Adventures in Banos

We continued south towards Banos. Banos is wonderful because there are plenty of adventurous activities along with time to relax in the hot springs. Banos is incredibly popular with tourists so there are lots of great restaurants and shopping in town in addition to all the activities. With our private guide we didn't have anything planned in advance and kid of made things up as we went along based on our guides recommendations

When we arrived in Banos, we headed straight to the adventure park. We started with a giant swing, which is one of the most popular attractions in Banos. The swing is 2600 meters above sea level and swings over a steep cliff. The view was breathtaking, and it was an adrenaline-pumping experience. There are several different spots to do a giant swing like this, our wonderful give took us to the least expensive option which also happened to be the least crowded which I appreciated.
Next, we went to the longest zipline in the country. As you might be able to tell by now, this isn't a great destination for those afraid of heights! My husband stayed back with the camera and my sunglasses while I strapped into the Superman style zipline over the river. It is 1.5 km long and reaches speeds of up to 100 km/h. The experience of following the river on the zipline was a unique one that I won't soon forget.

After that, we went on a hike to Pailón del Diablo waterfall, and we even went around to the backside of the waterfall. You have to crawl/climb to get around the back but it was well worth the extra work (though we did end up completely soaked!) It was a challenging hike, but the view from the back of the waterfall was so worth it! 
The night before our guide had also talked to us about visiting the hot springs. There is a local, free hot spring in town but we decided to take a more relaxed approach and paid for a day pass to one of the resorts up on the hill. The day pass was perfect because there was not another soul on the property between check out and check in (or maybe we just lucked out). We had a few hours to relax in the pools and then enjoyed a massage before lunch, all of which was included in our day pass. It was the perfect way to unwind before our drive back to Quito that afternoon.