An Amazing First Day in Baños

I just got home from a two day trip to Baños, which is about 3.5 hours south of Quito. I'm breaking the blog up into two parts, two days, because on the second day, we went rafting and I'm waiting to receive the digital media from the agency we hired.

We arrived in the city around 10:30am on Saturday and proceeded to check into our hostel. Afterward, we found our way to the agency where we would be signing wavers and whatnot for our weekend adventures. The first thing on the list... jumping off a bridge.

Our reaction to that very idea...

This is what I call 'my face before realizing
I'm about to straight up jump off a bridge'

The view of the way down

A view from the bridge we're about to jump off 

And there I go

Yet somehow I survive

This is just a picture I grabbed of our hostel dog

Here's the crew that had the bravery to jump

Afterward, we wanted to check out a location that was supposedly famous in Baños: Casa del Árbol (Treehouse). It was about a 45 minute bus ride up the mountain to a mini-hike. Somewhat unfortunately, we'd been having rain all day, so we wondered what the top would look like, and despite the bad weather, it did not disappoint.

Feeling on top of the world

At the treehouse, which I forgot to snap a picture of, there are also swings. These aren't your average playground swings, however. In fact, they have a safety strap because these swings bring you over an extremely steep hill, one in which you do not want to take the risk of falling to see if you can stop yourself from tumbling down the mountain. In fact, a gentlemen just before our group almost fell out the swing, the only thing saving him the safety strap.

The unfortunate part about the clouds is the view of the volcano would come and go, and if the clouds weren't there in this picture, you'd have a gorgeous view of it. But nonetheless, I managed to enjoy the view for my turn on the swing.

My room at the hostel was at the top of the building, and I was greeted with this beautiful view of Baños upon our return from the treehouse.

Afterward, we were all surprised, including the locals, to find that there was a firework show in the city. My priority was to enjoy it while I could, so I may not have an amazing picture, but you can understand the excitement of what it's like to be surprised with fireworks... Especially when you missed out on a U.S. 4th of July!                                                                                                               All in all, this first day was amazing, and I could not wait for my second day where we would go rafting! Once I receive the digital media of our trip, I will post part two to our Baños weekend!