Mindo!

This weekend nine of us went to Mindo which is a cloud forest in northern Ecuador.  Our hostal was amazing.  It was an orchid garden and had a bunch of hummingbirds.  And the owner would put out bananas in the morning that would attract several different varieties of toucans! Breakfast was included and was delicious! 

The first day we went tubing.  Basically they tie a bunch of tubes together and we sit in between them.  The guides then takes us down the rapids kicking off rocks along the way.  It was a blast and the guides looked like they were having so much fun! I would/want to definitely do it again! After the tubing we went to a butterfly sanctuary and were able to look at hold some gorgeous butterflies.  We also saw the caterpillars and their cocoons as well! Some of the cocoons looked like little gold earrings, they were so pretty.  Then we went to a chocolate store where we had a tour of the whole process.  We saw the fruit the cacao beans come from and even tried the fruit which was incredibly delicious.  We saw the process of drying and fermenting the beans along with how it's turned into chocolate.  We then got to make our own chocolate by adding ingredients to our cacao paste.  And at the end of the tour we got to sample a brownie! It was a very interesting and delicious experience! 

Then next day we went zip-lining.  It was so fun riding across the tops of the trees.  Our guides were pretty funny and one of the people in our group was actually working for the sip-lining company so we all had a great time! I won't lie, I was more than a little scared on the first run, but after that I was ready for more! Afterwards we went on a cable car that took us to the trails to see some waterfalls.  Normally there is a spot in which you can jump off a rock into the rushing water, but because of all the ran, the current was way to strong so we just admired the beauty for a while.  

Then it was time to head back to Quito and time to get back to homework.

I only have about a month left and I have mixed feelings.  I've decided that I'm probably ready to be back in the US, but I am in no way ready to leave Ecuador.  I still have a few things I want to do and places to see.  But most of all, I don't want to leave the people I've met here, both Ecuadorian and International.  It's going to be hard.  So I'm choosing not to think about it! 

I will try and update my blog a bit more frequently.  Sorry I've been so terrible lately!