So after Shane and I finally got back safe and sound from San Cristobal we spent two days in Quito where Shane could visit his woman (a drama in and of itself) and get some passport/visa stuff dealt with- or so we thought. On the Friday our friend Scott (aka Escott, Oskar, the Great Forest Escottie, etc) met us for breakie and joined us as we headed to the wee town of Baños in the Tungurahua region of Ecuador. One of the main reasons for the trip (besides the sheer joy of travelling) was to visit friends of ours that we met in Quito when we arrived in January, Chris and Conny, retired teachers from Guelph!
We had planned to visit Baños on two other occasions previously but things kept happening- such as landslides and volcanic eruptions- that got in the way but this time we were determined to meet up with them before they left the country. Emailing was difficult and we (somewhat reluctantly) trusted Shane´s communication and directional skills... let´s just say that there were a few snags, we didn´t actually know how to contact them or where in the town to find them beyond following some old place references from emails gone by. As we wandered the town, trying not to fight or kill each other, Escott offered efforts of tension breaking by saying that these people don´t actually exist and then complaining that we brought him to a place where there aren´t even any birds to look at...lol... sucker. So we grabbed lunch and wandered about some more... at this point I have to thank my mom and dad and ancestors for my height which turned out to be an advantage oddly enough.
So we were wandering the street that we suspected the school they were volunteering at was on and couldn´t figure out where it was until we walked past this big metal gate that had a little hole in it, just about at my eye level, for the lock... I looked to my left and low and behold I saw paintings and murals and toys and people! So we knocked and it turned out to be the art school that they worked at but they had not been there in several days, however, the lovely gentleman that we dealt with gave us directions to their place and a time to come back and check if they came by. Unfortunately, they weren´t at their place, nor were they there when we went back, but we did get a tour and some interesting info on the volunteer program that they were running there.
At a bit of a loss we headed to a nearby internet cafe and were checking to see if they´d sent word electronically when I turned to gaze out the door and saw them walking by!! So I turned to Shane and said ¨Chris and Conny just walked by¨, got up and bolted after them, stopping them in the street :) HAHA! So there Escott! They do exist! We chatted a bit, went back to get the boys, and headed to a nearby restaurant for beer and food... what a wonderful evening! We were all exhausted after though so it turned out to be an early bedtime for all with Scott wanting to get up early for bird watching and Shane wanting to get up early for hitting the local hotsprings (hence the name of the town, Baños means Baths), and me wanting to sleep in :) Shane succeeded in getting up early but got lost (as usual) and took a few hours to do his bathing and Scott failed at getting up with the birds but I got to sleep in and we all managed to meet for breakfast before deciding to head to the zoo (listed as the Animal Prison on the maps of the town). It seems that Shane´s directional issues rubbed off and we took a rather extended route to get to the zoo, however, we did get there, Scott got to see a bunch of caged birds, Shane and I ALMOST had a monkey throw shit at us but instead the little guy decided to eat his shit instead, and then we headed back to town to meet with Chris and Conny again for lunch... love those guys!
Other than the zoo and visiting with our Ontarian friends, we also got to see the venting of Vulcan Tungurahua, walk up the BAZILLION stairs and dirt path to the statue of the Virgin of whatever overlooking the town, and Scott and I got to see the beautiful paintings in the local church. Shane´s gf arrived Saturday which meant that Scott and I wandered about to give them some time alone, meeting up with them after dinner at a local pub boasting live local music... As for dinner, we had some delish pizza with a side of random band that walked in and set up in the middle of the tiny restaurant and played Andean music with a dancing chick! It was super cool... at least I thought so... funnily enough though, Scott and I ended up at a local bar after chilling with Shane and Geovanna that may as well have been somewhere in North America... but it was fun and had cold beer and a patio outside so I can´t complain...
Unfortunately, that pretty much sums up Baños since we didn´t do the bike into Puyo, any treks to the volcano, or dunebuggy-ing... but it was a good weekend and a nice trip to kick off the last leg of the big trip (before heading back to the reserve)...
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