Swingin' at the Edge of the World

In Which, We Have a Swingin' Good Time

Soooooo cheesy, I know. But it works.

ANYway. On to one of the more exciting things we've done lately (ya know, other than spending a carefree week at the beach and learning to surf. Yeah...). La Casa Del Arbol is practically an INSTITUTION for extranjeros (foreigners) here in Ecuador...AND WE FINALLY WENT.

Thursday morning, while we were finishing our session of death at the gym, several of our friends said they wanted to go to the treehouse that afternoon. I was torn - I had work to do but MAN I wanted to go! After about .2 seconds of indecision, I threw responsibility to the wind and John and I were going along with them. The next few hours were a grammatical blur as I literally FLEW through my work. Fear not, intrepid readers, about the quality of my work during this rush. I actually went back and QC'd myself and did a better job than I typically do. There's something to be said for a deadline = better focus.

The crew! Minus David, he's hiding behind John

So we headed out around 3pm or so. La Casa Del Arbol is on the ridge above Banos so all in all, it took us about an hour, hour and 15 minutes to get there. The roads steadily became less and less developed...we went from paved roads to cobblestone roads with paving where the tires go, to straight cobblestone roads with HUGE potholes in them, until we finally hit the end and dirt roads. It was interesting, to say the least, especially since our friend Steffany (aka, Nena) drives an old VW Beetle, which has about a 1000cc engine. I was afraid we were going to have to get out and push her a few times, but Herbie came through.

We arrived at the top and it was great because it was towards the end of the day AND it was a weekday, so there weren't a lot of people there. We climbed up a trail about 1000 yards or so (no heavy duty hiking, just walking) and were greeted by this sight :

First (cloudy) glimpse

Yup. Clouds had rolled in, BIG time. We were literally in the middle of them.

Nevertheless, we continued up to the treehouse, where we were accosted by an obnoxious group of English travellers.

Ok, so maybe they weren't absolutely obnoxious, but they definitely made me see how citizens of 1st world countries have a bad reputation in other places - just generally acting a fool, not being considerate or polite without being prodded by your tour leader, etc...

So we did our best to ignore them and just enjoy the tree house and swing. We actually got some really cool shots in the mist and rain.

You can tell that it's a big tourist attraction because they've upgraded a lot of the space around it. They've put metal framing around the whole thing and the house itself actually looks like it's been rebuilt at some point. There's some nice landscaping to the side and down from the swings as well, so that people can get good pictures. 

There's also a little cafe where you can get coffee, tea, hot chocolate, water, or just sit down out of the elements for a while. That's what we decided to do when it started to rain.

John was kind of grouchy at this point, saying it was underwhelming and kind of a let down. I had seen pictures and gotten a feel for it beforehand, so it was essentially what I was expecting, but I could see how it was a bit of a disappointment for him.

Thankfully, our friends were plenty happy to stick around and wait for the crowds to die down a bit so we could all take turns on the swings. There are swings on either side of the house, something else that I think is a new addition. It helps cut down on lines and wait times, that's for sure.

Happily, after about 30 minutes or so, we saw the clouds start to break up! It was just about 5:30, so right before sunset here, and the sky was beautiful! 

Nena checking out the clouds

Then, when we'd taken a bazillion pictures and gone on the swings MULTIPLE times, we found something else fun behind the cafe - a mini zipline! The seat was from an old tire and it got preeeeeetty close to the ground at a couple of points, but it was still a fun ride. Basic, but fun. Also, free. Can't beat that. 

There's David!

By this time, the sun had pretty much set, so we went back down the trail and headed to Banos to rustle up some food.

John saying 'bye' to his new friend

We walked around a bit and eventually settled on a place called Chevere. It had typical sandwiches from all over South America, which was pretty fun! Also, you're seeing the remains of a maracuya flan with brownies and rasberry sauce that John devoured. It was tasty.

It took David a while to realize there was a camera out...

We ended up back in Ambato around 9pm. We had a great afternoon and totally crashed. The rest of the weekend was relaxing and full of friends and fun. We actually did have hotdogs on the 4th of July, totally by accident, but we appreciated it nonetheless!

Oh, and I totally got all of my work done on time. Just thought I'd throw that in there for those of you who were concerned ;)

So in parting, next time you have the chance for an adventure but you're bogged down with responsibilities, take a chance. Swing away. It'll work out in the end.