30th April 2022

After a very rocky start in Baños, (ziplining course on the first day cancelled due to rain, waterfall bike ride on the second day also cancelled due to rain), I decided to embrace my inner tourist and take the extremely touristy chiva bus to the Pailon del Diablo waterfall, choosing to ignore the grey overcast skies. Chiva buses are brightly coloured minibuses, with bench-like seats and doors, instead of windows. They all seem to have interesting names like ‘el preciosa’ (‘the gorgeous one’), ‘el chisme’ (the gossip’), and are strung up with disco lights which light up at night, or whenever the bus goes through a tunnel. The loudspeakers at the front, and in the back of the bus constantly serenade you with salsa/ latinamerican music, and you are encouraged to get up and dance, when there is a tune that catches your fancy. The buses are actually quite fun. It took us about an hour and half to get to the Pailon, and we enjoyed incredible views en route in addition to stops at other points of interest such as a rock formation that apparently looks like the face of Christ, and sites for entertainment including zip lining and cable car rides across ravines.

I went ziplining. Of course I did. Scared witless, as first the helmet got put on me (surprisingly, it if! It’s always touch-and-go in these situations as my penchant for massive hair-do’s means my head circumference is above average…as the two vendors at Km82 of the Inca Trail who tried hard to sell me a hat, can attest to. There was much tugging and pushing as we tried to fit my hair and head into a series of increasingly large hats that still. would. not. fit. They finally accepted defeat, shaking their heads as they looked at my head. Yes, I was right, ‘tengo una gran cabeza!’. 

I climbed to the next level, to have my harnesses fitted. There were two people ahead of me, looking very excited to go on, while I asked myself what I was doing atop a 3 storey platform, in a strange country, about to go on a scary looking zipline. The guys worked very efficiently and in less than a minute I was in my harness. Using hooks attached to the harness on my back,  I was strapped onto the line, asked to lean forward and lift my legs which were also placed in a harness, putting me in a ‘superman’ position. I barely had a moment to breathe before I was off. I screamed…and reminded myself, ‘this is safe, they have safety checks’.  

And then there was nothing but the most exhilarating feeling as I moved along the zipline, dipping towards the gorge. WIth the wind against my face, I looked around and marvelled at the beauty of the mountains around me, and the river below. I felt a huge rush of adrenaline, excitement, and pleasure all at the same time, indescribable really. I could have kept going on that zip line forever. It came to an end much too quickly for my liking, less than a couple of minutes all together, but it was the best ten dollars I had spent in a long while. 

(I did re-schedule my cancelled zip lining course, at the Puntzan Canopy. It was a 6 zip-line course, covering about 2000m. 2 of the lines in particular were spectacular, with vistas over mountains and valleys and a river. I have been zip-linning in the UK on a couple of occasions but I have to admit that there is something about doing so over majestic mountains, volleying valleys and rushing rivers that dials up the experience a hundred fold.  The adrenaline rush one gets is really quite addictive, and I have a better appreciation of why people do extreme activities).

We made it to the Pailon del Diablo. Chiva buses normally only stop for 30-45minutes at the Pailon and then return to Baños but I felt like that didn’t give me enough time to appreciate the wonder of this waterfall, so I opted to stay and make my own way back to Baños. 

The Pailon del Diablo (‘Devil’s Cauldron’) is one of the biggest single-drop waterfalls in Ecuador, although it is actually made up of 3 waterfalls. 

There are two entrances to the attraction. We went to the newest entrance, which has a $2 entrance fee. There is a lovely path that takes you along the banks of the Rio Pastaza, as it makes its way towards the gorge, the width of its passage becoming narrower therefore increasing the force of the flow. It then drops 100 metres into the valley below. Up close and personal, the force of this whirling mass of fluid as it hits rocks on either side of the channel, generating secondary and tertiary columns of water and a swirling mist that gently bathes the surroundings, creating an almost otherwordly atmosphere.

There are a couple of suspension bridges that span the gorge. The newest is the more famous and well-photographed bridge.  It looks scary and wobbles depending on the number of people walking across. In reality it feels more steady as the boards are placed in such a way that you are stepping onto boards at an angle, it feels like you’re walking down steps. After a couple of steps, I felt comfortable enough to whip out my phone and take some pictures and videos. I spent about an hour walking back and forth the bridge and also down the steps where if feels like you are almost beneath the waterfall. I had come prepared with both a waterproof jacket and a poncho, so I stayed quite dry despite the ferocity of the waterfall and the spray. 

It was just magical. 

Views over the cloud forest, the mountains and valleys. Verdant green, as far as the eye could see, the mist adding an other-worldliness to the experience and the roar of the waterfall as a soundtrack. The grey overcast skies didn’t dampen my enjoyment, although I did fervently wish I had had the opportunity to visit on a sunny day. (Feel free to look up

I loved it so much, I decided to experience the waterfall from the ‘older’ entrance…and got myself in a bit of a pickle. Essentially I walked for an hour in the wrong direction and back, having mistaken the very unassuming entrance for a car park! Unfortunately it meant I arrived at the entrance after sunset.

I knew there was an option to do a waterfall tour at night time, because I’d been invited to it the night before by my friend Kristina. I’d declined partly because I was tired but also because I really wanted to get started on writing articles for my blog (the things one does for content, right? Also, have I said how much I now appreciate the work that ‘influencers’, ‘bloggers’, ‘youtubers’ do? When they say it is hard work, please believe them, it is). Kristina had absolutely loved the experience. So on the one hand, I was glad that I too would get the opportunity to experience the falls at night time but on the other hand it had been a long day and I was really hungry and tired.

The cascade itself is a 30 minute walk downhill from the dodgy car park entrance. Thankfully the path was lit at intervals and once you get to the actual entrance, the banisters on the walkway leading to the waterfall are lit with LED strip lighting. As I got to the top of the path, there was a group of about 7-10 people clinging to the rockface, trying not to get drenched by the waterfall. 

I felt very smug in my waterproof jacket and poncho, as I confidently walked past them to a circular stone balcony from which you have the option of taking steps down to the lower levels of the waterfall (steps are visible in Picture F above) or to crawl across a cave-like space ‘la grieta del cielo’ (crack of the sky) in order to get to a small viewing platform behind the falls. Well, for my smugness, within seconds, I got drenched. Leggings and hiking boots totally soggy with water.  I had forgotten that my poncho and waterproof jacket stopped at my hip! The walkway was also very slippery so I chose not to use either option but to go back and get a view from the lower suspension bridge. The views were definitely less impressive at night, although it was nice to see the waterfall lit up with different colours. It is possible that the night tour is more impressive from the higher viewpoint of the new entrance.

I spent some minutes drinking in the view. I would’ve stayed longer but my stomach let it be known that it would no longer stand for its ongoing starvation, and I started the walk back up to the town. 

I feel like Baños redeemed itself, after this experience. I forgave the days of rain, and cancelled plans, and was instead grateful that I got to see this wonder of nature. 

Interesting fact about Baños….Did you know?

Baños has an average of 300 days of rain a year. Perfect for the “adventure capital of Ecuador”, particularly if you want to partake in water based activities like canyoning and white water rafting. There are also opportunities for cliff diving, paragliding… or a visit to the hot springs for the less adventurous traveller.