If everyone were jumping off a bridge, would you? My answer: I was the first to go!

I knew it was going to be a good trip when they put Bad Boys II (in Spanish of course) on during our bus ride. It was interesting having gun shots and massive explosion sounds blaring through the speakers as we wound through incredible and very tranquil landscape. We gringas were on our way to Baños, famous for its thermal baths warmed by Volcán Tungahua. We sure had a jam-packed trip!

Our first day we had lunch and then set up a trip to Río Blanco to jump off the bridge. We rode over in the back of a camioneta (truck), getting more and more nervous to “swing jump” (with a rope of course) off of a 35m (115 foot) bridge above a rocky river!

Knowing myself well enough, I was the first to go. That is not to say that I was not nervous (my friend Jessica later told me, “I never thought I would ever see you so scared…there was no color in your face! That scared ME!”). There I was, standing on the bridge with the guide, all harnessed, knees shaking, etc., asking the guide how secure it was. After telling me how I had to stand on the rail and then jump, the guy said, “All right so get up there,” to which I replied, “Give me a second, I’ve got to breathe!”.

But once I was up there it was a done deal. I don’t remember hearing/thinking anything except for when the guide shouted, “¡Uno! ¡Dos!” I don’t even remember “¡tres!” My stomach jumped a bit when I threw myself off the bridge, but it was so worth it! Looking back at all the videos we have, we’ve figured out that I was the quickest to go once standing up on the rail…that was pretty much because I knew I needed to just suck it up and go. The adrenaline rush was amazing! I’m very much glad I did it. Four of us went that first day, and later on the other girls said “Yeah I think I want to do it tomorrow!”

Understandably so, I didn’t tell you all ahead of time. It was for your own good… and here I am, alive and well, able to tell you how awesome it was! It was weird taking pictures beforehand with signs saying, “I LOVE YOU MOM, DAD, CHLOE, ETC!” but they’re funny to look at now…

The rest of day #1 was much calmer. We walked around town, checking out the shops, the church, and all of the people making mercocha (a taffy made with honey and panela that Baños is famous for). After our long day of traveling and jumping we called it a night, knowing it was going to be a long day ahead.

Saturday morning we woke up at 4:45am to head to the thermal baths before the day heated up and before the other gringos would be up there. We were so tired, but the warm water felt incredible and it was amazing to see the sun rise up over the valley walls and the waterfalls. It really was worth the early rising!

After walking around for a while, we headed out to hike up to a spot called Bellavista (beautiful view), way up the mountain above the waterfall. The hike was amazing! All of the luscious forest was so beautiful, and the views were really remarkable. We had a great time playing with our food while we rested at the top for a while before heading back down. Later that day we went back to the bridge so two more of us could jump… there was a nice roundness to the trip in that way. The bus ride home was long and dark, and by the time I got back to my apartment I was so ready to sleep because it was already after 9pm! What a long day…

But really, the trip was amazing. I was with seven fantastic ladies and we crammed a TON into about 26 hours…talk about making the most of every moment! I’m excited to get another couple of trips in before we head to our internships (hopefully to Tena in the Amazon and Mindo up north, but we’ll see). I’m in such a beautiful country!