When in Mindo...

The GAIAS group (those of us lucky enough to spend three months studying in the Galapagos) took a two day trip to Mindo, a small town among the cloud forest, approximately 2 hours from Quito. The bus ride was so amazing as it involved winding down through the mountains to a lower elevation. The slightly higher temperature and humidity (as compared to Quito) was a nice change.

This was either before or after serenading the other bus passengers with American Pie. Ummm, yeah, super excited for Mindo!!

Mindo is a quaint little town with one main street, dirt roads, and more dogs than you can imagine. Seriously, for you dog lovers, it was a field day!! 

The four of us that took the later bus out, which by the way, only cost $2.50 (beat that NYC transit!!), had time to eat with our fellow friends and find a hostel (only $7/night!) for the night before checking out the town (well, street).

Because Mindo is a little touristy (the locals won't look at you twice, which is really great b/c in Quito Gringas are cat-called and whistled at to no end), we were able to check out one of the local discoteks. Given my love for dancing and the fact I live in a hispanic country, it was really awesome that I was able to learn to salsa and merengue, a skill I will definitely continue to better in Quito. The night only got more interesting as we left the disco; a group of guys were playing soccer in the street and let the crazy, semi-drunken gringos practically take over their game.

As it is practically impossible to sleep-in anywhere in this country (roosters, car alarms, barking dogs, birds, ect), I rose bright and early to join some classmates for a hike to the waterfalls!!

Mindo from a distance

When a stray dog follows you four miles uphill you'll take pity on it too.

In order to access the waterfalls you have to take a 'cable car' (basically a metal box on a zip-line) across a canyon. I'd post the video for the scenery, but I'm yelling expletives, most likely due to the depth of the canyon and I don't really think that's appropriate.

The hike was a little strenuous, but the cold water felt amazing and cooled us right down. The waterfall consists of 7 or 8 cascades that involve a little hiking between, and it was definitely worth it.

Back at the hostel, post hike, pre brownie at the artisan chocolate shop. Also, after hearing numerous comments about my hair being lighter I have come to the conclusion that you are, in fact, correct, as this picture is proof that I'm basically blonde.

Apparently not one Ecuadorian can pronounce my name properly. They are worse than Americans, and well, haha, I'm not even going to go there. Let's just say I've been called numerous variations of my name. On this incredible road I've decided to travel down I've discovered that only the last four letter of my name (Leña) mean 'fiery'. Good to know. Given this, I got a real big laugh out of this sign. :-)

This cool statue of a momma hummingbird feeding her baby is located in the park in the center of town. Want to take a guess as to what it's significance is? If you guessed there must be hummingbirds around, well, you're right. They're all over the place. They wake you up in the morning. And some of them are huge (well, compared to other hummingbirds)! It's amazing.  

One happy lady. Hummingbirds, lemongrass tea, and a relaxing morning at Mindo Lindo.

"After it all I found the best place to walk and be well"