Adventures in the Cloud Forest of Ecuador

Our journey continues and just seems to keep getting better! We arrived in Ecuador, had a great day exploring the sites of historic Quito, then Jessica had her purse stolen. Luckily the only thing in it at the time was about 5 dollars, some sun sceen, and all 4 of the CDs we had backed up our photos on. We had just come from an Internet cafe and were trying to post some. All the photos are still on the cameras however, and the CD of photos from our rafting we should be able to replace as the other couple with us purchased one also... We were in a nice restaurant and are still baffled at how the thieves pulled off the grab. Good learning experience, even though we have been VERY careful. With that episode behind us we headed off the next morning to the cloud forest town of Mindo. Check out the Mindo Garden website. We actually rode bikes there with a guide, the former Ecuadorian downhill mtn bike national champion. It was 30 miles of downhill, around 9,000 feet. We passed from high mtns. through ever increasing vegitation, past trout farms, finally arriving in the town of Mindo, known as one of the best bird viewing spots on the planet, with a wildwest feel. Our room at the lodge was right out of a magazine. The peaked ceiling, wooden construction, and wall of windows overlooking the river and forest made for an incredibly enchanting setting. We had booked an "adventure" package and that is just what it was! We climbed straight up a mountain, took a cable car across a valley, hiked to a waterfall, went zip-lining over the canopy (one of the 13 lines was over 1500 feet long and almost as high!), hiked 2 hours back to our lodge, then after a very late lunch we went tubing down the class 3 Rio Mindo. That was day two! That evening Bill too tired to pee standing up, fell asleep sitting on the toilet. Day three we were back on bikes and after visiting the local butterfly garden and an hour ride, we hiked deep into the jungle up a beautiful creek to the 240 foot Corizon waterfall. Then, we rappelled down it! What an amazing experience. One funny note, the canyoneering guide was missing his right thumb. Turns out we were the guinea pigs for this tour, as not many people (brave souls) have booked this package. Luckily we had a fabulous guide throughout and had signed on for an extra night at the lodge for a relaxing down day. We are now back in Quito at our little safe haven of a hotel, La Cartuja, preparing to head south down the Avenue of the Vocanoes to the Cuello de Luna hacienda.