Mindo

On Saturday we left for Mindo, only 2.5 hours north of Quito. We wanted to go to the thermal springs of Papallacta, but we realised in time that going on Saturday night was not going to be such a good idea... so we opted for Mindo instead. This was indeed a good move - Mindo is very small and comes alive at the weekend, so we were able to enjoy both the life and the quiter times in this very nice place.

Mindo is set at some 1,200 + m above see level, which means it is quite hot and full of bird and butterfly life. There are a few rivers around and it is a good place to do river tubing, which we did! One of the main activities here is to go down the rivers with regattas, which are huge inner tubes of tractors tied together in 5 or 7 in which one sits and floats in groups. We had a small one put together for the two of us and we went down the small river for about 30 minutes. Really good!!
Other things that we did in Mindo were to visit the mariposario, which turned out to be a really tiny corner with a bunch of butterflies. The real attraction there were the tiny frogs they kept incarcerated in a glass cage, they were absolutely beautiful!!
On one evening we went to a frog concert, which is basically a small night excursion organised at this place called Mariposas de colores just 500m up the road from Mindo. It is a hotel with cabañas set around a beautiful tiny lake where the owner has planted some insect-attracting water plants where lots of tiny frogs live. At about 6:30 PM the frogs come alive and start making a lot of noise, as a sort of collective singing event. So you go there and they give you a glass of wine and you sit down waiting for the frogs to start singing, then you walk down with torches to look at them sitting on the plants. Later you walk down a trail to look at fireflies, fluorescent bacteria on wood and huge cockroaches (10-12 cm, living on trees). Really a nice concenrt! They have a little boat with table on the lake, we liked it so much that we went back the next day to have coffee in it.

On the bus from Quito we befriended this lady from Belgium who had lived in Mindo for 18 years or so, Rosa. She lives in Mindo with her brother, looking after rescued wild animals - birds, monkeys, the most gorgeous squirrel we have ever seen and other animals. The first day we went to see them on their farm and ended up spending a good few hours looking around and talking about stuff. They have no website and no email address and never used a computer! It will be hard to keep in touch or send them info but we promised we were going to look up what is out there in terms of animal associations to help them a little - they said they are spending some $1,000+ a month to keep the animals and nobody knows about it!! Well, the environmental police do, since they send them animals to keep, and apparently they send them lots of Australian parakeets which they confiscate when they shouldn't because they haven't got a clue about what they are doing!!

The people in Mindo are incredibly friendly, by the end of our 2 days there we knew enough people to have to greet someone every time we walked somewhere. Really friendly but, above all, genuine. We kept going back to a place that did fresh fruit juices. The owner there the first time asked us where we were from and then looked at both of us and said solemnly: 'welcome both of you!'. Well it might sound cheesy or whatever but this guy was really genuine and friendly and we really felt welcome, and not just because of our money. So then when he gave us the bill and undercharged us, we dutifully advised him of his error (we could not possibly pay even less than the already ridiculous prices he had). From that point on we were the most welcome ever and became great friends...lol!!!

In Mindo we stayed first at a very small place called Hostal Tranquilidad, a family house all in wood. For the next two nights we moved round the corner to the Jardin de los pajaros, another family run place, bigger and with swimmingpool and absolutely clean. Recommended if anyone goes that way, and real cheap at $24 per double with bath and breakfast.

Mindo toucan at the Belgian's animal refuge

At the mariposario

This frog was about 1.2 cm long

Mindo is also a humming bird paradise

Mariposas de colores hotel

Coffee on the pond

Our hostel's swimming-pool

River tubing