Charity Anywhere Foundation

Expedition
Baños, Ecuador
Summer 2004

Baños, Ecuador

Summer 2004

Los Baños – July 7^th, ’04

Yesterday we went to the beautiful town of Los Baños located at the foot of the active Tungurahua volcano. We left at about 8 am, arriving at approximately 11 am. It is a very touristy town because of its close proximately to various outdoor activities such as: river rafting, jungle expeditions, waterfalls, rock climbing, etc. It is surrounded by incredible green mountains with waterfalls cascading from different slopes. Beautiful! We came to Baños with the intention of giving fluoride and anti-parasite treatments to the children in the schools there. Just as we were arriving in Baños, our driver Marcelo realized there was a problem with the van’s brakes. We soon found a shop where he could have them fixed during the next couple of hours. Being without the transportation we needed, we took advantage of our beautiful surroundings and rented 4 wheelers. There are a number of roads and trails you can follow to see the beautiful waterfalls in the area. Everyone had a blast. Once the van was repaired, it was a little late to find the children in school, so we drove down the highway to see some of the larger falls. We looked out the windows of the van over this huge abyss with waterfalls on the other side dumping into the river below. We occasionally stopped at different view points take a picture. Luckily and by coincidence, we found ourselves on a beautiful lookout point with a large group of school children from Riobamba. While we were there, we taught them about how to prevent sickness from parasites and gave them all the anti-parasite medicine. They practiced their English with us, we took some pictures, and they drove away in their bus. This was a great example of what Charity Anywhere is all about. Without having planned it, it was a privilege to have found these children and to have been able to serve them in whatever way we could.

Just a bit further down the road we found a gondola crossing that would take us to the other side of the river and over to a waterfall. We paid a dollar to cross and had a scary crossing to the other side. On the other side we were able to hike down the edge of the falls and look down from above. It was amazing and pretty scary!

During our long drive back, we had to stop in Ambato because of new problems with the van. After waiting for awhile, they were unable to repair it, so we caught a bus back to Quito and arrived without any problems. We arrived a bit late and tired, and headed straight to bed. It was a great day!

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