Baños, Ecuador: Gateway to My Enchanted Adventure in Ecuador
Hola amigos! #myenchantedadventure has begun and I have arrived in Ecuador for my incredible journey with Enchanted Expeditions and my first-ever Adventurelust GALAPAGOS MEET-UP!!!!!!
This is so so crazy. I got a DM just over a year ago from the lovely team at Enchanted saying they liked my content and asking if I had any interest in Galapagos/Ecuador.
UM.
Anyway, more to come on that, I think I’ll start hyperventilating if I go off on that tangent right now, but so so excited for what’s to come so stay tuned. Some of my Adventurelusting amigos are joining me starting tomorrow for our tour, so I want to get this blog post out while it’s still fresh!
I’m starting this trip off with about a week of solo time and mainland exploring before we head to Galapagos. I came to Baños, a mountain town a 4-hour bus ride from Quito. (Go to the Quitumbe Terminal, tix are $5, leaving every 30 mins ish)
Although i’m still solo and backpacking like usual right now, Baños has been a bit of a different experience than what I’m used to, which is basically going hard and cramming every single thing or risk dying of FOMO. But I am here to chill, ease into Ecuador before my tour starts, get all my work done and make sure everything is good to go for Galaps. So I have been taking it easy, have seen a couple of the main sights but could DEFINITELY use some more time, or else I’ll be back for more!
Baños is honestly incredible. It’s the gateway to the Amazon — lush, green, wild weather, volcanoes, adrenaline activities galore. The town is super cute, with the vibrant colourful artisanal goods that we know and love (you better believe I already bought my alpaca sweater). It kinda reminds me of other mountain towns like Cusco in Peru or Antigua in Guatamala or Oaxaca city in Mexico — the kind that are tucked in a valley and totally surrounded by mountains — but this town feels just a little more magical. Here’s why.
It has a waterfall as the main backdrop to the city. I’ve never seen that before. It’s so beautiful. In fact I am currently writing this from here:
The mountains are just SO steep and high. They stretch straight up into the sky. it’s like walking in Manhattan when if you want to see the sky you have to look up because the skyscrapers are blocking the sky, but here, it’s mountains.
Because of these steep cliffs, there are literally WATERFALLS EVERYWHERE. One of the things I wished I could do but won’t have time is the Ruta de las Cascadas — biking along the waterfall route — but even driving in the bus, I saw waterfalls everywhere I looked. It’s crazy. Never seen anywhere like this.
Another thing that makes Baños the best is ITS FRICKEN CLOUDS ARE MAGIC. It is in a cloud forest so the clouds are always hovering around the mountains, swirling, nestling amongst the peaks, it’s soso pretty sometimes I can’t believe my eyes. Slight Tablecloth vibes (Cape Town peeps if you know you know).
One of the main activities I did check off the list was going to Pailon del Diablo, which is an INCREDIBLE waterfall. The structure around it is amazing, with spiralled staircases on towers, suspension bridges, and tunnels. I took the “old” entrance with a 20-min hike to the falls, and crawled through the little tunnel space as far as I could go. High chance of showers so prepare to get misted!
I also went to the hot springs right under the waterfall here in town called Termas de la Virgen. Double check the hours when you go but I think it opened at 6am-3pm, closed for 3 hours for cleaning (which is appreciated) and then again 6-10pm. Normally hot springs kinda weird/gross me out, these did a little bit, but it was super relaxing and I loved soaking in the hothot water, which is fed by the volcano! There are varying temps of pools and some are mixed with waterfall water to be a bit cooler, so you get bathtub-hot, hot tub-hot, and scorching lava hot. I personally enjoyed the scorching lava hot one.
I also went to La Casa Del Arbol, famous for its “columpio fin del mundo” — swing at the end of the world. The setting is STUNNING here, I got there just before a huge crowd of local tourists so got to soak in the peace a bit. The swing is slightly terrifying because the guy who pushes you is loco, but you know, all for the ‘gram. You’re strapped in so no lives were threatened. Here I saw the most incredible display of cloud porn of life — so magical up in the mountains.
For Pailon del Diablo and La Casa Del Arbol i took a city bus, $1 USD per way, 15 and 30 mins respectively, it was super easy! Casa del Arbol’s busses went every 2 hours I think, I bussed there at 4 and caught the last bus back to town at 6. I recommend this timing cause it’s nice to be there close to sunset (which is just after 6pm)!
Otherwise, I did lots of yoga in Selina’s gorgeous waterfall-view wellness space, lots of working from Honey Coffee shop off the main square, and am writing this from Cafe Hood which I also recommend. That’s about it for now, but stay tuned for many more adventures to come! Don’t forget to subscribe to my newsletter below if you want to receive my blog posts in your inbox!
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