing in this place, behind the falls, for only 30 seconds and you are wet! Of course I had to do it.

Jerry the photographer. Thank you Jerry for recording this trip. You are appreciated!

Soon, we were passing through Río Negro, a small town of less than 500 people, located in cloud forest, with beautiful, crystal-clear rivers. Driving through a side road, we discovered a big, empty house for sale. The house was made of all wood and was moist throughout. We explored this giant house, each taking a different path, accidentally imitating a typical episode of Scooby-Doo, opening and closing doors, meeting comically in different locales, over and over again. Behind, the house was lush with plant-life, and the most crystalline river I have ever seen. Suddenly, Diana portrayed a look of shock and quickly said to me, “Look!” As I turned my head I saw a large lion facing me, and nearly tumbled over a boulder from backing away so fast. The group howled with laughter, as it was in fact only a giant lion sculpted from concrete, hiding among the vegetation.

This same day, we made our way to the Jungle somewhere past Puyo but before Tena. We stayed at Al Centro Zanjarajuno, the owner being a friend of Telmo’s. This place is a sanctuary and rehabilitation center for wildlife, preserves jungle land, and also educates people. It was beautiful, and the owner is a kindred spirit. He even loaned me jungle boots, a requisite for exploring.

There was only thing that I did not enjoy one bit. It was the crazy, co-dependent monkey that jumped onto my head after dinner, and would not let go, even for the efforts of a group of 6. The two volunteers living at the center said that they have never seen this monkey be so stubborn, though he is often a problem. His parents died when he was very young, thus, he likes to cling to humans. He pulled and pulled my hair as we tried in vain to remove him. He even bit me a few times as I reached up to try to get him off of me. Luckily he is missing his front teeth, so he did not draw blood. Also, he may not have been biting very hard, but simply warning me that he had no intention of leaving his new, comfy, though entirely panicked home. Finally, after much freaking out, I stuck my head under a water faucet outside, and with three people pulling at the same time, he finally had to let go. This was a traumatic experience that I care never to repeat.

I am not as happy as I look

In the jungle I saw wildlife that I had never even heard of before. I was even able to feed some porcupine-looking pig animals, as this refuge rescues and rehabilitates jungle creatures.

either very full or very pregnant

one of many fuchsia dragonflies

a cutie in the road that we encouraged to save itself

My favorite part of the trip, was on the way back home to Quito. We stopped again at the old, wood house for sale in Río Negro. There, Telmo, Diana and I swam in the river behind the house. It was invigorating! Jerry, a professional photographer, snapped some pictures of us in the cold, mountain water. This was a reminder to renew my vow to swim in mountain rivers whenever possible.

1, 2, 3 dunk!

Cold mountain water!

A big thanks to Jerry for these photos!

Floating down the river from the cascade

Swimming back up the river

So happy

Saving the Casa del Árbol (Tree House) story for last. Somewhere along the journey, we parked and hiked up to this place. There we found old equipment used for measuring volcanic activity, a refuge potentially for hikers, and a house in a tree! Tied to this tree was a swing from which I daringly swung. When swinging out, the ground dropped off suddenly and drastically. Had the swing or tree branch decided to break, there would have been no hope. (It reminded me of the swing I had when I was very little at my family’s house on the hill in Kingston, Tennessee.) At first, I was swinging facing away from the extreme drop-off, as Jerry kindly took pictures. After I turned around and faced the alarming height over which my body was precariously dangling with each swing out, my stomach lurched and simultaneously, my heart flew into my throat. Scary! Here are some pictures.