To the trees! Mindo Part I

At the beginning of July, we took our first long distance excursion out into the country of Ecuador (Quito - the city, and Otavalo - the town where we were living didn't count as we roughly knew how to get around and do things).

This was our trip to the cloud forest in Mindo (town website) and was easily what I was the most excited to share with C, N and A as this is where I had spent most of my time in Ecuador previously.



The adventure began by figuring out the bus situation. We had two choices. 1) The start messy/end easy option - this one required busing down to Quito, busing to multiple other stations in Quito (this gets messy trying to carry luggage on the city buses) and getting on a bus that would take us right into Mindo proper. 2) The start easy/end messy option - this one was busing to Terminal Norte Carcelén in Quito and leaving right from there on a bus headed for the coast. For this one - a couple of tricky parts - first we had to ask the driver to drop us off on the highway at the turn to Mindo (including grabbing our luggage from under the bus) and then find a ride from the highway down into Mindo - or walk 6 or so miles. In the end, the decision was determined on when the buses left as the easy end option only left Quito super early, so the messy end option it was.

I do want to say that we really enjoyed the public transportation all over the country. The people were always friendly and only a few select times were we uncomfortable. On this trip in particular, we 'tried' to get off the bus at several wrong stops and the other riders repeatedly helped us :) When we finally exited at the correct turnoff, several of the other Ecuadorian families wished us well with smiles and waves.

We had read that this turn off wasn't a big deal as there was 'always' local taxis driving up and down the road. Once off the bus, we didn't see any taxis, and started walking. After just 100 ft or so, a pick up truck pulled up next to us to ask if we wanted a ride. It turns out that in Mindo - the taxis are not labeled in anyway - they are just a bunch of people that drive trucks.

This one of the first highlights - there was only room for two of us inside, so someone would have to ride in the bed of the pickup truck. I did this frequently as a kid, and anyway...when in Rome (Ecuador)...so we all piled in the back. The truck took off town the road and we were holding on for dear life, laughing and squealing the whole way.




The first place that we stayed was Mindo Gardens, which is outside of town on property that includes several hiking trails. We wanted to spend sometime in the cloud forest proper, and then a few days in town as well.

Mindo Gardens was beautiful. Amazing dispersed lodges all around the property, and a large central lodge where we ate and played games. We stayed in a lodge at the edge of the property right by the river. 

This was our room looking at the river

The main lodge was also where we got to see tons of hummingbirds and an elusive agouti (giant hamster looking animal).

Agouti!!

 

 

 

From Mindo Gardens, we did a couple of hikes. The first one started just over the river (we got to ride over in a little rope suspended basket) and went straight up the mountain. It was easily the greatest elevation increase hike per step that we have ever done as a family. Luckily there were lots of trees, vines etc. to help us get up, and even a spot with ropes leading up a rock.

The 'goal' of this hike was to reach a cascada (waterfall), but it turned out that it was actually a developed pseudo-water park, so we passed on that, admired the view for a while and started walking down the road to see where it would lead. Our other adventures in Mindo included the butterfly farm and the cable Tarabita - which each have a post of their own.