Cloud Rainforest Heaven

We went on our first trip this last weekend to a small town about two and a half hours away to a little town called Mindo. This was one adventurous trip. It's a good thing we're so stubborn, because people didn't want to go away for the weekend on short notice (aka the day before), but we got 11 out of 20 people from our group on a bus to Mindo Saturday morning.

The very beginning of our trip started with a little adventure on the bus. Right as we were heading out of Quito, a woman on the bus started shouting ¡Hay un ladrón en el bús! ¡Necesitamos llamar la policia! (There's a thief on the bus, we have to call the police!) Turns out this thief was right across the aisle from me (Jane). He didn't get off the bus right away, but he got off soon after (along with his partner in crime) and didn't manage to steal anything because the woman had the strap of her purse around her leg. I was glad that I was holding my backpack right in front of me, but sleeping on the bus was no longer an option after that.

Once we got to Mindo, we checked into a hostel called Casa de Cecilia. Mindo is a very cutesy small town with lots to do and lots of stray dogs. As soon as we checked in, we left to go tubing down a crazy river! So much fun!

Our next adventure was to go ziplining through the rainforest canopy. We ended up getting left behind by the group along with two other girls, so just four of us went, which turned out to be better because it went faster and we could do more fun stuff on the zipline. There were 13 cables and it was so beautiful! This is what superman pose looks like:

And we also did mariposa (literally upside down with your arms out) and train (3 people together). (I have pictures of Amanda doing it, but I forgot the correct cord for my camera to put it on my computer.)

The next day we went on a hike to a waterfall sanctuary. So so so beautiful, but the water was cold. Except who knew that taking a taxi (aka a truck with most of the people standing in the bed of it) would cost us $20 there and back? p.s. that's a lot for a taxi in Ecuador. But we were able to do all of these things for just $50!

It was a great trip, but I think we were all happy to come home after all the crazy adventures.

-Jane