Navigating the Way

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In Baños, a group of 5 of us decided we wanted to hike to the swing on the edge of the world. As we ventured off after breakfast, we worked our way up a very steep trail and could tell we were headed in the right direction but would need to figure out more of where to go. When we reached the top of that trail we met a couple from Canada and were able to talk to them and get more direction. This happened various times where we would take a trail and then get to a road or a point where we needed more direction or to figure it out ourselves. Internally I believed we could make it to the swing, but also with all of the self navigation and asking for direction, I began to become slightly unsure. We powered through though and kept going and it was very rewarding to be able to see how capable I was of the difficult hike, and how capable I was in an unknown situation. After taking a trail to a trail to a road to a trail to a road and then walking on that road for quite a bit, we finally arrived to the swing. Although the hike was physically tasking and it was a bit stressful not knowing if we’d get to the swing eventually, it was overall good to know that internally I felt safe and was not too overwhelmed. We were able to take into account our CQ knowledge of the culture, knowing that we had t ask more than one person for directions to make sure they were correct directions. Even the the route we took was pretty indirect to the swing, we got there in time to do it and return with 20 minutes until lunch. Coming back was significantly easier and faster because we knew where we were going and we were going downhill the entire time coming back. Afterwards we were all very tired but internally I felt a sense of accomplishment that we were able to make our way there successfully using what we knew.

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