“End of the World” in Baños, Ecuador

For those seeking an adventurous and thrillin getaway, I suggest that “End of the World” in Baños, Ecuador should be added to your bucket list.

Hiking up the path to Bellavista from the edge of Baños, Ecuador, you reach a viewpoint and a seismic monitoring station named La Casa del Árbol (The Treehouse). As the name suggests it’s a small house built in a tree, at the edge of a canyon. 

The view from up here alone is worth the trip, but for adrenalin junkies, La Casa del Árbol offers a unique bonus – a swing hanging over the precipice. 

 While the simple wooden room is a sight to behold, the real attraction is the crude swing hanging from one of the tree's skinny branches. 
With no harness, net, or any other safety feature the swing (itself nothing more than a thick stick suspended by two ropes) arcs riders out into the void over the canyon.

Adventurous visitors are welcome to take a ride on the swinging seat, which may have been updated recently, adding a small, fabric belt to hold you in a bit. You're not actually swinging out over a void, but over a steepish hill, about 100 feet up. So no pressure.

Believe it or not many of the people who come here actually use it just to see what it’s like to swing into the void, and the internet is full of scary photos of them hanging over the abyss.
 It’s reportedly a great way to keep yourself entertained when the clouds block the view of Ecuador’s rumbling Tungurahua volcano, but just I can’t stop thinking about the possibility of one of the lines, or the thin metal beam supporting it breaking which would most likely cause the rider to fall to his death.