Mindo: The Cloud Forest

After a few days exploring Quito, we headed northwest to Mindo, the cloud forest. The scenery outside the bus window quickly changed from the dry, harsh landscape surrounding Quito to lush, tropical hills and valleys as we descended into Mindo.

Once in Mindo, we ran into a group of American teachers living and teaching in Quito. Most of them had been in Quito for almost two years, and they traveled to Mindo on Thanksgiving weekend to have a big Turkey Day celebration at the Drangonfly Inn, which was a hotel and restaurant owned by one of the counselors at the University where they worked in Quito. We ended up finding a cheap hostel just outside of town called El Rocio with a few of the American teachers. It was pretty cheap for a private room and for two dollars extra, we could get a wonderful breakfast in the morning: a huge glass of fruit and yogurt, two eggs, toast and hot chocolate!

Our first full day in Mindo, Jon and I walked up a muddy street to the top of a hill where you could take a cable car across a valley to a series of trails that led to lots of waterfalls. We spent the day hiking in the Ecuadorian forest, and even ran into a group of three Americans from Colorado that we had befriended on the bus ride the day before.

The second two nights in Mindo we stayed at La Casa De Cecilia. It was a wonderufl hostel with cheap, clean rooms, and hammocks to lounge in. Our only issue with this hostel was they didn´t seem to want us to use the kitchen, which is key for Jon and I as we cook most of our food to save money.

On our second full day in Mindo, we woke up early to go birdwatching with our Colorado friends. Apparently Mindo is world-famous for bird watching. And we got a great guide, Marcelo, and a crazy deal for only $40 for the five of us for the entire morning. Apparently most guided bird watchers, Marcelo included, usually charge about $100 per person! But, our Colorado friends were staying at a hotel owned by a local family, and the owner was good friends with Marcelo, so he was able to swing a deal for all of us. Our Colorado friends were so pleased with the deal, they let Jon and I come along without even having to pay for our portion! The bird watching was more exciting than we thought it would be. Marcelo clearly was the best guide, as we passed other groups of birdwatchers he would help their guides spot birds that they hadn´t seen. We saw lots of Tucans, Mott motts and male and female Quetzals, along with many other colorful, beautiful birds that I can´t remember the names of. Grandma, you would have loved it, except for all of the uphill walking.

Jon and I also did the canopy zipline tour. This consisted of 13 cables, zipping through and above the canopy of the forest. Some were fast, some were really long, and some you could do tricks like the superman (self explanatory) or the butterfly where you were upside down. It was really fun, especially in the pouring down rain since we didn´t get around to it until the afternoon, when rain will inevitably strike the Mindo area.

The food in Mindo was also extraordinary. Mindo is famous for its chocolate and we indulged in some deliciously fudgy brownies at a chocolate facotry right next to our hostel. There was also a fantastic wood-fired pizza place (we are suckers for those) and treated ourselves to large, thin crusted pizzas and some beer on our last night in Mindo.

Our only complaint with the wonderful, safe town of Mindo, is its lack of a working ATM. We were informed upon arrival that there was an ATM, but found out a few days later when we were getting low on cash, that it didn´t work. Unforunately, we had to pay for a taxi to take us two towns away (probably 40km each way) to find a working ATM. Lesson learned: always go to the small towns with plenty of cash, or at least ask if the only ATM is reliable!