Cascadas

As my journey in Ecuador is coming to its end, with only one week left, I must say that I've experienced some amazing unexpected things.

For one, though I've always wanted to try, climbing down a waterfall was never on my short term "to-do" list. Last weekend however, we went to Banos and climbed down not one but three waterfalls. Though the group we were with was large, resulting in a lot of waiting around, I was never bored. While I was cold, the five hours during which we were climbing down these falls were so fun. While waiting in line we dared each other to stand under smaller waterfalls, we sat our body fully in the freezing water pooled at the bottom of the waterfall we just descended and chatted up people from Germany, Ireland and France. Never a dull moment.

Another incredible experience in Banos also involved another waterfall. This time myself and two other dear friends went on an excursion on our own to find this famous waterfall that we had heard so much about the night before from some new Columbian friends we made. We took a bus, stayed super alert so we wouldn't miss our stop, strolled through a seemingly abandoned town, through the forest, had some sugar cane and sugar cane juice, bought some bracelets and then finally arrived at the most breathtaking waterfall. We were so proud of ourselves for having found the waterfall and we're totally blown away by the view. Then we saw that there was a way to climb the waterfall all the way to the top and stand behind it. Of course, we did. It was such an exhilarating adventure.

This weekend we are going to Mindo, which is conveniently known as the mini Banos. Quite excited to see what kind of adventures I will have this time.