Buenos Dias Amigos,
Nice daytrip to Mindo in the cloud forest. Cloud forest? yes the same sort of thing as rainforest but in the clouds. Nothing like stating the obvious. Most of the others in the group went ziplining and rafting but not us. We were too sophisticated and went to the butterfly farm, walking and birdwatching. Took a while to get the confused look off the tourist office person in Mindo when asking to go to the butterfly farm. Eventually my crappy spanish got interpreted and we were there in a flash. The keyword was mariposa (butterfly). Yes soooo obvious. Anyway after the jungle the butterfly farm was lame. We had a tour in spanish and wandered around nodding our understanding to the guide. A little like a dog looking like it understands when you talk to it and all it really hears is blah blah blah. Not quite that bad. We can actually understand basic spanish now.
After the butterfly farm we walked back to Mindo via the side streets looking for hummingbirds for which the town is best known. Saw a couple and some beautiful yellow and black birds. Not exactly what we were hoping to see. Kept walking and stumbled across a cafe tucked away in the back streets with a couple of bird feeders that contained brown sugar and water. There were a lot of hummingbirds around and we saw at least 5 different varieties while enjoying a couple of lemonades. Not special lemonades just normal.
Finished off the day with a visit to an orchid farm. Lots of varieties starting with what sounded like dracular? One amazing plant in the collection contracted when touched. Probably more exciting in this writeup than in reality. Well if you were into orchids it would have been more interesting.
Mindo is a great town. A place that one could easily settle in with it´s beautiful scenery, streams, warm environment and laid back lifestyle. Perfect for hippies. Peace man.
Heading off in the truck towards the amazon basin tomorrow via some hot springs.
Adios Amigos,
David & Vanessa
