Baños: The zoo & more quad biking

Location : Baños,Ecuador



I went to visit the Zoo today (or the "Animal Prison" as it is called in the hostel map)



its two whole kilometres from Baños! so i got another quad.
Today i noticed that some Quad bikes are better than others.
this one is way better, better suspention, more comfortable to sit on, not so jumpy, more power and no chain coming off.
though due to the thumb operated acelerator my thumb is officialy killing me now.



There were lots of beautifully coloured birds here, a little mismached with the background though.


I felt sorry for this Jaguar, she seemed extremely distraught, pacing over and back and moaning loud in a way i would more expect from a monkey. her body was less lean and fit than i would expect a jaguar to be. Then maybe she is about to have pups.



I have to admit there is a prison-esque vibe to it.



This guy tried to shoot something out of his bottom at me!
i got him back later hehe just messin.


Andean fox



"Cabesa de mate" or "taira"
scientific name: "Eira barbara"
i think this is the guy,the mention of whose name alone is enough to kill a guinea pig.
though im not sure which name that is, apparently the Quechua one. in any case say it with care.

there are actually two zoos, or at least its broken up into two, on each side of the road.




Peacock, "Pavo real azul" (direct translation from spanish would be - blue royal turkey)

Venemous snake from Amazonia


Then i went on a small excursion.

After some lunch i went up to "Runtun"
its small village basically on the lower part of the volcano.

Spotted a few more waterfalls along the way.

Quick stop at "Bella Vista" for some fotos (note: this is the same place the Chiva took us the other night)

Runtun

(popped into Cafe del cielo "cafe of the Sky" : its the middle of the three buildings on the edge, had a really nice cherry milkshake)

This i where i went yesterdy, to the Antennas at the top of top of "Lluchi Alta" and "Lluchi Baja"

I can see my house from here! The yellow thing is the cafe on the rooftop of Plantas y Blanco hostel


Plantas y blanco from the inside

Baños: Humpty Dumpty goes quad biking

Rented a Quad bike today and took it up the mountains of "lluchi baja and lluchi alta" which lie on the opposite side of Baños city to Volcan Tungurahua. they bring you up from 1800metres to about 3500 metres give or take, which (on a clear day) provides a fantastic opportunity to see the size of the massive volcano which dwarfs all around it.i passed a few exhausted hikers on the way (and the same ones again on the way back) , i admire their determination hehehe.

the buggy that i had yesterday doesnt go up moutains, but the quads are a far more capable vehicle. a bit jumpy to use at first, instead of a foot pedal, you use a thumb lever to accelerate which can be tiresome after the first while.
i could really notice the changes in temperature on the way up, stepping down several degrees in sudden jumps.
likewise on the way down, the dip back into the lukewarm air of banos was a very welcoming feeling.






Chain came off about half way up, i thought i was doomed to pedestrianism for a second when the bike wasnt moving. putting the chain back on is actually easier than a bicycle but just as greasy!.. it came off two more times after that.

what is the deal with having no hand-brake on these things? makes life a bit tricky.


a farm house way up in the mountain.


it might have been a nice idea to bring some lunch.


heres my proof that i got to the antenna at the top. and in the background is the best i could get of the volcano given the conditions, i think you can see almost to the top of it there.


la poderosa! hehe


a random sign in the middle of nowhere. entitled "sayings of Baños" and it goes on about getting drunk & stuff.
i cant fully translate this yet.. will get back to you on it.


it had to happen. hehe

i think i was getting over confident on the way back down, and i confess i was starting to enjoy the slight skids the bike does when you use the brakes. on approach to a relativly safe corner (ie. one that doesnt have a drop of several hundred metres) i just didnt realise that the ground was soft.i went in too fast and on using the brakes the bike just kept going. same speed: same direction. leaving me wanting to jump off it before it hits the side.

as soon as the bike made contact with the hedge i flew over the handle bars into the gutter somehow managing to break my fall whilst keeping a limb or two stretched out to stay in front of the tumbling bike which stopped just short of pounding on top of me.
you dont want one of these things landing on you.
i immediatly jumped to my feet, threw my helmet to the ground and paced up and down for a minute aftrwards with a mixture of laughter and shock that I , the bike and even my clothes had come out undamaged. lucky one!! i did have a sore ankle for a while though.


there was a guy going around the hostel with his arm in a sling, i now know how he got that. on one of these things. broke his collar bone.


nothing like a good fry up!

Baños from "san francisco" bridge.

Baños: amusingly translated menus

i ate in the restaurant with the funny menu again.


You icy! (iced tea)


Omelette of Fungi ... think ill pass...hehe (mushroom omlette)


cooked pope and mayonaise !! (papa = potato)



"Cola" can also mean tail (ie. a dogs tail)

Baños: The Waterfall route in a Buggy

location : Baños, Ecuador



Buggy Driving

rented out one of those Quad buggys to do the "ruta de cascadas" the waterfall route. not one other traveller wanted to do it, preferring to choose "safer" ? bikes instead, hahahaha passed a few on the way.
its a 3 hour drive on main roads and some off road too.
it was great to be behind a wheel again and a real novelty to rip through mud, under some light waterfalls and when you put the boot down on the open road it feels and sounds rather like a formula 1 car. ( a 50kph version hehe).
it was raining lightly this morning, and as seemes to always be the case, the sun comes out in the afternoon, i couldnt wait though so i just went ahead with it and got mucky hehe.
the fotos look a bit dull for that reason, the temperature however is just right in Baños all of the time. not too hot not too cold.


looking over the edge of the road.




me taking a picture of, me taking a picture of a small waterfall which crosses the road.




another waterfall coming down on the road.
ah, so thats why the guy asked me if i had a rain poncho!!







no hand brake, so i used a rock under the wheel for pit stops. here you can see the gutter that goes along the better roads, the more dangrous the fall, the deeper the gutter.


I stopped here to ask for directions.




you come to a small village called Rio Verde, where you park up and continue on foot down into this valley to see the biggest waterfall.




the rope bridge across the raging river below made me slightly nervous. a friendly girl and her cousin (as seen in picture) stopped me in the middle of the bridge to for a wee 10 minute chat and some english-spanish practice..



view of waterfall from the bridge.


here is a foto taken from further up the hill , you can see the rope bridge, a house (restaurant) and although the waterfall is hidden you can see the massive cloud of vapour rising off it.





nice drawing.
the text on the right says "dont be dirty, dont urinate here, ill make you clean it! "








in the distance you can see a tunnel, this was only wide enough for one vehicle, (theres another tunnel nearby for cars going the other direction) pretty freaky with one very dim headlight , and though i was pretty sure i was going the right way, i disconnected the seatbelt in case an oncoming vehicle were to enter at the other end hehehe.

finally i have found a ciber caf with fast enough connection to upload videos. they also do free coffee, and lunch (eg. two toasted sandwiches for $1.50) while you are on the pc! though i will only upload this one for now, because there are two flys bugging the hell out of me.


this is an off-road part where you must drive through some water. the "archos head-camera" let me down big time, it wouldnt even turn on. so i filmed this with the canon camera in one hand and the other hand on the wheel.