Friday 24 February 2012 - Waterfall hike and Ambato

We had a waterfall hike this morning, and were warned that it was a steep walk, but that as we would also be doing river crossings we would need rubber boots.

We set off from the stables and the path was very overgrown and also very steep, not made any easier by having the puppy, Essie underfoot all the time.

Walter told us (via Alex, the intern) that there used to be 2 routes to the waterfall but the other one was even steeper and was no longer used since Maria (one of the kitchen staff) fell and cut her head open. She now has a scar on her forehead. At that time, one of the permanent staff carried her all the way up (how, with that steep slope, I don't know) pretty quickly, but then she apparently waited 4 hours before being seen in hospital and lost a lot of blood as a consequence. He even obligingly pointed out the spot where she fell, not very reassuring!

We could hear the river as we climbed down the steep and slippery slope but not see it until we were down near the river bed. Alex told us that the river is usually dry, but this time, it was very much in full flow.

We carried walking upstream as we couldn't walk downstream - the usual route, I gathered - due to the surge and flow of the current and we had to keep crossing the river to be able to continue to walk along its bank.

The river was so strong and full that I ended up with a bootful of water in my rubber boots a number of times (ie. a couple of inches from the top)! We all had to help each other across and it made me think of all those bonding "outbound" trips that companies send their corporate bigwigs on! Walter also cut Eva and me a stick to help with the river crossing and that helped a good bit.

It was only a small group that made the hike: Eva, Michael, Alex, Ian and I as Deanna was still not well from her eye infection, Joe was congested from playing football in the rain and could barely breathe, and Anya was suffering from her intermittent stomach cramps and other ailments.

I started to quite enjoy it once I got over my fear of falling in and ruining my camera which was in my backpack, as the current was fairly strong and the river was pretty deep (over the tops of the wellies) in some places.

We finally made it to the waterfall, where I dutifully took a picture (hell, after that walk, might as well take the photograph!), whilst Walter literally wallowed in the river.

However, as Joe, Eva and I had plans for the weekend after Friday's hike, we soon left and made it back (same route) and then had lunch. It was quite odd to hear the squelching of my boots, but made from wet socks, as opposed to the usual sucking and squelching noises from trying to suck your boots out of deep muddy paths!

On the hike up the steep slope we saw white-fronted capuchin monkeys in the trees: one on the left of us and one ahead, which Walter said was the chief. The path was too steep to attempt to get our cameras out, plus I didn't think I'd get a good shot or that they'd be around long enough to get a decent picture but I am glad to have at least seen a large mammal at last.

After lunch, Eva, Michael, Joe and I headed off down the path, Joe carrying all his gear as it was his last day of a 2 week stay, to get a bus to Aloag from which we could then catch a bus to Riobamba which would pass through Ambato, rather than go all the way to Quito, cutting out about an hour or so's journey time.

At Aloag, we climbed the embankment and got onto the Panamerican highway and flagged the first bus down to Riobamba: it's a bit odd if you think that it's equivalent to flagging down a bus on the M1.

We got a bus to Ambato straightaway and got a taxi to our hotel, where we then found that we had missed the Fruit and Flowers festival as it had occurred at the same time as carnaval, ie., last weekend. The receptionist seemed a bit reluctant to admit to that, and she was right to, because we would only confirm our stay for one night and not two, with further discussions as to what next.

We wandered around Ambato, and I must admit, the guidebook is right in dismissing it apart from when the festival is on. It´s a decent-sized city (250,000 population) but it wouldn´t really hold your interest as a tourist destination.

We had a good supper in a nice restaurant which also had a couple of "white" people. Joe called out to them, had they read the description in (his) guidebook - I won´t name and shame - and they shamefacedly nodded yes. We also snacked on some chocolate-coated strawberries that Michael bought (apart from Eva): yum!