Banos

Yesterday a really sweet family whose church we attend offered to accompany us to Banos (Bahn-yohs), the larger town that's an hour further into the Andes Mountains away from our house.  It's probably Doug's favorite destination since it's about 10 degrees cooler, it's less rainy, it's got a bigger grocery store than Shell (about the size of a typical Dollar Store), and we know of a place where we can buy chocolate empanadas for a buck a piece.  As we mentioned last year, it also sells grilled guinea pig (a delicacy here) which we proudly report that we've never indulged in. It just has a few more options of things to do than here.  In fact, if you were to travel to Ecuador, it would more than likely be a spot on your itinerary as it is for most tourists that drop into this South American nation.

Our friends collected us at 11:00 a.m. and we drove the hour to Banos where we had lunch at a Mexican restaurant that served the best guacamole and homemade chips. Then we hopped in the car and visited the a place that, in English, would be translated as something like a 'serpetarium'.  We viewed a slew of Amazonian snakes which caused a bit of alarm for Selah for she could see that they were venomous and aggressive.  Then we toured the collection of birds which I thought was fantastic as they had cardinals, flamingos, peacocks, and this really interesting rooster. He reminded me of comedian Phyllis Diller of my childhood days. 

Then we headed to the lion exhibit, a new acquisition from another zoo, which included a lion, lioness, and two cubs. To our surprise we had come on the day when the cubs would be officially named at a ceremony at which Miss Banos would put in her appearance and the zoo would serve sparkling wine, chocolate candies, baked rolls, and many other finger foods. 

Though those things were all a treat, the biggest thrill we had was getting to pet the lion cubs and have the kids' picture taken with one of them.  While this all took place the anxious mother and father looked on and growled and roared with impatience. 

Afterward we witnessed a wonderful family reunion with contented parents including a father who wished the spectators to simply go away.  The roar of a lion really is something to behold.  There is so much power within the throat of such an amazing animal. 

Just before leaving the 'Serpetarium' we took a picture of the animal that most caught Doug's attention:  the llama.  When Doug went to chat with him, he would have none of it and tried to bite him.  We loved the attempt though. 

At the end of our time there in Banos, we shopped for groceries and picked up our favorite cereal, more Gouda and cheddar cheese, bags of chips, chocolate chips, garbanzo beans, pecans, jalapenos, almond slices, mint extract, and a number of other things we cannot readily find in Shell.  On the way out of town we even stopped for chocolate empanadas before heading back to the rain and bugs of the jungle.  It was a great day!

 

Blessings, kim