Mindo!

Friday afternoon Will and I took a bus from Quito up to a tiny town called Mindo, 2 hours to the northwest. It’s a town up in the rainforest known for its outdoor activities and it’s a popular weekend trip for tourists and families from Quito alike. We stayed in a hostel that a girl on our bus recommended called Casa de Cecilia and it was straight out of Swiss Family Robinson. It was tucked away back in the trees and all of the dormitory style rooms were at the top of ladders and there were hammocks in the common areas. That night we met up with a group of 2 Americans, 1 Ecuadorian, and a Spaniard working on environmental mitigation for an international company in Quito. They had actually just gotten back from Haiti last week, in what ended up being a pretty timely departure; but meeting such interesting people is the coolest thing about staying in hostels. That night was the first time I had to sleep under a mosquito net since this summer and its definitely something I didn’t miss at all :)

In the morning, after Cecelia cooked us breakfast, we went “canopying” with the group from the night before, which is basically zip-lining through the trees. It was such a rush and the view from the top of the ziplines was insane. The most fun part was when they let you go “superman” which was hanging upside –down with your hands and head dangling below your body. In the afternoon we met up with Ben and Priscilla, our 2 other friends from school and then went hiking to a series of waterfalls. To get to the waterfalls you had to ride on the Terevista, a tiny cable car across 2 mountains. It was really neat because once you were across, you could just explore the trails to the different falls and spend as much time at each as you like.

On Sunday before heading back to Quito we rode in the back of a truck back to the top of the mountain to another waterfall, solo, but much bigger than the ones from Saturday. There in the canyon, they had built sort of an outdoor water park, with a swimming hole at the base of the falls, a rope swing, some jumps into the river and even a water slide from the top of the fall into the water below. Definitely worth the steep hike down and back! Before catching the bus back we had lunch at this place we found where the woman running it was a grill-master worthy of food network. She had this huge grill with all different types of meat, trout, chicken, grilled corn, and grilled plantains. You got a huge plate of veggies, rice, beans, and plantains, plus whatever type of meat you ordered for 2 dollars, and you could tell it was legit because it was literally packed at all hours. Yum!

Also, pictures soon to come, I'm trying to figure out picasa now...so I'll keep you all posted.
Love,
Kate