Mindo Lindo

¡Ya regresé! We (Laura, Anyel, and our new friend Michael) hopped on a bus Friday afternoon, headed for Mindo. It was already dark when we got there, so we decided our first job was to get a hostel. We found a fabulous information center, which led us to an $8/night paradise spot called Hostal Rubby. The owners were an ecuadorian couple with three precious (but very noisy) kids. They gave us the loft--super cool. I'll get photos from my buds, cuz it was a really neat place to stay, with beds, hammocks, slanted ceilings, two interesting views, and the perfect atmosphere for great conversations and card games. We left our stuff, and then went in search of dinner. $6 bought all of us rice, steak, chicken soup, lemonade, and a tomato/onion/lettuce salad. We spent the rest of the night lying in bed playing "Would You Rather" and getting to know Mike a little better. He recently graduated from PLU, and is living with Laura's host sister here while he does research.

We woke up at the crack of dawn for runny fried eggs, bread, blackberry juice, and coffee before our demanding hike to la Cascada Reinita. That's a waterfall. We caught a ride in a truck up the 5km road to the cable car...



It was an absolutely incredible view (though terrifying) of the river valley below and the immense mountains and forest surrounding us. Then, we hiked for about an hour through the jungle/rainforest and mud...



I forgot my tennis shoes, so my trusty, since 8th grade flip flops provided an extra challenge on the slippery, steep, muddy, leafy hills. Quite the adventure.



Aaaaaand we arrived at this!



We climbed the stairs... and swam in this...




We braved the waterfall (Mike has pictures) and then sat below on the rocks to dry off a bit and enjoy the butterflies and solitude. I've been in some beautiful places, especially since coming to Ecuador, but this beat them all. The water was almost deafening, but the sunlight came through the canopy at such a beautiful angle, we were the only people around, everything was a deep, rich green, and I was with some of the best friends a girl could ask for.

We trekked back to the cable car station, and decided we hadn't quite had enough. There were more falls in the other direction, and closer, so we walked another 20 minutes to the more popular spot with a real swimming hole.




We couldn't find a truck on the way down, so we walked the 5km back to our hostel, stopping for Trucha (type of fish) and rice, and ICECREAM, on the way down. We napped and showered, and I finished Harry Potter, then headed to a great pizza place for dinner. All of us were pretty pooped, so we played cards until about 11:30 and then hit the hay.

We woke up early again today to go tubing down the river. This is a picture of the tube contraption on which we sat.



The river isn't very deep, and is full of huge boulders, so the guide basically jumped from rock to rock, guiding us through the narrowest openings and sometimes right over big boulders. We had a blast! It didn't take very long, so we went back to pack up the room and get dressed before we looked for lunch. THAT didn't take very long either, so we stopped to check out the hummingbirds behind a nearby hostel. There were probably 50 buzzing around the flowers and sugar feeders... absolutely incredible. All different colors, sizes, shapes of beaks.




We found a cheap Mexican restaurant for lunch, then boarded the bus home to Quito. I'm pooped, and know that I will be feeling that hike tomorrow morning! Another safe, successful, satisfying trip.