The blind trip to Mindo...
I embarked on a trip to Mindo on Thursday of pure faith, based on a recommendation from someone that I had met in Ibarra. I did not know where it was, how far it was, what it looked like or any other information except that there was a good hostal across the road from the football field...
On the way there in the bus, I passed many rubbish dump cities which looked as though they had survived a war - Just... I was feeling quite angry that someone would have recommended me a place which looked anything like that and had by now decided that I was not getting out of the bus in a place which looked like an old nuclear testing area... Luckily enough, the scenery changed from disgusting to absolutely amazing. Mindo is a tiny little farming community in the West of Ecuador (I think!) and is hidden in the middle of miles and miles of protected Ecuatorian rainforest... The weather is subtropical, very humid and warm but not too hot. It is clean, green and lush as anything you could imagine and has one of the highest concentration of bird species in the world.
I went birdwatching and saw 3 different species of toucans in the forest. I went swimming in Mindo river which was amazing, and really just walked around and enjoyed the scenery... There is really not much else you can do there if you do not like nature! I also got my 3rd Ecuatuatorian marriage proposal... I know where to come if I am feeling desperate, that is for sure! I left Saturday afternoon to go back to Quito, a little sad to leave such beauty behind for Quito, but I am off again tomorrow to Riobamba with a friend until Wednesday when I take my plane to Colombia...
And so the adventure continues...
