Well worth the trip!

We took this tour with our family. It is a great te as long as you understand that Baños is three hours away, and more if traffic is bad. We would do it again, but it is a long day. We got picked up from our hotel in Old Town Quito at 5am. It’s about three hours to Baños and the guide will stop whenever you need to for a bathroom break or to grab snacks. In Baños we had about an hour to walk around and see the town, grab a bite to eat, shop, etc. We then went to the rafting outfitter office and filled out the paperwork. (You’ll need your passport number for each participant). We then boarded a bus and headed to the Pastaza river. On the way we stopped to pick up wetsuits, helmets & shoes and then head to the put in on the river. There are some rustic changing rooms, but you may want to wear your swimsuit. There are a couple of different sections of the river. Ours was a class 3-3.5 which is fun, but not too wild. If you want the class 4-5 be sure to ask in advance and have some experience. We had a guide in the raft and another safety kayak who also took pictures and video, which they email to you for free afterwards. After rafting we got changed on the bus, bring a towel and a plastic bag for your wet Swimsuit. We then enjoyed a wonderful Ecuadorian lunch. We thenet back up with our driver/guide who took us to the Devil’s Cauldron which is an incredible waterfall with a path along the river, a couple of hanging bridges, and steps right up to the waterfall to get pictures. We then asked to go to La Casa del Arbol which is about forty minutes or so up the mountain. This place is a lot of fun and has the ‘Swing at the End of the World’ which swings out over the side of the mountain. It is great for photos. There are also a bunch of smaller and less scary swings for all ages, and a small swing zipline all included in the $1 entry fee (which our guide paid). There are bathrooms, a small café and beautiful flower gardens with incredible views of the volcanoes. Afterward we headed back to Quito arriving around 9pm. We slept much of the way he with a stop to use the bathroom and buy a few snacks. Well worth the trip!