Cloud Forest

My new friend from Georgia, Bette, that I met in the airport, joined me in traveling to Mindo. Having done most of my traveling alone in life, I’d say we made a good team. We decided to spend one night in San Miguel de Los Bancos, primarily because the bus took us directly there; thus avoiding the need to hitch a ride in the back of a truck late in the day to travel the remaining 30 minutes to Mindo. My guidebook had recommended a lovely hostel called Hostal Mirador Rio Blanco with “magnificent views of the river.”

Rio Blanco

This place was great! We had our own suite with a living room and 3 bedrooms for only $10 each. The food in their restaurant was delicious! Once there, we immediately dropped our bags in the room and went for a hike with what remained of the day. Behind the hostel there are lots of well defined trails through the cloud forest. There were leaves bigger than my torso! 

Proof!

It was so beautiful. That evening, Bette and I sat outside on the porch, talking for hours, listening to the river, and feeling the mist of the clouds on our skin. The owner, Patricio, was the best host one could want. He showed me his moth collection, and shared a drink with us, talking late into the night.

The next morning we saw lots of wildlife outside. 

What do you think these two are thinking gazing at each other like that?

Caught mid-flight

Hummingbird with an itch

He has had more than his fair share of plantains

Late the next day, Bette and I took a cab to Mindo. Our peaceful hostel was a short 7 minute walk down a quiet dirt road to the tiny town center. Mindo was paradise. The first day there we simply lounged around in hammocks, while listening to the river and breathing in the tranquility. (This had absolutely nothing to do with the bottle of Ecuadorian rum we downed the night before.)

Patricio, Bette, y Yo

On the second day, we went ziplining through the canopy! That was an adventure. The cloudforest of Mindo is lush, and it was exhilarating to fly over the tops of the trees. My favorite way to zipline was in the “mariposo” (butterfly) position, which is akin to doing a handstand in the air while flying. Talk about a rush!

The view while ziplining

Later that night we went into town for some dinner. After dinner, Bette and I sat down on a bench in the town square and enjoyed a treat of ice cream. Before we knew it, four little girls were climbing and crawling all over us! They were ages 2, 4, 4, and 4. Imagine the most adorable little girls possible; then add the laughter of little angels. Every time the two year old giggled, I could have wept from her chime of pure joy. They never asked us for a thing, and seemed perfectly content just to have our attention and adoration. So there we were, gringos in a tiny Ecuadorian town, with local children in our laps, chattering and laughing time away. What a blessing.

A moth as big as my hand being born

Our next day in Mindo, we went to a butterfly house, and an orchid garden. The orchid garden was spectacular!! I received a private tour, as the gardener took me around and showed me all of the different species he cares for. Most of the orchids were so tiny that we had to use a magnifying glass to see them! Think of the most detailed and perfectly designed flower you have ever seen, but it is microscopic. 

One particular flower, could barely be seen with the naked eye. It grew out of a leaf, and looked like nothing more than a spec of white. With the aid of the magnifying glass it came alive - delicate white petals, like rays, splashing out from the spectacular wine purple center. It looked like a star! It struck me as a miracle that something so stunning and perfectly made could exist. Tears came to my eyes, for my faith in God/The Universe/Mother Earth was strengthened by this one simple sight.

One of my other favorites was nearly as tiny, and through the looking glass, in the center of the flower, one could see a perfectly shaped dark pink heart. 

Slight obsession with this spider web in Los Bancos

During my last hour in Mindo, I was fortunate enough to see a group of 5 elder locals, all men, sitting at a folding table, situated on the corner sidewalk. The table held a dark maroon felt cloth and playing cards. I asked if I might watch them play. They instantly pulled me up a chair and welcomed me graciously. The game was a form of rummy, but they were playing for money and also had side bets going simultaneously. As I clearly showed my interest, they enthusiastically offered the information of a local man who gives lessons in this game. Sadly, my bus was departing within the hour, but I did consider staying longer just to learn to play.

Upon returning to Quito, Bette and I went out for her farewell to Ecuador dinner. After dinner we hailed a cab (who incidentally was going to price gouge us) and were on our way back to her hostel, or so we thought. On the way, our cab driver decided to make an illegal u-turn, cutting off 4 lanes of traffic, right in front of a cop! The cop halted the cab. (At this moment, we were positioned perfectly perpendicular to those 4 lanes of traffic.) The cop came up to the window and asked the cab driver what he thought he was doing. The driver interrupted the officer and began to argue. The cop immediately put a stop to that, saying something like, “Do you know who you are talking to?!? I could have you arrested right now! If you know what is good for you, you will shut up and listen to me!!” Promptly, the cop got into the passenger side of the taxi. With one cop car in front of us and one in the rear, blue lights a blazing, we proceeded to move. Bette and I sat quietly in the back seat, not knowing what was going to happen. The cab driver and the cop began discussing the situation, and the cab driver blamed everything on us. “These two foreigners were yelling at me to make a left. I tried to protest, but you know, they are foreigners, and they were insisting that I make a left right there. They were yelling for me to turn. What could I do? You know foreigners . . . I just did what they told me to do. That is what happened.” I understood all of this, and was quietly interpreting in English to Bette, who was getting more and more upset. She wanted me to tell the officer the truth, but I figured getting the driver in worse trouble would not help anything. He was the one in trouble, not us. After driving like this for around 5 minutes, I timidly asked the police officer in my best Spanish, “Do we need to get out now?” He brusquely told me to be quiet because he was dealing with the taxi driver at the moment, and that it had nothing to do with me.

After 5 more minutes, we pulled up to a police station. There were uniformed officers of several different types milling all around outside. It was quite intimidating. As soon as the cop exited the vehicle, I leaned up to the cab driver, as though I were bursting to say this (because I was,) “I clearly understood everything you said. If you don’t get arrested, I assume this cab ride will be free.” He actually laughed!

One minute later, the driver was taken out of the vehicle, and we were left sitting in the back seat. We had no idea where we were, and I hurriedly scanned the area. I eyed yellow taxis passing by on the next block. Then, several police officers began looking in the rear window at us and grinning. That was the first time I got angry. We are not on display! In that moment we decided to exit the vehicle, and luckily a cab was driving right by us! I hailed the cab, turned to the police officers, and said in my best Spanish, “We don’t know what is going on. You have not explained anything to us! Goodbye.” And with that, we rode off into the Quiteño smog.