It’s literally been over a year since we’ve camped. So we decided that it was about time, especially since we had been in lock down in our town for over 3 months. COVID-19 was not going to keep us inside forever and our friends Erica and Alex had invited us to join them from months back. Malena had a week off from work so we decided to just do it.
We were sad we couldn’t take our dogs because there was simply no space in the car to fit all of us, including our friends dog Chewie. We actually rescued Chewie months back. A week before the pandemic when our friends came over for dinner, we convinced them to take her in (well, it wasn’t a hard sell, they had already fallen in love with her). So we were excited to go camping with her.
We had originally wanted to explore Piñan. But our friends told us there were blockades setup by groups of people who were not letting outsiders into their communities. This was not uncommon as back in Cotacachi, several scenic farmland running routes were also blocked by locals who were afraid of people from outside of their communities bringing in corona virus. Here in Ecuador the virus has been taken super seriously since the beginning. It was drilled into our heads by government and city announcements that the virus was serious and deadly and that we should basically not go out if possible, keep up the social distancing and wearing masks is obligatory.
So instead we went to a cozy spot in Timbuyacu, near Cascada Conrayaro. Only one hour away from Cotacachi this hidden gem was discovered by our friends who drove us there. Before the pandemic, we had been thinking about partnering up with them to do some recon on good camping spots. We would then suggest these spots to our hostel guests as an adventure camping tour package, with the option of our friends taking guests there and hang out. That way there would be a social side to the experience. And honestly we can say they are good people and it was great hanging out with them.
First Night
When we got there, our first impression was, woah this river is great! When scouting out a campsite, we decided on a spot that was literally steps away from a river which we thought was awesome. Luckily there was just enough space to fit two tents.
So like everywhere in Ecuador, there will be cows, grazing pretty much everywhere. And when we say everywhere, we literally mean everywhere. Cows graze near the hostel on the patch of grass in front of our property sometimes. We see them walking around the streets with their owners and dogs guiding them to any lots whether empty or owned. If the cows can graze, they will graze. I don’t think anybody minds. This means of course….poop. Cow poop everywhere. Our friends were prepared as they brought a small garden shovel to clean out some patches near our campsite. We also threw large stones over cow poop to make our walks at night less of a smelly feet accident.
Setting up our tents was fairly simple. There was a small tree trunk sticking out of the ground in the area our tent was covering, but we managed to wedge a backpack between the tent and the ground covering over that one branch sticking out. Once the tents were setup, we were ready to chill.
We brought three growlers, one dark lager and two experimental variations of the Saison Roger has been working on; one with Cucumber and another with Rosemary. We had a fourth smaller jug which we forgot! This was extremely badly planned and waaay underestimated how much our little group can drink. So the first night we pretty much emptied all three growlers and most of a bottle of wine thinking we could drive back into town the next day to re-stock. Totally forgetting (the beer and wine may have had something to do with that) about the license plate rules and the fact that Alex could only drive on a Saturday, (this was Thursday).
We also ate soo much!! But that is exactly what camping is about :). The thing about living in Ecuador is that, it doesn’t matter what time of the year it is, at around 6pm the sun goes down. So it was hard to take some good pics of all the good food we had that night. This one is just as the sun was setting.
Ready for a hike!
The next morning Malena woke up first and rinsed her face with the river water and then started prepping the fire to make a big breakfast. We needed a good meal since we were going to go for a hike up the hill towards Cascada Conrayaro. Slowly the rest woke up and when Roger crawled out of COFFEE tent he COFFEE, first thought COFFEE of coffee.
COFFEE. ☕
The hike was full of gorgeous views. It started off along the side of the river, then turned into what seemed like being in a jungle. Some of the trees had very smooth textures, and we also saw some some large centipedes. It was not as muddy as we had thought, so the hike was not as hard as we expected. It still takes your breath away, literally, because of the altitude, so we did stop a few times for a water break.
The first time we stopped we tried to go for a swim in what seemed like the end of the falls on the other side. Our friend Erica was the only one brave enough to actually get in and stand in the water. On the other hand both of us started remembering how it felt to swim in a lake during May 24 weekend in Canada. Basically your muscles start to twitch, and pain kicks in until you go numb. It was cloudy and sprinkling rain, so we all decided that this was going to be a short stop. And better off continuing to hike up to see the real falls.
Once we were getting closer to the falls we could hear the crashing water and feel the change in the air long before we reached it. The moment we reached the hill above the falls it was such an amazing view. Although getting down seemed like it would be a bit of a challenge, there was no real path. There was a rope that we could use to get down the slippery rocks.
Roger and Alex went down first to do a recon. Chewie unfortunately a cute but not very bright dog decided that she wanted to follow. As much as we held on, and thought that Alex and Roger could hear us below to warn them Chewie was coming down, she ended up slipping down the rocks and landing pretty hard. Luckily she just got a bad bump and no serious injuries. In no time at all she was bouncing around like it never happened.
So misty and cold from the falls. 
Erica holding on to her hat. The wind and mist was truly a strong force of nature.
We decided to go back up to crack open the beers and actually enjoy them at the top without getting soaked. It was adorable to see how Chewie’s attitude had changed going up the rope. Alex held on to her and she just trusted his grip as he pushed her up the rope with him.
On the way back we took a different route which was less muddy and more open and easier to hike. The path was wider and it was just an amazing view going down. We kept taking pictures of the beautiful views.
Alex with more sense of direction than us, pointing to Ibarra 
Chewie always there!
Once we got back we tackled the fire while our friends went to get some fish for dinner from a trout farm just up the hill. Meanwhile Malena did her thing getting the fire set up (she loves building a fire) while Roger took a nap. That night we ate BBQ fish and it was AMAZING!
Final Morning
The last morning we got up and went just behind where we camped where there was a small pool formed from the collection of rocks just below a small falls. Malena was brave enough to go in despite it being super cold! And it was completely worth it.
Trout Farm
So the fish we had the night before was so delicious that we decided to go up and meet Gladys, the lady who owns the trout farm, to buy some more fish to take home the next day!
The hike up to her farm was very steep but it gave quite a view of the trout farm as it looked like it took several generations for the family to get the place to where it is. It has several levels and a huge irrigation system, that went from the top of the hill to the bottom where the river was. She had several pools with fish in different stages of life, from little tiny recently hatched fishies, to large fat grown trout ready to be fished out. Roger was appointed to do that by Gladys who simply handed him her big fish scoop.
The paths in between some of the pools were so narrow that Malena slipped and almost fell into one of them. Erica actually did slip and fall into one of the pools up to her knees. It was a long walk up and down that hill, but quite the experience seeing the whole thing. The place was actually set up as a restaurant with several seating areas and a small swing made of wire and plastic. The place also had a small cabin you can rent out for the night for $12/person with gorgeous views out every window of the valley and all the mountains from across the skies. There was also an adorable donkey that seemed to be interested in us walking around and got close enough to Roger that he started petting him.
On our way home our ice packs were no longer ice so we stopped at a small tienda in the middle of nowhere to buy some ice cream to keep the fish cold. A wonderful excuse indeed. We ended up buying some locally made cheese, and milk and other goodies which made the owners of that store really happy.
Thank you for bringing us here!!
