December 01: Banos

(1) Though I enjoyed my time with my Banos companions, I was sort of hoping to have a day for myself. So, after breakfast, I walked down to the Zoologico San Martin, a small zoo on the outskirts of town. As I was fairly certain that I would not get to visit the Galapagos or the bird-watching village of Mindo, I decided I still needed to somehow get my fix on wildlife, despite how un-wild and lacking of life these animals may have been in the confines of their habitats. The upper level of the zoo is a bird sanctuary - that's where I found this guy. The lower level is for the non-bird-creatures... there's a proper scientific name for this, I'm sure. Pretty basic stuff, but you do get to move in relatively close to the animals. All in all, not a bad way to spend part of the afternoon.

(2) After the zoo, I wandered around that part of town until I found the trail leading down to Cascada Ines Maria. I believe I was searching for some kind of zen moment down by the water, but I found myself rather mentally exhausted after trekking through some heavy brush. Convinced that I was going to get bitten by some sort of snake or other deadly creature below the weeds and bushes, I sort of hopped along the trail in complete denial to the fact that my six-inches of vertical leap weren't going to protect me from anything. The falls were pleasant.

(3) Before going out for the evening, I decided to sit back with some coffee at a sidewalk cafe. A solo Danish tourist eventually took a seat by my table. We smoked some cigars and talked about the wellness centers that he owned... and at the end of the conversation, I was well-convinced that he was thoroughly cracked.

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