Mindo, Ecuador –
It was a long hike down the mountainside to reach the river.
We had the option of swimming, if we had brought our swimsuits.
We hadn’t.
And there were families there.
So we figured it wasn’t a good idea to strip down to our birthday suits for a quick dip.
Not that that’s allowed.
Although there were people swimming in what looked like underwear.
But then we’d have to spend the rest of the day with wet underwear under our clothes.
Something about that just doesn’t appeal to us.
Maybe it’s because we’re not young and carefree enough.
Maybe it’s because we can imagine how that would feel after a couple of hours.
I mean, it’d be one thing if we were staying nearby and could go change into dry clothes afterward.
But we weren’t.
We had driven down to Mindo for the day, to see the “cloud forest”.
It was sufficiently lower in elevation than Quito to be hot and sticky.
Hot enough to actually consider getting in the water to cool off.
But still high enough in the mountains to often be on the same level as the clouds.
Thus the label.
And it seems to be a popular place with the backpacking crowd.
There were quite a few Hostels around town.
And plenty of choices of activities to see and do.
We could have gone zip-lining.
Or river rafting.
Along with the swimming in the river, just below a waterfall.
Where we could see some sort of eco-lodge just above the same waterfall.
We had chosen to visit the forest, hiking down a trail from the open-air cable car that took us across the gorge we would be going down into.
All the way down, to the river below.
Hiking at least a mile, maybe two.
And then, back up the same trail afterwards.
It sounds worse than it was.
After all, we were stopping every few feet to gawk at some exotic plant, bug, or bird.
And there were plenty to gawk at.
So we never got up much of a sustained climbing effort.
Still, it was not a hike for the infirm, or unsteady on their feet.
Or even someone with questionable knees.
I’m not sure there was any other way out, once you got in.
Or at least not one that didn’t require being in reasonable shape.
There’s always hiking through the jungle, off the beaten path.
After we had made our way back up the mountainside, and ridden the cable car back to the launch point, we headed back into town.
And a bit of lunch.
At the butterfly hatchery.
Which just happens to be across the road from the launch point for the river rafting expeditions.
We placed our food orders before entering the hatchery itself.
And then were taken in and shown how they seek to protect a variety of butterfly varieties by providing an ideal environment for them to live in during their caterpillar phase, and then once they spin their cocoon, they are harvested and placed in gestation stations until they emerge as their butterfly selves.
Then the majority of them are set free.
With just a small number of breeding stock kept in an enclosed environment.
It was these breeders that we were allowed to interact with.
Holding food to attract them, getting them to land on our hands to eat.
And then, after we had sufficient time to play with them, our guide let us know that our lunch was ready.
So we made our way out of the butterfly enclosure, and into the dining room.
After lunch, we headed across town to the orchid garden, where they have gathered every type of orchid that can into one place, providing the ideal growing environment for these delicate flowers.
It was only while wandering the grounds of this place that I was able to realize just how many species of orchid there are.
As well as how varied they are.
And just about all of them were planted in logs that had come from the surrounding jungle.
The slow decomposing of the wood providing the ideal growing medium for these beautiful parasites.
And scattered throughout the grounds were mounds of rotting fruit, placed there to attract the flies and other insects needed to pollinate the flowers.
Apparently the cloud forest provides the ideal environment for orchids.
The right combination of wet and warm.
And rot.
Can’t forget the rot.
Once we had our fill of orchids, we wandered over to the hummingbird sanctuary.
I’m not sure how much of a sanctuary this is, more like a large porch from which to view several hummingbird feeders hung in a lush garden.
And yes, there was a lot of hummingbird activity around these feeders.
A lot of fleeting glimpses of vibrant colors.
All in constant motion.
Until they would perch on a nearby branch, hiding most of their color.
But not all.
And even then, in rest, they never seemed to stay still for long.
They would soon be back in motion.
Flitting from place to place.
Hanging in one spot in the air for a brief second or two.
Then off to another in the blink of an eye.
It was an interesting way to wrap up our visit to Mindo.
A small town with so many things to do and see that we flitted from one to the next.
Hanging out at each for only a short while.
Before flitting to the next.
Only we moved a bit slower than the hummingbirds.
Trying to match their speed would be exhausting.
After all, our day of activities was tiring enough as is.
We didn’t need to make it more so.
For more photos of Mindo, click here.
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