Hiking Hola Vida and Indichuris

On Day Two of Adventuring with the Ferries, we drove thru Puyo to an iconic stop, Indichurri. There are actually two places that go by the name Indichuris on the same road. This is the second one.

I hear that on a clear day the views of volcanos over the Rio Puyo is mesmerizing. Even though we had a beautiful day with blue skies, we only saw bits and pieces of the volcanos in the distance.

While I was debating on riding this rope swing, my friend tells me that there's a video online of a man falling off of the swing. He was drunk and snuck in after hours. I decided to pass.

Hammocks for relaxing and enjoying the fantastic view.

On the hike back down, we stopped to explore some caves and found bats and spiders on the walls.

_____________________________________________________

The trailhead for Hola Vida Cascades is just down the road from Indichuris. The trail runs along the river and is quite an interesting hike requiring crossings over multiple types of bridges.

Once at the waterfall, Journey spent her time looking for interesting rocks while Asher quietly looked for gold. It reminded me of our time spent at National Parks just soaking in the beauty and letting the kids explore at their own pace. The desire to travel the western US again is strong!

On our way home we enjoyed a pizza on the outdoor patio of O Solo Mio overlooking Puyo. A great ending to a fantastic weekend adventure with our friends.

Adventures with the Ferries {Baños}

Our friends, the Ferries, have lived in Shell for four years and just like us, love outdoor adventuring.  So one weekend they planned some fun adventures for us to experience together. Our first stop, a roadside vendor to pick up a cacao fruit. This one has been cut open to expose the sweet fleshy covered seeds. You scrape the seeds with your teeth, then you can roast the seeds to make chocolate.

On Saturday we went to Banos' Parque de la Familia. Online this looked like nothing more than a river and dam viewing area, so misleading. This place was fantastic! Trails cut thru gorgeous botanical gardens and animal enclosures featuring chickens, rabbits and guinea pigs. There are areas for picknicking and even an area where camping is permitted. 

I was ectatic to follow an unusual call to this Inca Jay! 

Next the kids and I went horseback riding from the town of Baños up into the mountains. Riding thru the streets with cars and dogs passing by, was quite a weird experience. But as we climbed higher, we left the city behind and focused on the 16,480ft snow-capped, active volcano, Tungurahua. One of the street dogs, however, followed us the entire ride, leaving us only to bark at other dogs and attempt to bite the tire of every motorcycle that passed.

We paid a quick visit to the Basilica de Nuestra Senora del Rosario de Agua Santa (Sanctuary of our lady of the rosary of holy water).

An Italian lunch followed by a dinner at the Stray Dog Cafe were enjoyed before heading home for the night. Tomorrow we'd take on a hike to Hola Vida Cascadas and Indichurri.