May 10 ECUADOR -Banos -Rio Verde

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We headed to Banos, the adventure capital of Ecuador. Over 3 days we did everything from white-water rafting to treking and "Canyoning". Our raft capsized 3 times in the river -the third time in a Class 5 rapid, after our instructors oar broke!. For the record, the rapids are either Class 3,4 or 5 (with 5 the hardest!). Luckily I am a good swimmer and we all got back safely in the raft.

The next day we did “Canyoning” which involves trekking down some of Banos fast-flowing rivers. We had to jump in to a rock pool from 20 foot, and then flow down rapids with our life jackets. The hardest was the abseiling down waterfall. One was 50 foot high and it´s not easy with water roaring at 100miles an hour to your right and a “wall of slime” to your left.

Apart from the lightning and thunder there was the small factor of the local Tungurahua Volcano, as it decided to become very active the day before we arrived. The town was on full alert, but we were 16Km away from it. Still not easy to sleep with a big “KABOOOM” noise from the volcano at 3 and 4 in the morning!!

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