Baños, Ecuador

The Volcano and Waterfalls

January 19, 2008

- U2

Danger is all relative and every place has its dangers. Colombia has the FARC and kidnappings as part of its ongoing civil conflict, Quito has its muggings and petty crime, and Baños has a more natural danger, its volcano. Located 7 km from the crater of Tungurahua, which erupted two weeks ago and rained ash down on the city, Baños is in a less than ideal location when it comes to its safety. At the foot of the volcano and surrounded by deep river gorges and other mountains, the scenery is amazing, however, there are well marked designated evacuation routes just in case the volcano erupts again. It is a true tourist town with many foreign and Ecuadorean tourists and its name derives from the many baths in and around the town. Because of the volcanic activity there are also nightly trips run by the multitude of tour agencies to the nearby mountains to watch the volcano. A lot of times these don´t live up to the promise of seeing an eruption as the volcano is often obscured by clouds or fog or both.

On the first night I arrived I decided to go on one of these tours. The tour operator drove around town in a big jeep known as a chiva waiting for and picking up as many people as they could before finally heading across the bridge out of town and up the mountain opposite the volcano. After we left town they let us ride on the roof of the chiva as we made our way up a hundred switchbacks on the dirt road to the top of the mountain. When we reached the top the volcano was covered in clouds but after waiting for a few minutes the clouds actually cleared and we could see the summit of the volcano. Shortly after this we were treated to a small volcanic eruption and the volcano shot out some lava intermittently for about 5 minutes. It was amazing to actually see this and considering that you could see the entire town of Baños on the valley floor below it was disconcerting to think that someday the town could be destroyed by an eruption.

The next day I rented a mountain bike and road downhill from Baños on the road to Puyo, a town in the foothills nearer to the jungle. It was only $5 a day to rent the bike and it even included a helmet, spare tube, a pump, and a lock. The road runs alongside the river and there are various waterfalls on the side of the road within short hiking distances. There are also a few cable cars that run across the river gorge to the other side. The scenery was great and most of the time there wasn´t much traffic on the road so I didn´t choke on the noxious black fumes of the trucks and buses. The road passes through a couple tunnels, which are obviously unlit and leaking water, fortunately the bike trail goes around all of these tunnels except the first one, which you are forced to ride through. Luckily the cars have their lights on so that you can see something, otherwise it was almost pitch black inside the tunnel and the air was absolutely vile from all the exhaust fumes and lack of ventilation. It was an easy downhill ride, save for a few short uphill sections. After arriving at the last waterfall and hiking down and back you can just catch a ride back to Baños in a truck for a dollar or two. Later that night I went to the baths, which are located at the base of a waterfall that cascades down the mountain behind Baños. There were a few baths at different temperatures and it was relaxing to sit and soak in the hot water, as that is usually a rare commodity in most places in South America. It was also good preparation for another day of travel.