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Each country has its special, unique places. Places which will take your breath away once you get into. Places which will make you fall in love with. Places which you consider to be your paradise on Earth. Ecuador has such a place for me – town called Banos de Agua Santa.
SOME PRACTICAL FACTS about BANOS de AGUA SANTA
Banos de Agua Santa is a little South American town located around 200km South of capital Quito in Ecuadorian part called “Sierra”. There are direct buses from Quito to Banos & journey takes around 4 hours. Population of Banos is around 15,000 and majority lives from tourism. Banos is considered to be gateway to the Amazon jungle and prides itself by breath-taking nature. The closest active volcano to Banos de Agua Santa is volcano called “Tungurahua”.
WHY BANOS IS PARADISE ON EARTH FOR ME
Banos is a town which has a lot to offer. From hiking in literally breath-taking natural landscape & beautiful mountains, through relaxing in one of more thermal waters to practising extreme sport activities. In addition to that, people are extremely friendly and make you feel like at home.
BANOS as WORLD of TOURISM
There are plenty of small local travel agencies in Banos and I was lucky enough to volunteer for one of them – AningaTravel. Although you can do you proper hiking and exploring of Banos and its surrounding by yourself, these small local agencies will help you to rent a bike or organize small day trips if you are interested. AningaTravel offers various extreme sport activities such as bridge jumping, canyoning, rafting, etc … and organizes trips to Amazon jungle.
WHAT YOU CAN DO IN or AROUND BANOS de AGUA SANTA
- My favourite day trip in Banos is a trip to “the end of the world” – to Casa del Arbol (tree house). Casa del Arbol is located around 20 min out of town and it is super easy to get there. It is actually a small wooden house with two swings from where you can experience amazing views over active volcano Tungurahua.
- My second favourite day trip in Banos was Route to Waterfalls. There are many beautiful waterfalls in surrounding of Banos and you have more options how to find them. You can simple rent a bike, take a map and find them by yourself or you can book a day trip through local agencies such as AningaTravel. More information about his trip can be found here.
- Practising extreme sport activities were not only my hobby but also my duty at volunteering in AningaTravel. Bridge jumping, rafting, canyoning, zip-line. There are plenty of offers which will catch your attention if you are adrenaline type of person.
- A trip to lagoon Quilotoa was a great day trip out of (but close enough) Banos. Water of lagoon is freezing cold but I took courage to jump in and “enjoy” swimming for a while.
- Mountain biking from Ecuador´s highest altitude lodging (Whymper) at Chimborazo belongs to one of my nicest memories from Ecuador. I got there thanks to AningaTravel. It was actually my very first day at work with my first tourists. It was amazing experience though the altitude of 5,000m made me feel a bit dizzy. Sorroche (so called altitude sickness) is something which bothers almost every tourist/traveller over there.
- Trip to Amazonia belongs to my favourite trips I made from Banos. Exploring wildlife of Amazon jungle, getting to know local indigenous tribes, drinking their sacred drink called “chicha”. Simple unforgettable experience.
I spent more than 3 weeks in this magical town and I believe I will come back one day. What about you?? Would you at least visit Banos de Agua Santa after reading my article? Do you have your own paradise on Earth?
Don´t hesitate and mention it in the comments below.
CARPE DIEM travellers! 🙂
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