Baños is an adventure town in Ecuador where you’ll find easy access to activities like canyoning, white water rafting, zip lines, and even more. However, when I checked into my hotel in Baños, my host strongly encouraged me to sign up for a jungle tour. He showed me a video of the highlights and stressed that this was the best tour in Baños. I took his word for it and signed up.
I do agree that this is one of the best tours in Baños, since it provides an excellent itinerary and sampling of the area, but there are some very important things to know before you sign up for a jungle tour in Baños.
Baños Jungle Tour
This is based on my own experience on a Baños Jungle Tour. I booked directly through my hotel and joined a group tour the next day.
Pick Up
I was surprised and was picked up by the travel agency at my hotel in the morning. It seemed that I was the only one who was picked up from their hotel and everyone else was picked up at a tourist agency in town. I’m not complaining, but I can’t guarantee that hotel pick up is included.
Once everyone was picked up, we started our drive to our first destination. This brings me to my first warning. The tour was entirely in Spanish. I speak a bit of Spanish and if guides speak slowly, I can catch most of what they are saying.
Unfortunately my guide, upon learning this, did two sentences in slow Spanish and then proceeded to speak at his normal speed for the rest of the day. So, I only picked up on some things. Unfortunately for me, this is not the first time this happened (both Cajon del Maipo and Baltinache Lagoons in Chile gave me Spanish only tours, despite being advertised as bilingual) and I’m sure it won’t be the last.
From the center of Baños, it’s nearly an hour until the first stop.
Mirador Miramera
The first stop at the day was at a mirador, or viewpoint, but it might not be what you’re thinking. In Baños, there are many miradors lining the Postaza River and each of these seem to be custom designed for Instagram. There’s structures and props that you can use to get that perfect shot. Personally, I found it super cheesy, but the Ecuadorians on my tour seemed to love it.
There’s also some paid activities here, though I don’t think anyone in my group took the company up on the provided photos, swing, or rappelling options. Plus, there’s food if you’re hungry.
We were here for about 30 to 40 minutes, which was much too long in my opinion. But since so many of the other people in my group used the full time for photos, I guess the tour organizers must know what they are doing when they plan this schedule.
Cascada Hola Vida
Now it’s back in the van for another hour. After this, the drives will get a little shorter (at least until the end of the day when we returned to Baños).
At this next stop, everyone will get out of the van. If you aren’t already wearing your bathing suit, you’ll have the opportunity to change into it. Unlike when I did a rafting activity the day before, there were actual stalls where people could change.
Then, your main guide for the day hands you off to one of the workers at the Hola Vida reserve. This person will lead you on a walk through the jungle to the Hola Vida waterfall. Along the way, this person is sure to point out a few trees and plants. Again, this was completely in Spanish, so I didn’t follow everything that was said.
What I can say is that the waterfall was nice, even if we were walking through the rain to get to it. You can take a dip at the base of the waterfall, but note that the water is cold. I just went in far enough to get my ankles wet and that was enough for me.
You’ll have maybe 15 minutes at the waterfall before you have to hike back to the van. Note that the hike is not difficult and is pretty flat. The only thing you need to watch out for is the uneven ground. It’s about 15 to 20 minutes each way, depending on how often you stop.
Canoeing Down the Pastaza River
Just a few minutes down the road from Cascada Hola Vida is another water activity, so your guides will advise you to not change into dry clothes before leaving the waterfall.
Here you’ll board a canoe for a nice float down the river. What’s really nice is that there is a motor so you don’t have to paddle. You just need to sit back and enjoy the ride.
Our canoe driver did give us a little information, but again, it was only in Spanish (and our main guide did not come with us). I also had a hard time hearing, regardless of language, so I recommend just enjoying the ride. If you pick up on information, great. If not, it’s still a nice boat ride.
As a note, I have no photos of this. You can bring your phone (other people in my group did), but I wasn’t quite sure what to expect on the canoe ride. I already dropped my phone in a river near Minca, Colombia, and I didn’t want to take the chance that I might do it again here.
Your van will pick you up and meet you at the end of your canoe trip so you can head to lunch.
A Break for Lunch
Lunch is included on your Baños Jungle Tour. At the start of our day, our guides asked if we wanted carne or pollo (or vegetarian). Knowing that carne was typically a very tough beef, I stuck with the chicken. There was also a fish option, but I believe this cost $2 extra. It definitely looked more elaborate than the included meals but I stuck with the included chicken option.
