Papallacta and Trip to San Rafael

Javier and I had one last three day weekend in the school year and debated a bit about where to go.  There was talk of flying to Colombia or the beach, but in the end we decided a relaxing trip close by would be best.  While I got to check out the hot springs of Papallacta with the girls, Javier hadn't yet, so we thought that would be the perfect little getaway.  When reading our Ecuador book, I saw that the country's largest waterfall was just a short distance away from Papallacta, so the plan became to rent a car and drive there after our night at Termas.  The drive to Papallacta was a bit hectic because of the fog (or should I just say clouds since we were so high up?) so we were very excited to relax when we arrived.

Our room was very nice (although I forgot to take a picture before our bag exploded on the extra bed)

hot springs right outside our door

steamy pools and misty mountains

We spent the morning soaking away

We took a break from the water to go on the little hike that is right be the hotel
On the way we found a little garden!  These are the trees that we saw in Cajas National park
(that look like Grimm's fairytales)

We also saw some llamas

It was an easy little hike that took us along the river

Papallacta is high up in the mountains so it's often cloudy, but so beautiful

Traversing the raging river

There were many pretty falls along the way

and gorgeous scenery (can you see the little waterfall cutting through the trees on the mountain?)

we also got a lovely little view of the town down below

We checked out after lunch and started our trip to San Rafael.  Google maps told us it was another hour and a half down the road (away from Quito) but the front desk estimated two and a half hours.  I'll end the suspense...the front desk was right.  We might not have gone if we had known it was so far, but the drive was gorgeous and San Rafael was very worth it.

sights along the way....three waterfalls

there was a flat stretch of road where the mountains just opened up around us

We arrived at San Rafael and checked in with the park station.  The views were beautiful.

it was an easy (a.k.a. not too steep) walk down to the falls!

there she is!   This sign told us that we could go no further for our own safety...

Even this far away this waterfall was intense!

so much water just crashing down....it was gorgeous!

amazing to behold

The long trip meant finishing our drive in the dark...but just as the sun was setting the volcano Antisana decided to make an appearance.  We've been told you can sometimes see it from Papallacta, but after two trips I've only ever seen clouds.  It was an amazing sight to end our trip of amazing sights!