Mindo - a vacation town in the cloud forest - is full of things to do like white water rafting and zip lines for adrenaline junkies (in case the harrowing bus ride from Quito wasn't enough). What impressed all of us more than anything though, even more than touring and taste testing at the chocolate production facility, were the butterflies.
Other Mindo highlights included a fairly steep hike to a waterfall and river below,
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| Gramma's true nature revealed |
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| Don't be fooled by the calm appearance.... |
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| Son tries to keep up with his mother |
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Hoping to post a separate plant blog,
but just look at this thing! Believe it
or not, but that's almost a meter high. |
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| Ahh, getting used to this siesta thing |
- A visit to a chocolate production facility (those of you with ties in Michigan are in for a treat if you visit their U.S. shop near Ann Arbor in Dexter)
- Saying hello at an animal rescue facility in town,
- Eating hamburguesas and drinking fresh squeezed juice while swinging (harder than it looks),
- Enjoying regular chairs, views, and conversations,
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Banana (leaves): not just for
breakfast anymore... |
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A sample for Mr. Schrankler's 3rd grade
leaf comparison study back home |
- Playing in the river,
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| Gramma and Kaia trying to catch supper |
- Admiring a sidewalk neighbor from a distance,
- Admiring a different neighbor from a much closer distance,
- And, of course, joining the zip line frenzy for almost 4 km worth of vertigo.
Together these highlights sum up a truly excellent and memorable stay in the cloud forest.
Zounds, this is an excellent post. The pics are dazzling. I'll come back to look when the grey-brown cast to everything in MN is driving me nutty.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing with us. Love the blissed out toucan (for 1/2 min at least) and of course the zip line, breathtaking exciting and terrifying at once.
So glad to see that you made it to Mindo AND went to the major places that continued to make me grateful for living in Mindo.
ReplyDeleteJudy Thatch
What a wonderful blog entry about your time in Mindo. It's beautiful! I found this posting while trying to search for Judy Thatch, and I see her comment here. I would love to connect with her. I don't know if I can do so through this blog?? My husband Jim and I (Rose) met Judy in Cuenca. She was so kind to spend time with us. We drove with her and Bev Anne to her beautiful home in Yunguilla, I think shortly before she was to move to Mindo. We are traveling to Cuenca in late April - early May, 2014. And we would love to consider a short trip to Mindo. If anyone reads this that can help us connect with Judy (by any chance!), I would very much appreciate this. rgurley@hbci.com
DeleteWhat great photos!!!! Niko and Kaia should try and paint those butterflies in watercolor when they get home. It would be a challenge to apply enough pigment to get the brilliant colors in these photos. Also I love the photo of Dottie swinging and the zip line video. What a life !!!
ReplyDeleteI stumbled across this while looking for Derk and was surprised to see where you folks are. Looks exciting, the photographs are outstanding, and all of you look great. But kids, I suggest leaving the ants alone and look for a good burger. Greetings to the whole family from your favorite phys ed teacher from JFK.
ReplyDelete