Kayaking, rafting, canyoning, ziplines, hiking and horseback riding in Banos Agua Santa

By LineogJesper on July 12, 2024

Kayaking, rafting, canyoning, ziplines, hiking and horseback riding in Banos

Back on the Ecuadorian mainland after our amazing experiences in Galapagos it was time to head to the adventure capital Banos de agua santa for a week of adrenalin overload.

Rain, mudslides and being the only tourists in town

Massive rain and terrible mudslides had killed 14 people and blocked one of the main roads near Banos about a week prior to our arrival and we soon discovered that we were pretty much the only tourists in town.

Geotours had booked transfer for us from Quito airport (150 USD) and upon arrival at Casa Giralda it was a really strange sensation to have the entire hotel to ourselves. That included the restaurant and the entire pool area with 3 pools, 2 hot tubs and a sauna. The same thing was true downtown and we literally did not see other tourists in the next 4 days. A terrible situation for a town that lives almost 100 percent on tourism in addition to the tragic loss of life in the mudslides.

Jesper and Noah had planned 4 days of whitewater Kayak training but unfortunately the mudslides had weakened the bridge connecting Banos to the nearby rivers and thus kayaking had to be postponed

Canyoning and horseback riding

First full day in Banos Line went horseback riding while Jesper, Noah and Vitus opted for canyoning. Line had a great time with the horse whisperer José enjoying not only nature but also great stories on his ability to tame horses. The horse she was riding almost ended up being slaughtered as it was in a very poor state but José had bought it and turned it into a beautiful and healthy horse with a perfect temper. She even had the chance to drink natural sparkling water straight from the base of the volcano.

Originally Jesper, Noah and Vitus had arranged to do canyoning at Cashaurco but the heavy rains had closed it off and thus they did the smaller Chamana canyon instead. The Chamana canyon involves more rappelling and less sliding and jumping but they still had a great time and rappelling down the 40 meter waterfall at the end was a highlight for all.

Puntzan and San Martin ziplines

We all did the Puntzan zipline, a very steep car ride from downtown Banos. Just a few years ago Line would have opted out of any activity involving high speed and heights. Now she did the more than 500 meter long ziplines across the canyon with a smile on her face, though truth be told she was having second thoughts right up until first takeoff.

A few days later Vitus and Jesper tried the extreme zipline San Martin. The zipline itself is quite fun being 750 meter long and high speed (too extreme for Line and Noah did not feel well). The real “fun” however begins once you find yourself on the other side of the canyon. First you have to walk across a suspended bridge about 40 meters over the water with a nice gap between each plate and second you have to climb around 100 meters up a vertical cliffside. Looking up at the climb Jesper was almost hoping Vitus would chicken out so he would have an excuse not to do it. He almost got lucky when Vitus concluded that he was not going any further after about 15 meters. Fortunately Vitus had a change of mind and was suddenly disappearing around the corner. A real challenge for both of them and Vitus concluded he had never challenged himself more and never been more proud.

Kayaking and Rafting – a busted shoulder but old dogs can still learn new tricks

We had planned to do the class 3-4 rafting at the upper Pastaza river but due to the heavy rains the flow in the river was too fast and access was closed. Instead we did the lower part of the river. It was a nice trip with great guides, and beautiful nature in the Amazon, but not quite the adrenaline rush we would have experienced on the upper part (this part of the river is only class 2+).

Noah and Jesper spent two days learning whitewater kayaking. About 10 seconds after getting in the water they were told to flip up-side down to practice getting out of the kayak, which made for a very cold start 🙂 After that it was about learning to get control of the kayak and finally they moved on to a small section of a river to practice the infamous Eskimo Roll – an essential thing to learn if you want to kayak on the real rivers.

Jesper managed to do his first one on day one while Noah completed his early on day two. You might think that having done your first one it is just about repeating the same movement again. Unfortunately that is not exactly how it played out. As you get more tired, the water changes, you encounter rocks, current etc. it is easy to forget the essentials when you are upside down with very limited visibility.

On the last part of day two it was finally time to get on a real river. A class 2+ made for a great start with plenty of challenges.

On day three Noah and Jesper was supposed to hit a number of longer rivers but unfortunately Noah was feeling sick. Instead Jesper rented a Kayak to try to practice in the hotel pool and finally nailed the eskimo roll on a consistent basis.

About the busted shoulder. You might imagine Jesper hitting a big rock going down a challenging part of a river but unfortunately the real situation was considerably less dramatic. Having lost sleep over the missing ability to nail the Eskimo roll on a consistent basis Jesper continued and continued to practice until his shoulder was so overworked and messed up that he was still in pain and unable to sleep through the night a week later.

Hike to Casa del Arbol

If you are looking for a beautiful and intensive hike and have a few hours to spare while in Banos the hike to Casa del Arbol should be high on your list. The hike starts here: https://maps.app.goo.gl/VmVBYiSjL99rG1hi8 and you after around 500 stairs you find yourself at “The Virgin” status/viewpoint. Take the path to the right and this is where the real fun begins. It is not that we are not used to steep passages but in this case the gradient is around 50% for close to a kilometer. When the track levels out close to the top just follow the gravel road to the right and after another 1.5 kilometers you will get to Casa del Arbol. You will face another steep section on the last part but don’t worry – it is only about 100 meters long.

The views are worth the effort and once you get to Casa del Arbol and the beautiful humming birds and swings we promise that you will feel like you earned it in a way none of the people that took the bus will.