Flying through the Clouds

About two weeks ago, Aislinn, Phil, Greg and I took a day trip to Mindo, a small town about two hours outside of Quito that is most well known for its Mindo-Nambillo Cloud Forest. The town is situated in the Andes and the mountains are often surrounded by a “cloud forest” because of its elevation. This particular town is a haven for bird-watchers because it has some of the most rare species of birds in the world. It also happens to be GORGEOUS and have some pretty sweet tourist attractions! Read on . . .

Hike

After enjoying a delicious, American-style breakfast at a little bed and breakfast/ hostel type place, we rode in a pick-up truck (the Ecuadorian version of a cab) up an extremely rocky, meandering road, to the launching point of the hike we would be doing. The unique thing about this particular hike is that one cannot access the hike without riding in a little cable-car type contraption across a forest to the beginning of the hike. Hard to describe exactly what this little contraption was, but hopefully the picture will help. The hike was great. About 2 hours through lush green forest with roughly 5 waterfalls lining our journey. It actually reminded me a lot of a hike Michael and I took in Pennsylvania. Ecuador, Pennsylvania, same difference! The one noticeable difference was that in Pennsylvania, I did not encounter any women attempting to complete said hike in large wedge sandals and holding up every single person who was trying to hike that day. Really? Platform shoes down steep slopes? Come on now . . .

Greg and I riding the contraption that took us to the start of our hike.

Zip -Lining!!!

One way Mindo attracts tourists is through two large, highly competitive zip-lining companies. Once we finished our hike, we popped into another “taxi” and headed to one of these zip-lining companies. After paying $10, having a 13-year-old boy suit me up, and not signing any sort of waver, I felt that what I was about to be doing was extremely safe and I should not worry at all. Though that might sound sketchy, it actually was quite safe (don’t worry Jan) and A BLAST! Suited up in helmets and harnesses, we embarked upon 10 zip-lines across the cloud forest. It was such a rush. I literally felt like I was flying over the clouds and got some fantastic views. There are several poses you can try while zip-lining besides the standard. These include the “mariposa” or butterfly, the “super-hombre” or superman, and the “murciélago” or bat. I dabbled in the superman, which meant that I was strapped to one of the guides, who happened to be about 15, while he held my legs and I put my arms out just like a flying superman would. Apparently I am too heavy for 15-year old guides because the whole time he was making grunting noises and sounded in pain. As we were reaching the other side of our zip-line, my guide and I slowed to a stop, within meters of the deck where we could disembark. This was a bit awkward, as I was suspended in superman pose with this 15- year old boy holding my legs. Thankfully, the other guide shimmied out on the line and came to our rescue. After my superman, I stuck to the classic styles and had a great time. I think these videos that I am posting will do the experience justice. Unfortunately, I didn’t capture an entire zip-line because of my lackluster camera skills.

The group in our zip-lining gear

Mariposa Garden

Ecuadorians love butterflies and I love the Spanish word for butterfly. Mariposa sounds way cooler than butterfly. Also, it can be compared to our word “pansy” when describing guys who are a little lame. P, store that one away to at work. Our final activity of our day trip was to visit a little butterfly garden. It was beautiful, there was peaceful background music playing, and we succeeded in having butterflies land on our hands. The garden also had a hummingbird section, which was awesome! Those little guys are so cute and energy-filled.

Overall, the day trip was fantastic. I would definitely return to Mindo if I had the time. It’s the type of place that’s so beautiful and peaceful that I could see myself passing a week there easily without really doing much. What a life!

¡Una mariposa!