The Weekend Before Last Day 1

Was......Sick! My Family went south. I didn't have school on friday and saturday so we hopped in the car and drove through some of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. Ecuador is really amazing because in one day it is possible to pass through tons of ecosystems. We left Quito and passed the Volcanos Ilinizas, they are twin mountains that are like two ice covered knives. They were partially hidden by clouds which added to the effect. The highlands are soooo beautiful, it is grass for kilometers and then mountains rising up... but there are places where there are pine tree plantations. It really ugly because there is only one type of native conifer and it isn't a pine tree, I'll guess that it is for wood to burn and to trap more water in the soil. The first place that we stopped at was San Miguel de Salcedo. This is a really comical place becuase the town produces more ice cream than any other in the world. I saw like twenty just as we passed through town. We stopped and bought some ice cream, I got Avocado, which believe it or not really is pretty good. Later we went east at Ambato and headed to Baños, which was super cool. We descended a couple thousand feet and encountered the beginning of the Jungle. Baños is at the foot of Tungurahua which starting in 1998 is active. It blew its top and the town was vacant for years but right now it is just another part of the fun. As we entered town we passed old lava flows and destroyed buildings. The town is alive with tourism, many places have signs written in English and Spanish. We rented a bike for me becuase we were going to see a waterfall farther east along the highway and my family asked me if I wanted to bike there, like 20 km. I of course agreed and we headed out. My family drove along side me for the first part which I thought was very nice seeing as they are the most impacient people in the car I have ever seen. It really doesn't make sense but by law all Ecuadorians must drive over the speed limit and pass when there is a double yellow (hehe... but seriously I am probably most likely to die in a car here than any part in the US, I have just decided to close my eyes when my dad or mom are passing cars). Anyways I explained to them that I was fine and we continued. The first waterfall that we stopped at dropped probably 40 meters into the river. I forgot to mention that it cost $4 to rent a bike and helmet for the whole day. Right after the waterfall was a tunnel which I had to enter in my bike... with a dog chasing me... but whatever, it's Ecuador!!!!¡¡¡¡ I continued on and passed two or three other waterfalls that my parents family didn't stop at so I just biked along slowly. There was a second tunnel which I entered by accident... dumb, I couldn't see the end and I didn't have lights on my bike. After about 200 meters and a car behind me I turned around and exited safely. There was a bike route around the tunnel and it was fun because there were mini waterfalls pouring right onto the road. On the other side of the tunnel was a bridge. And on the bridge was a set up for swing-jumping. The small one which cost $10 was a swing from the pedestrian bridge with the rope tied to the other bridge for the cars. The big one cost $15 and was a jump from one side of the bridge with the cars and the rope was tied to the other side, so with the second there was a freefall and the first no. My sister and I bothered our parents to let us do it, so after watching people do it my mom said yes, to do the big one too. Of course my mom had to haggle for the price, $25 for two. I went first, I asked the guy if it was ok if I jumped, becuase I watched as he would be talking with people and just push them mid-sentence, and grab there feet for a split second so there heads would be facing downwards. I remember standing on the railing thinking what I was about to do and was completely calm. I jumped and the second of freefall lasted for minutes, I saw the river rushing towards me and... bum, the rope caught me and I was soaring through the air. It was pretty cool, but I like paragliding more because it is really a lot smoother. This was like a giant kick of adrenaline, for seconds and not much more. I was let down to the ground and quickly ran to the top to see my sister do it. The guy was talking with her and just pushed her mid-sentence, but when she was done she was stoked too. The waterfall that we were there to see was about 10 km more. So I rode my bike on enjoying the scenery. When we got to the place where it was a 1 km walk. I learned that my sister wasn't fine, she couldn't move her neck and was laying sown in the back of the car. I figured the problem was that her neck was super tense becuase of the force of the jump. So I massaged her neck for about half an hour and she was able to move it later. We wen't to a restaurant to eat, it was pretty good, chicken soup and fresh fish. After that my dad and I walked down the path to Pailón del Diablo, devil's pail. It was a winding path that dropped down to the river, there were lots of people, I'm sure that in the day it is completely packed. We walked out onto a bridge to view the falls, it was one of those cable bridges that creakes and shudders everytime your foot falls. There wwas also a sign that said no more than five people on it at a time. The falls were spectacular. The river fell into a pool of water and then rushed down through a series of rapids and around a giant boulder. It was really awesome. The water reached us about 200 meters away. After viewing the falls from the bridge we decided to get a closer look, we paid $2 to view the falls on a much more personal level. There was a platform to see the falls but there was also a subterranian path that went behind the falls. That was cool, I was completely soaked. The noise and power of the falls was really spectacular. My dad and I headed back up the trail. On our way up we saw two elderly women and probably the daughter of one of them helping the women up the trail. My dad and I ach helped one. The woman that I was helping was really funny. She told me that the best place was my pants, so I walked up the trail with an old wolan clinging to shorts. We talked as we walked up, she was blazing, we left my dad in the dust... hehe. I asked her how old she was and she told me to guess, I guessed 73 and she told me that she was 73 years old. She asked me what I was eating to guess right like that and I told her I just followed my intuition. She talked to me about her views in god, and we continued on to nature. At one point I saw a brown blur, I asked her to stop, it was pretty dark at this time, and I found a frog. It was small and brown, and of course I was happy. We got to the top and we waited for my dad and her family. When they got there my dad and I returned to our family. As we were putting my bike in the car the ex-first lady walked by. She was cheated on by Ecuador´s president, but my parents knew her face so they small talked for a little while. We drove back to Baños where my sister and my mom rented a four wheeler. We went around the town for about an hour. It was really fun. After Baños we headed to Riobamba to stay with my grandparents on my mom´s side. I slept in the car and when we got to Riobamba I went right to sleep.