Mindo

This last weekend was another really cool adventure! On Friday I left Quito with my sister and Adam from school. We caught a bus to mindo. We have family who own a hostal in the Cloud Forest. The name is Mindo Loma, it is east of Mindo by about 20 minutes. The place is a bird saanctuary and has hiking trails. We arrived at about 6:00 on friday night. I brought bread and colada morada from my mom. The tradition here is that on November 2 to visit the graves of the dead and decorate the tombs. It is also a tradition to eat bread that is in the shape of babies and drink colada morada, which is a drink made from a purple type of corn, in it are various spices and fruit, pinapple, strawberry or others. It started to rain right after we got there and we ate soup for dinner. My Aunt, Uncle and Cousin were very nice. I knew my cousin from the first week when we went to a soccer game. Adam and I wanted to explore the forest at night, but we were told that we would get lost. It was probably true but we were ready to go. So we decided to hike to the waterfall which was on their property. We borrowed some rubber boots and stripped down to our swim trunks. We decided that we were going to get wet and that we might as well be ready for it. My cousin and sister were ready a few minutes later. It was quite comical, boots and swim trunks and little else. I brought my tiny little LED light and Adam had a headlamp, my cousin also had a flashlight. As we were about to leave Adam and I were informed that the monkey was eating the plantains that were put out for it... I was of course ecstatic! My first monkey! It was really furry and looked literally just like a stuffed animal. It was chilling and munching on a plantain that was put out for it. It used its prehensile tail to hang on as it contentently continued eating. When it was finished it bolted up the tree and was lost in the darkness and rain. We headed down a muddy trail, crossed a creek where I learned that my right boot had a nice big hole in the top which filled with water... The hike was really interesting, the night is alive. There were hundreds of sounds all around us, but everything was almost impossible to see. We passed a huge magnolia tree and there was a scorpian hidden under the roots. But Adam and I missed it. The hike seemed to take forever, moving through the forest on Halloween! We stopped and turned our lights off a couple of times, the night was pitch black. The senses begin to reach out at the same time as the animals move. We heard ocelots, but they remained illusive. We saw a really cool type of phosphorescent fungus which grows on dead palms, it kinda looks like a rib cage. The first sense that picked up on the waterfall was my sense of hearing, the constant sound of water falling was now kicked up a notch to a low roar. The next was when we could feel the wind of the water. And finally with the aid of the lights the giant cascade, later I learned that it is exactly 39 meters. We all wrestled until each one of us had been dunked under the falls, there really wasn't a ton of water but it still hurt. Also my cousin told us that it was the first time that she had been there at night. We headed back and Adam and I caught a a glimpse of the scorpian. At the house we encountered a 'MothRAH' as Adam decided to call it. There isn't a difference in Butterfly and Moth in Spanish so we created this for the thousands of moths which swarmed the lights. The were all sorts of different colors, shapes and sizes. Some had eye spots, others were the size of sparrows. I got up early to see the hummingbirds the next morning. I think that I counted 6 or 7 different species and 3 different species of Tanangers and one hawk which was super cool. I was actually able to touch the hummingbirds when I moved slowly, and Adam had one land on his finger. For breakfasT we ate homemade empanadas and Adam and I left with my uncle. We weren't quite sure what we were doing but we were told we were going to see the Quetzals. We first went to a town and my uncle negotiated with another man for four cows. They were babies and boys. My uncle bought them for $500. And tomorrow he will be getting them, and paying for them. Later we went to another town and bought groceries and walked around a fair of... I'm not really sure but it was like sustaniable options and ecology. It was interesting and there was a guy who was walking around on stilts dressed up as a bird. I immediatly thought of Country Fair. After the fair we went to the pasture where the cows are kept, Adam and I hearded them to the water becuase I guess they won't drink without coaxing. We chased them around yelling Sal, Sal, which is Salt. but we actually didn't have any Sal, perdon vacas. The sun came out after and the Quetzal won't come out when there is sun so we returned to the house. We ate lunch and left for Mindo. One of the dogs followed us down to the street and wouldn't leave, I was worrid it was going to get hit by a car becuase it really didn't have any street smarts. So I grabbed the dog and ran up with the thing up the road, dropped it and it would follow me. So finally I ran all the way up to the house and handed the dog to my aunt. When I ran back down a truck was stopped with my sister and Adam in it. I jumped in and we headed to the intersection where the road continues to the coast or