Action!

Today is the day to check a few things off your bucket list.

First stop: canyoning! Put on your bikini, pack water and a towel and you're ready. In the office we get wetsuits, safety gear, water shoes and helmets and then make ourselves comfortable in the back of the pickup truck to head to the nearby waterfalls. We walk up a small trail next to the waterfalls and then abseil down two waterfalls. We get instructions on where to go and cross the cold waterfall several times. We drop into the water for the last meter and swim a bit to get out of the waterfall again. We walk a bit again to get down the next two waterfalls - this time differently. We slide down the first one, very relaxed and fun. I get a little excited when we get to the second one and are told to jump - 25m down. I cockily sign up to start. Very reckless, but that will continue throughout the day. I am secured again and then stand backwards on a wooden post that is attached to the edge of the cliff. On 3, 2, 1 our guide Andrés releases the brake and I fall about 10m. So I'm hanging there in the middle of a huge waterfall, swinging through the water as it splashes down and being slowly lowered until I have solid ground under my feet again. Only when I release myself from the safety device at the bottom and walk a few meters do I see the beautiful Cascada El Silencio waterfall that I just fell down and I'm a little proud. That also continues throughout the day.

When I arrive at the hotel, I swap the waterfall for a warm shower and take a lunch break with Callie through Baños in search of snacks for the bus ride tomorrow and lunch at the local market. There we find a great deal: 6 empanadas filled with cheese, banana or both for $1. I can also learn a thing or two about how to make them so that I can make some myself at home. We then lie down in the hammocks at the hotel, eat our empanadas and then get changed - in the afternoon we'll be heading up high and down deep again.

Equipped with fleece sweaters and down jackets, we drive to the second action stop of the day: Swing Jump! When we arrive at the bridge, I reconsider my booking: apart from a 50cm deep metal platform that juts out over the bridge, there is no way of knowing what is about to happen. But when will I get the chance to jump off a bridge in the rainforest over a 100m deep ravine for $20? Again, I am the first, as the tour continues straight after that. I put on my safety gear and helmet with doubts and receive my instructions for the jump: jump as if I were standing on the starting block in a swimming pool - easy, then. But the adrenaline level is completely different when I stand on the metal platform and look down into the ravine. What the heck. Again, 3, 2, 1 and off we go. I jump forward into the abyss and am caught by the rope, swinging from left to right a few times as I realize what just happened: I jumped off a bridge. And that was definitely the scariest thing I've ever done.

So we take a 40-minute break in the bus at an altitude of 3,000m for the third activity: paragliding. The weather conditions are perfect and we can start straight away. It's the first time for Emily and Callie too, so I'm sent ahead - thank you. We put on our safety harnesses and helmet again and I'm strapped in for the tandem flight. When we open the parachute we feel a violent jolt backwards and the wind makes the start quite chaotic. But once in the air I only feel one thing: calm. We glide through the air up to an altitude of 3,200m and I get a great overview of the surrounding towns and the area, which is characterized by the cultivation of potatoes, tomatoes, corn and strawberries. The 1,000-cm-high Tungurahua volcano also stands out impressively, surrounded by clouds at the summit. Normally snow surrounds the crater, but due to recent activity of the volcano (nothing happened, don't worry!) the ice and snow have melted. We sail against the wind at around 40 km/h, and up to 60 km/h in the direction of the wind. Of course, there has to be a bit of action here too, so we do a few quick twists and turns, which for me feels like being on a rollercoaster, but here too with a view of the abyss. At the end of the maneuver, it is calm again and I can enjoy the view for a few more minutes before we land.

After Callie and Emily have also dared to try it, we set off again for Baños. On the way there, I saw a few stands on the side of the road selling local strawberries, so we asked our driver to stop at one of the stands. As we are stuck in a traffic jam, we got out of the bus and walked a bit. Instead of a stand on the side of the road, we found ourselves at the local market in Pelileo, where we were the only tourists to be noticed and watched the hustle and bustle, which revolved around fruit, vegetables and empanadas. The three of us shared 2kg of strawberries, the smallest size sold here, which cost us $2 - still bearable.

In Baños I recognize some people I met in the hostel in Quito, others knew Emily or Callie - the world is so small. We arrange to meet up for the evening and then go back to the hotel. Once there, we have a few minutes to process everything that has happened today and how much adrenaline my body must have released today. We get ready for the evening and go to the restaurant as a group, where I have nachos and wraps. We take the first happy hour with us and then we go to a bar before we get to the final destination of the evening. The agency's guides had already made the recommendation in the morning when we were canyoning, so we find ourselves in the club around midnight. First we go to the "Salsoteka", where Alina teaches us a few steps and we dance with some locals. Later we go over to the open courtyard, in the middle there is a fire pit, at the edge the DJ and the bars. There we meet the others we met in the park in the city in the afternoon. The DJ plays a mix of reggaeton and classic party songs that we all know from our clubs at home. At around 3 a.m. we head home and set the alarm for 6:30 a.m. Luckily, we have an eight-hour bus ride ahead of us tomorrow, during which we can catch up on sleep (and write the blog posts).