Mindoooooooooo!

I hope to have more weekend trips like this last one!!! My friends Ansy (from France), Sarah & Sylvie (from Holland) and I went to the town of Mindo which is about two hours away from Quito by bus. Mindo is literally made up of just a few streets. The main street leads into the main square which is lined with restaurants and businesses where locals play cards or chat with neighbors while waiting for business to saunter in. But the town itself isn't why people travel here...it's the cloudforest that surrounds it...

Walking up to la Casa de Cecilia hostel in Mindo, visitors are greeted by the lovely site of a couple wooden cabins engulfed by greenery and exotic flowers.

Our room was upstairs toward the back of this cabin. Our clothes decorate the balcony like Tibetan prayer flags because of our tubing adventure (keep reading).

The Fates themselves led me to this room! SpongeBob covers! Perfect!...I should have wrapped the bed's mosquito netting around my entire body while walking around Mindo instead of just protecting myself at night with it. Even though I practically bathed in bug spray each day, I missed my elbows. Those bloodsuckers found my Achilles' heel and now my elbows look like they're covered in boils! So gross! My poor friends had it much worse; their entire legs are now covered with itchy, bloody pockmarks. No good. But I was informed by a local that there have never been any reported cases of malaria in Mindo. Phew!

The view from the hostel room just makes you sigh in contentment. The bridge goes over a little, but fast-flowing river. I'll take the sounds of rushing water over blaring reggaeton and car-honking any day (the sounds that lull me to sleep in Quito)!

Posing by the river behind our cabin. (Hey, at least I'm not "living in a van down by the river!")

Breathtaking flora of vibrant colors studded the blanket of green covering Mindo and its surrounding areas. I really wish I had a bit more knowledge about botany so I could identify even a few of the gorgeously different flowers, trees and plants I came across.
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Ansy and I began our Saturday by slipping on some sturdy harnesses, helmets and gloves in preparation for some zip lining. For $10 each, we zipped along over 7800 feet of wire several hundred feet high. Flying across that fertile valley was one of the best experiences of my life! The wait time before the initial plunge was utterly frightening, but once my body began slicing through the air on that cable, I didn't want to reach the end! Exhilarating!

Ansy prepares for the launch across the wire that you can just barely make out in this photo against the backdrop of dense foliage. Those stylish gloves we wore were for maintaining balance (so you wouldn't twirl around while flinging across a thin wire in the sky) and for light braking (not to worry, the guides did the major braking so the gloves weren't really necessary for that).

There she goes! What a rush! My turn!Coming in for a smooth landing.
One of our guides, Juan, just...dare I say it...hanging around! Oh dear. I embarrass myself sometimes. :)

Ansy does the Supergirl pose for an incredible view of the valley below!

Just like a bird! Well, an awkward-looking bird to be sure, but a bird nonetheless.Our very capable guides Juan and Carlos unhooked my friend from the wire as the three British guys who accompanied us (Greg, Dane and Ben) rehydrated. Between each zip line (13 total), we had to walk uphill in the heat and humidity. Quite a workout!

The SuperGirl pose really hurts with the harness digging into your stomach as your legs are wrapped around your guide! My airplane wings/Supergirl arms flopped downward toward the end of this particular zipline.

Dane was the first of the boys to attempt the butterfly. We had a lot of good laughs at his expense; it was just too perfect!The butterfly was definitely my favorite way to zip!
Ansy and I stop for a pic, delaying the final zip line. We didn't want the thrills to end!

Juan preparing to coast down the longest (and almost the fastest) line yet.

On the walk back from the wonder known as zip lining, we stopped on this bridge for a quick snapshot (and yes, I AM rocking the fanny pack!). The very river behind us turned out to be the site of the tubing adventure we have no photographic evidence of. For $6 each, we tagged along with our British zip lining companions and headed down the river on a makeshift raft of about 7 inner tubes tied together with rope. I felt much better once I put on my helmet and life jacket. :) But it was so much fun! Even without the security blanket I like to call my glasses, I put aside any fears of crashing against sharp rocks or of falling into rushing rapids and drowning (no great risk of either of these events actually taking place with our two very agile guides hopping about and maneuvering the tubes) to enjoy a 20-minute cold bath and adrenaline rush.

Dead snake along our walk. Big creepy bug. Adequate descriptions, no?

Walking around the main square and enjoying the eerie green lights illuminating the trees.

Our Saturday night looked a little different than usual. There's really not that much to do in Mindo after the sun goes down, so why not join a bunch of energetic kids in a game of nocturnal street soccer? These boys were so cute and thought it was hilarious that these gringas wanted to play with them! Definitely the highlight of my evening! (I look like such a giant in this pic! ;) )

This was at our favorite restaurant El Quetzal cafe, which was also where the infamous Mindo chocolate tour took place. We learned about the various steps of their organic chocolate-making process: cacao beans are harvested, thrown into a pile and allowed to ferment for three days under banana leaves, spread out to dry for a week, roasted, crunched into tiny bits of cacao nibs and their shells, put in front of a giant blowdryer to separate the nibs from the shells, processed in a grinder that plops the stuff out like dog doody, mixed with cocoa butter to make it smoother and sweeter since the nibs are incredibly bitter, and then poured into molds to make the yummy chocolate bars to satisfy any chocolate craving. I may have missed a step or two because I was distracted by the sight of freshly-made brownies coming out of the oven. :) We got to try cinnamon and lemongrass flavored chocolate in addition to a brownie with home-made coffee ice cream. Surprisingly, I really enjoyed the lemongrass sample! My chocolate palate is finally maturing beyond just M&M's!! :)The girls and I hopped into a local "taxi" on Sunday morning to head to a butterfly sanctuary of sorts. I have a feeling that most people needing a ride in Mindo are either uber sweaty from zip lining or completely drenched from tubing so taxi drivers prefer to have their clients sit in the bed of the pickup. My friend Joana works at Mariposas de Mindo on the weekends to help her parents who own the beautiful property. Joana gave us a lovely tour on the butterfly stages. I found it fascinating that the cocoons were camouflaged to blend in with their surroundings (some looked like leaves, others like clumps of fruit) and that they become transparent when the butterfly is about to make its grand entrance into the world.

The big guy on the left was drying his wings for a few hours before he could take flight with his brethren.The butterflies fluttering about were simply gorgeous!

They may not look like it since they are at rest, but these are two of the very colorful hummingbird varieties darting about Mindo. There are hummingbird feeders hanging from trees around homes, hostels, restaurants, and more. These were just outside of the butterfly "farm." Even in Quito you can see colorful hummingbirds buzzing about.

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It was a bit difficult to return to the noisy, polluted capital after a weekend of natural wonders and relative tranquility, but that just means I have to return to Mindo very soon!