A Volcanic Weekend: Baños and Mt Tungerahua

Last weekend I decided to go to Baños, a small town nestled among a drastic landscape of ridges, mountains and an active volcano. Baños offers Relaxation, Recreation (& extreme sports), and a Tourist Nightlife.

We stayed out of the main bustle of the city in a hostal high above the city on a ridge that looks at the volcano. Mt. Tungerahua (Mama T. for short) and had a great view of the landscape surrounding us. and close the La Casa del Arbol:

Tungerahua the day before the eruption

We rented bikes and rode them down in the morning to the waterfall El Pylon del Diablo. On the way down we went for a casual zipline session, and signed up to go canyoning later in the afternoon (rappelling down waterfalls) I knew enough about rappelling, and also enough spanish to understand the safety instructions for both activities... thank goodness. HA. at least I'm pretty sure i knew what they were saying.. =]

Canyoning

 about to Zipline (in the laying down position)

 Riding bikes.

Pylon del Diablo:

That evening we decided to rest our legs and nerves in the thermal waters of Baños. While in line waiting for the pools to open for the evening, mama T woke up from her nap.. The staff advised us that she was a bit more active than usually happens and that bathing was 'our own responsibility' so we naturally went in anyway and peacefully soaked in the pools while occasionally admiring how much ash was being spewed up into the air and noting the occasional grumble.

 While in line for the Thermal Waters

 Once heading back to our hostal we started to see what they meant. through the clouds/ash we could see the bright red glow of LAVA! Contemplating this on our drive up the ridge we got a bit nervous. But once at our hostal the woman owner was waiting for us excitedly and asking why we hadnt come sooner to watch up here! We spent the evening drinking a beer and watching the show which looked a bot like this: we could see this clearly, but i didn't have my camera, naturally.

We could see this clearly, but i didn't have my camera, naturally. We were a bit lower than these photos, but these look much like the ones the Colombians were taking next to us.


Much more to do in Baños so I will be going back! What next? Bungee jumping? Paragliding? =]

Chao!
Until next time,
Joe