Mindo Day 2 - Waterfalls and Zip Lines

Tuesday May 31

Today was a day for lots of hiking and flying through the air. After a nice breakfast we grabbed a truck ride up to a point high in the cloud forest for our first activity of the day viewing some waterfalls.

We took ride on the Tarabita, a bucket dangling from a cable powered by an old truck drivetrain, across a deep ravine to begin our hiking. I was hoping that they we not going to have to call AAA while we were half way across. When we did arrive, we, Patti and I, well maybe just me, chose the longest hike to the biggest falls.

The hike was nice as it wound through the cloud forest and with our early start the temps were still cool. We walked through all sorts of vines and large plants and pedals from the flowers high up on the canopy.

The big waterfall was nice, not extremely notable, but we were the only ones out there which made it very pleasant.

Zip-lining across the canopy was next in the list. We went for the full course of 10 lines including the highest, longest, and fastest. This was a lot of fun and was the closest we were to theme park thrills on this vacation.

Riley and I did what was called The Butterfly, where we sped across an 800 foot span dangling upside down while 450 feet above the forest floor. It was one of the most surreal experiences I have had, being upside down and the sensation of flying with the Earth above you. Definitely big on the 'wow' factor.

After that we walked back down to our hostel and chilled for a bit before we went out to find some food. We failed at the Quinoa Castle, that only served Quinoa. Tara was resistant even before we arrived due to her seeing it earlier as the only restaurant in town that cooked their food in the front end of an old VW Bus. Patti, on the other hand, had high hopes of getting some fresh Q that she could sprinkle salt on.

As taste might have it, they could not understand why anyone would want plain Q with just salt.  The chef said it must be cooked with onion and garlic. We agreed, but tried to communicate Pattis food issues. In the end he said that she would not be able to eat anywhere in the town. However, we did finally find Patti a fine plate of rice.

Mindo is definitely a cool little town in a beautiful spot it Gods creation.

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