Day 6

                The day started with a 7AM wake-up call, followed with a buffet-breakfast at 8. We departed the hotel at 9AM and went on a journey on very brightly colored trolley, passing through many different ecosystems. We went through multiple tunnels through the mountains and found that the trolley was all blinged out with fancy, colorful lights. During our journey, we also saw a very unique carving of Jesus Christ’s head on a rock. We took a couple of stops on our way to the waterfalls in order to take pictures with the beautiful scenery. One of these stops was to a ziplining canopy, which we unfortunately did not get to go on. We saw and bought some of the beautiful hand-made jewelry pieces made of orange peels.

            When we reached our destination (the waterfalls), we went on a very exciting and thrilling hike. We climbed through tunnels and got to take pictures under one of the waterfalls. The water from the waterfalls combined with the rainwater left many of us drenched. After our very challenging and slippery hike to see the waterfalls, we went back onto the trolley and headed back to Baños to walk around and observe the city. We went into a beautifully designed church to observe and take pictures of its stunning beauty. Afterwards, Jennifer bought us some toffee (which we later saw an Ecuadorian man make by stretching and throwing). We also tried guinea pig, which unsurprisingly tasted a bit like chicken. Ms. Maggio also bought us ice-cream; Jennifer recommended the guanabana-flavored ice cream, which was very delicious and sweet. After walking around a bit more, we walked back to the hotel, where we had soup, steak (or pasta), and dessert for lunch.

            After lunch, we finished packing our luggage and boarded the bus in order to reach our final destination for the day—the Amazon rainforest. We needed to go on a canoe ride in order to reach the hotel. The exciting part was that this canoe ride took place in the dark; the Ecuadorian men steered in complete darkness, depending only on their astute senses and connections with nature. When we arrived at the hotel, we had a delicious buffet-dinner, finished with a serving of starfruit. We had cake to celebrate Henrik’s birthday; in classic “Ecuadorian” style, he stuck his face into the cake. To finish off this amazing day, we played a round of Mafia. Lights in this hotel went out at around 10PM, so we had to take showers in the dark; showering in the dark is definitely an experience to remember.