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.