turns to Mindo. The truck was the kind that transports the bananas here. It was a fun ride and we paid $1.50, which when we told some other travelers that me met theysaid we were toads for paying that much. But whatever, the waited about 15 minutes as I ran the dog up to the house. We caught another truck to Mindo with two Ecuadorian travelers. It cost another $3 for five people to mindo. In Mindo we found a place with Canopying, which is ziplining over the forest. We paid ten bucks a piece to get a truck to the place and to do 10 different lines. It was pretty cool but really was boring after a couple. The coolest thing for me was a really pretty bird that we saw. It was fun to zip along above the treetops, upside down and other crazy positions. The part theat wasn't super fun was a woman and her 25 year old son. She was completely scared of the ziplines first of all and second, everytime that her son was about to go she would repeat the things that the guides said and double check that he understood. she was really controlling and really wasn't any fun, she would scream when she was on the line and when she wasn't she would scream at her son to be careful, etc. I feel bad for him and for us but everything was fine. After Canopying we walked farther up the road for about a kilometer and all the cars were heading down, it was probably about 4 pm. But finally a jeep passed heading up the road, we hitchhiked, Adam and I hung on to the side as my sister sat in the back. We got up to the Waterfall that Adam knew about becuase he went there on Tuesday with his exchange program. It cost $3 dollars a piece. I talked to the woman and she let us in for three bucks. I really had to conserve my money becuase we had to catch the bus back to Quito and I had to pay for Adam and my sister. The lady pointed out a tocan! I was only able to hear them in Trinidad, it was a fleeting glimpse but it was cool to see. We walked down another muddy path to the river. I took off my shoes and enjoyed the mud. The place had a waterslide and a couple of places to jump into the river. I did the smaller jump first which the guide there said was 9 meters but I honestly think it was bigger. Then Adam and I went to the second jump, which was into the water below the waterfall, the water was churning and white with air. Adam jumped first becuase he was confident since he had done it before. The guide said it was 12 meters, but then again, I think it was a little bigger. I game up from the water yelling about how much I love Ecuador, it was really cool! Then we climbed up a rickety ladder to the top and did it two more times. There was a rope in the waterfall so that people could climb down it and dive off of a rock. I had a bad feeling about it and explained to Adamthat when I have these feelings it is a good idea to listen, but Adam just had to do it. And seriously, if he had done it I would have had to also. So we rock hopped to the waterfall and Adam started down the rope. He turned around becuase there was too much water and of course the rock is slippery. So we returned and explained that there was too much water. Then we saw forest chicken... ok that is the translation, but it is a bright red bird with a crest above its head. After, we used the sketchy waterslide. It was made out of concrete and it finished about 2 or 3 meters above the water. There was a sharp turn just before the drop and so your equilibrium is all off. But the first couple of times finished without incedent, Adam did a nice back flop and thus was done, I ran to do it another time, I jumped in and tried to go as fast as I could. I almost fell out, cut up my foot and went flying out of the side and somehow landed on my face. So I was done too. We hiked back up the trail, it was now night. We got to the top and began to walk the seven kilometers to town. My sister didn't bring her cell phone and she told me later that she had never walked more than 2 kilometers at one time. But she held her own, we walked five kilometers before a truck picked us up. The coolest thing were the fireflies! There were thousands and they blinked on and off, it was sooooo cool. Walking through the forest with thousands of fireflies leading the way. We were picked up by a group of guides from another canopying place. When we got to town we bought calzones at a place that my sister knew of and chartered a truck to Mindo Loma. When we got to the driveway of the house my uncle and my other cousin were leaving to come and look for us. It really wasn't good, it was the first time that my uncle had ever left to look for someone. But right now everything is good, I talked with my mom who talked with him, so all is good now. But at that point it wasn't. Another one of my cousins is a photography guide, which is such a cool job! He travels around Ecuador leading photographers, he looks for things to take pictures of and will catchthings to set them up for photos too. He has some of the coolest photos. We went out at night to look for frogs with him. and after about a half hour we didn't see any frogs but tons of insects, my cousin will not leave until he has the perfect photo, after about 10 minutes of taking pictures of the same spider Adam and I walked back and went to sleep. We woke up early in the morning and caught a bus back to Quito, we left at about 11 for the farm of my family.