Mindo

Had a great weekend in Mindo.  Jaime, the guy who drives us in his van to school, drove us there.  There was the program coordinator and two other volunteers plus myself.  We had to drive south through Quito and then towards the coast, about a 3-4 hour drive, much of which was on awindy mountain roads.  As we changed from the eastern side of the mountain ridges to the western side, we could see a huge difference in the vegitation.  On the eastern slopes everything was dry and not very green and on the western side everything was green and lush. It reminded me of the coastal road we drove in Mexico north of Puerto Vallarta and Johnny said it reminded him of Hondourus. 

Mindo has developed itself into a tourism town.  There is a waterfall that people can access by hiking or taking a hanging basket on a cable.  There are also a number of reserves close by focused on hummingbirds, butterflies and orchads.  The main street is lined with small restaurants and bars and travel agencies to sell the above tours and even a place to rent 4 wheelers. 

We hiked to the waterfall and then I waded in the pond above it while the others swam in the deeper pool and jumped off the back and even went down the cement slide. There were quite a few people there, both foreign and Ecuadorians.  The hike back was almost all uphill and it took me 35 minutes....quite a workout in the humidity!

While we were at the waterfall, I realized I didn´t have my GVI cell phone in the pocket where I had put it.  Figured that was it...gone for good.  Then, as we got back to the hostal, I thought maybe I had left it on my bed in my room, so I went to get out my keys.  No keys!  Darwin the hostal manager located the guy we got a ride from up to the waterfall trail  and he had both the phone and keys.  What a relief.  Felt like an idiot.

Most of the restaurants were pizza places, however, there was one place where we went to dinner that is owned by an Ecuadorian-American couple that had a variety of foods.  I had an expensive dinner: filet mignon with a garlic mushroom sauce, papa fritas, and vegetables for $9.50.  Most main courses were around 6 bucks. We also all had the brownies made with two kinds of Ecuadorian chocolate - oh, so good! After we went to a bar for a bit then headed back to the hostel.  And, as I went to get my keys out, I couldn´t find them!  I asked Johnny to walk back with me to the restaurant and bar to look for them.  No luck.  We got back to the hostal and Johnny offered to sleep in the hammock on the porch so I could have his bed.  While I was in the bathroom, Janine knocked on the door and apologized!  When we left for dinner I had given her my key to put in her purse (so it wouldn´t fall out of the pocket again), and we BOTH forgot I had done that! It was a real relief as I was feeling pretty stupid. 

On Sunday the others went on a canopy tour - known at home as a zip line - and I went to a butterfly-hummingbird place right in town.  Really enjoyed seeing so many different types of hummingbirds that we don´t have in Alaska and to see the butterflies up close.  Took quite a few pics which I will post later.  Will also post some more blog entries that I have on my computer.