Mindo Mariposas

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,

Gramma's true nature revealed

Don't be fooled by the calm appearance....

Son tries to keep up with his mother

Hoping to post a separate plant blog,
but just look at this thing! Believe it
or not, but that's almost a meter high.

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,

Banana (leaves): not just for
breakfast anymore...

A sample for Mr. Schrankler's 3rd grade
leaf comparison study back home

- Playing in the river,

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.

Geocaching with Dottie

After months of looking around for the perfect location for a fancy-schmanzy geocoin Derk received on behalf of someone in Germany, we finally found a home for it in a box in the shadows of Volcano Pichincha overlooking Quito.  After a dizzying ride on the TeleferiQo cable car beginning at 2850 meters and ending up at 4050 meters above sea level (that's 13,284 ft), we set out in search of the geocache site short on directions and breath, but full of enthusiasm. Sure enough, we found the little hill, the bridge, the stream, the fence, and ultimately the cache in a bush.  Enjoyed quite the hike with beautiful views over the never ending Quito sprawl far below.

Found it! Cache "Cerca del Cielo"

Gramma and her morning stroll at 4000m.  Nothing compared to that McGregor, IA walk-to-school tho'.

We're thinking about starting our own 80s
band.  We already have the album cover!

Volcan Pichincha

Back at the cable car station we were greeted with guagas de pan (fruit filling stuffed bread in the shape of babies; guaga means baby in Kichwa) and colada morada (a warm blackberry based fruit drink) eaten in observance of el Dia de los Difuntos -- All Souls Day.  For those not trekking around about 4000 meters, the tradition is to bring guagas de pan and colada morada to the family cemetery. They share a little with their dearly departed by putting some in a hole in the grave, and then everyone sits down on the grave for a picnic shared by the living and the dead.

Picture credit: Snatched from the
web as we were too busy
eating our babies to take a picture

Back in Quito's Old Town:

Geocache Update:
So the coin lasted in the cache box by Pichincha for about 1 week before moving on to Austria.
http://www.geocaching.com/track/details.aspx?tracker=pcb773