So after finishing our canoe ride, we got back in the bus and drove just a few minutes down the road for lunch. Not only did we get the protein as promised but we also got a bowl of soup. Our protein came with rice, a small salad, and some potatoes. Is it the most exciting lunch I’ve had? No. But it was included and not much different than you’d find for a menu del dia in any local restaurant in Ecuador.
Kotokocha Indigenous Community
From lunch we headed to our next stop, which was the Kotokocha Indigenous Community. We arrived, crossed an unsteady bridge and were met by some locals. They then proceeded to teach us a little about their life. Again, everything was in Spanish, so I didn’t get all of it.
We tried our hand at blow darts and I don’t think a single one of us tourists hit the target. I managed to hit the bottom of the post, so I did better than at least half of the other tourists. We learned about their local face paint which is made using a local fruit and then two girls came and painted all of our faces. We were invited to dress up and join them in a local dance. For women that involved twirling in the middle while the men banged drums and paraded around the outside of the circle. The young indigenous boys were having a blast during this.
Our visit concluded with some photos with some birds, a monkey, and a snake. Some of these animal encounters make me a bit uncomfortable (specifically the monkey on a leash), but this is just one of the other things that are offered.
And of course, it wouldn’t be a visit without a shopping opportunity. There’s jewelry and other crafts made my the local indigenous population for sale.
Mirador Indichuris
You’ll head a bit further south as you visit another mirador. This one is different than the first because the only way to see the viewpoint is to pay the $3 entrance fee. Since we stopped for nearly a full hour, I paid the fee to climb up to the top. The view is nice and there are hammocks to relax in, but I think this is one stop that could fully be eliminated from this tour without losing much.
Oh well.
El Paraíso Chocolate Farm
The last stop on the tour is a visit to El Paraíso Chocolate Farm where you’ll learn a bit about the chocolate making process. While this is done in Spanish (by our main tour guide), I was able to follow along quite easily since I’ve done chocolate tours in both Colombia and Costa Rica.
The tour is brief with an introduction to the cacao plant (including a tasting of the sweet flesh), an overview of the roasting process, peeling the beans (which we actually participated in), and finally grinding the beans into a chocolate paste.
For an extra $2, you can do a chocolate tasting.
Return to Baños
Finally, it’s time to return to Baños. Get back in the van and settle back for the nearly two hour drive back to Baños. We were all dropped off by a tour agency that was pretty centrally located.
Important Things to Know Before Your Tour
If you’re considering a Baños Jungle Tour, here’s the most important things to know before you go.
This Tour is Spanish Only
I said this already, but I think it’s worth stressing. My Baños jungle tour was in Spanish only. I had signed up through my hotel and the host working at my hotel knew that my Spanish wasn’t great. I had booked another tour through them and it was perfectly bilingual, so I’m led to believe this might be the way it is. You can get by if you don’t speak Spanish (just follow the other guests), but be prepared that you won’t get as much out of the day as the Spanish speakers on your tour.
In addition, there are times where your main guide for the day leaves you. He left us on the Cascada Hola Vida walk, the canoe ride, and the Kotokocha Indigenous Community. That’s not to say we were unguided but rather locals living in those areas took over the guiding. So even if your guide speaks English, there’s still a large amount of details you might miss out on since the other guides only speak Spanish.
That said, if you’re able to find a bilingual version of this tour (or something very similar), you should absolutely sign up for it. The tour itself was excellent and I enjoyed the variety. I just wish I had a bit more idea of what was going on.
Bring a Swim Suit
Technically this isn’t a requirement, but I would recommend bringing a swimsuit. You can take a dip in the waterfall and feel a bit more secure on the canoe ride. At the very least, I’d recommend bringing a change of clothes. Worst case you don’t need it, but do you really want to be sitting in wet shorts for the rest of the day?
Bring Cash
While most things in your tour should be covered by your tour fee, it’s a good idea to bring cash. You’ll want some cash to tip at the Kotokocha Indigenous Community (or purchase a craft as a souvenir). There are also optional add on activities at both miradors and at the El Paraíso Chocolate Farm, you could pay extra for a tasting.
Technically these are all optional, but I’d still suggest bringing some cash with you on your tour.
Final Thoughts
It’s no secret that I was a bit bummed to be on a Spanish only tour, but I’d still recommend considering a Baños jungle tour. It’s a great way to see some incredible scenery and learn about the local indigenous community. Yes, it’s less adrenaline filled than many of the other activities in Baños, but I still agree with my hotel: this is the best tour in Baños.
