Mindo

This weekend I went on a trip with my amiga Laura and two friends from her program, Larkin and Anyel. I thought we were going to Baños until the day of departure but the gals had changed our final destination, and I hadn’t caught on. We actually went to Mindo (elevation 4,100 ft) and as you’ll see from the pictures it was spectacular.

We caught a bus north from Quito and over the 2.5 hour trip we descended from the arid valley of Quito through cloud forest to the higher rainforest of Mindo. The ride itself started out a bit late as the bus company had double booked a number of the seats and we had to explain to an irate girl that yes, we were in “her” seat but that the old woman over their was in “our” seat, which was really also her seat. Eventually a young couple with a screaming baby left the bus and everyone more or less had a seat.

We arrived in Mindo just after dark (which comes at around 6:15pm) and after acquiring some information struck out for the Rubby Hostel. We found it after a fair bit of wandering and the owner gave us the whole third floor to ourselves!

The next morning our $8/night provided an ample breakfast of eggs, bread, juice, and chocolate milk/coffee. We struck out to find the renowned waterfalls. We had to pay $5 to get to the waterfalls, which at the time I didn’t understand. It turns out you have to cross a huge valley with a river and this is accomplished via a cable car; a definite highlight of the trip. The cable car spans hundreds of feet and on the ride over the guides just hang off the side the car! There are times when pictures are better than my blithering and this is one.



(View along whole cable traverse)



(Anyel at left, Larkin, and the operator/guide)



(A view of the car from the ground)




(View of the rain forest from the cable car)



Arriving on the other side we took the “long” hike of about an hour to the most remote waterfall. The sight of the sunlight piercing through the mist given off by the fall’s spray was magical.




(The little waterfall before its big brother)



(The tree-trunk ladder over one fall and up to another)



(Laura walking along the stream to the big falls)



(The big one!)



(Me, under the waterfall, in my boxers)


We hiked to another waterfall but it wasn’t quite the same, being a smaller hike it was much more crowded. The first waterfall we’d had all to ourselves!



(2nd falls)


We’d taken a truck ride up the 5km to the cable car but there were none returning when we were, so after 3 hours of hiking in the intense humidity we got to tack on another 3 miles! Needless to say we were rather tired upon returning to the hostel and rested/ate for the rest of the day.

Sunday morning we engaged in the most unique tubing experience I’ve ever seen. Unfortunately I don’t have any pictures as rivers and cameras don’t mix. The “raft” consisted of a central inflated truck tube with 6 more lashed around its circumference. The river itself was quite shallow, but fast with many rocks protruding from its surface. Any other raft I’ve been on would have been grounded numerous times but our contraption would bend, warp, and flex its way past any obstacle. I cannot forget to mention the guide’s role of directing our course by jumping all over/out of the raft to tug us into position; it really was quite a display of skill!

After a half hour of rafting for $4 (we tipped up to 5 in thanks for such a great time!) we packed up and went searching for hummingbirds. One of the local hostels has a garden with feeders and plants that attract the hummingbirds and they were everywhere, too many species to try and identify! Some more exploring the town and it was time to catch our bus back to Quito.



(Humming bird)




(Main street in Mindo)

Hope you all had wonderful weekends as well! Until next time, -Michael