An Extreme Weekend!

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Oh my goodness, what a weekend it has been! The four of us from Mindo decided to take friday off work to take advantage of the free salsa dancing lessons offered at the spanish school in Quito. What they didn't tell us when we signed up is that all of the great free things offered with the program were in the city and not always available at the placement we have chosen. The dancing lesson was great! We had a chance to meet other volunteers, and I can't lie, I picked it up very quickly! The next day, we met with some of August's friends that he had met while in the spanish school and our group of 8 caught a bus from Quito down to the city of Baños, known for its hot springs, waterfalls, and close proximity to extreme activity! On the friday night when we arrived, I discovered two small slashes in the bottom of my backpack, not big enough to reach into or slide anything out, but it appears that while I was asleep on the bus my backpack was pulled from under my seat and opened, and my camera was stolen. With any luck I'll be able to claim it with my insurance policy, but it is replaceable and so many of my companions had cameras that I shouldn't have to worry about pictures. Friday night we didn't do too much because we were tired and hungry, so we found a hostel for $5/night, unloaded our things, and headed off to a restaurant. We also managed to find a nice bar in the area called The Leprechaun, where we were greeted with free "Bob Marley" shots, which are comprised of different coloured beverages (alcoholic and non) that have different consistencies so they align into the rastafarian colours of red, yellow, and green. To top it off they were lit on fire and we had to drink them through a straw. We packed it in fairly early though, because we all needed sleep and we had an adventurous plan for the next morning. Saturday we walked down to the local "adventure tours" office, and for the price of $25 we were driven down the river in Baños, given wetsuits and life jackets, and loaded into two white-water rafts. We probably spent a good two hours rafting down the river with a very excitable guide. It was very wet, but nice and sunny, and so much fun! Upon arriving at the end of the course, we unloaded from our rafts, and headed to a restaurant where lunch was included as a part of our adventure experience. It wasn't much of an adventurous meal, but it was good, and one meal we didn't have to worry about! We drove back to the adventure tours office, and walked back to our hostel, where we decided that a perfect end to our day would be to relax in the hot springs that Baños is so famous for. The springs were amazingly hot, and the easiest way to adjust one's body is to constantly switch back and forth between a hot pool and a cold one. However, I found that this only made me quite dizzy, so I tried to avoid alternating as much as possible. After taking the time to relax, we signed up for a volcano tour through our hostel. The tour bus picked us up, and we stood on a platform on the back of the bus, all around town to pick up other people, until we were far enough out of town to climb onto the roof of the bus. (It isn't the most legal thing) The tour took us to the top of one of the local volcanoes, where we enjoyed the experience of watching fire jugglers! August volunteered to be a part of the act, and they placed a cigarette in his mouth and attempted to light it by juggling their torches on either side of him. Unfortunately it couldn't light properly, but it was still amazing he didn't get burned! At the end of the tour, we returned to the hostel, changed and went out dancing for awhile, but had another early night because of our engagement for the morning. Knowing my mom, how she is worried sick all the time, I figured the best activity I could plan for Mother's Day morning would be a good 50m bungee jump! Our whole group made the short trek to one of the local bridges at 9am, where 6 of us took the jump (everyone but Jon and Robin) and yes Mom, we all survived 😉. It was an amazing rush! After the jump we split up into two groups according to who wanted to do what. I rented a bike, along with three of my new friends, and we rode along the scenic route to the large waterfalls along the river. We had a good 5 hour ride, before coming back to catch the bus back to Quito. The others rode horses around the volcanoes and took many pictures of what seemed to be quite the exciting day. The bus ride back was excruciatingly long because of a traffic jam, but we all made it back in one piece and satisfied at how well the weekend went. We're headed back to Mindo tomorrow morning on a 6am bus so we can make it there in time to start work at 8:30, and hopefully catch breakfast. I should have another update within the week!
Peace and Love!

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