The town of Banos is a relatively short hop south from Quito. The mountain roads were beautiful and we stopped for lunch in a layby which gave us the chance to go on a cable car across the valley to see a waterfall. It was the best $1.50 I've ever spent as it hurtled us pretty quickly down a cable that looked like it was in the process of being replaced. Very good fun!
We stayed in a lovely campsite 17km outside Banos in the cloud forest which meant that we have had rain since we arrived. One day we caught the bus into town which is at the bottom of an active volcano (last eruption 2009) but sadly low cloud spoilt our views. It's not the prettiest of towns but it has served needs of a post office and ATM and was nice to have a wander. The cathedral had some unusual paintings inside all relating to the volcano erupting and alarmingly one showed the cable car cable across the valley snapping and a man falling to his death.
The second day some people went walking, others for a massage but myself, Lisa, Geoff, Francois, Terry and Lesley went white water rafting on the Rio Negro. After all the rain recently it was touch and go whether the river would actually be raftable. We were given the go and donned wetsuits, buoyancy aids and helmets and braved the rain and cold water to have a great day out. Most of the rapids were class 4 or 5 making fantastic rafting and we actually had to walk the river bank for two sections of class 6 as they can't be commercially rafted. It was a great 2.5hours of all go and I was very glad I did it.
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