Vacation with the Folks...PART 3

After spending a day in Tumbaco resting from our trip to Guayaquil, we made arrangements to stay 2 days in the beautiful mountain town of Mindo. We stayed in a fantastic lodge in the middle of the Mindo Jungle, a recommendation from a friend. It's very rustic, very naturey. I got in touch with the Manager of Mindo Garden, Rodrigo, who became quite the helpful aquaintance to have. He arranged for us to meet him here in Quito, and he rode with us to the lodge. He had hired a nice, new Landrover to drive us so we could enjoy the trip, instead of being stuck on a crowded, hot bus. He was extremely helpful answering all our questions, giving us tips on where to go, what to do, etc... We got to witness a lot as he is very conscious and aware of world events and wondering where it's all going. His life story was quite intersting and he kept us busy with stories the whole way there. He came from Chile to be the new manager of Mindo Garden after some scary events at the lodge just last year.

We had read on the internet the day before in a Brittish Newspaper that just 8 months ago, at this very lodge, 8 English tourists were held hostage by men with guns, knives and machetes, after sitting down to dinner in the lodge's restaurant. They were tied up, interrogated and robbed. Well, after that, the old manager was so traumatized, that she quit, and that's when Rodrigo came. So after reading about what had happened at the very place we were going, there was only one thing to do... Keep our reservation and go check it out! Well, there is crime everywhere in the world, so that in itself didn't deter us from going. But on the ride up to Mindo, I did ask Rodrigo about it, to see if security had been improved or if that was a common occurance. The details he related were very interesting and actually comforting, because as it turns out, this was not a random attack on tourists. It was the 8 Brittish travelers that attracted the robbery and it was also an inside job done by a corrupt employee. Well, let me explain...


Ok, so what happened is that there was an employee working at the lodge at the time of the attack, just looking for trouble. When he saw that 8 Brittish "Diplomats" of much political import and money were staying at the lodge, he called up some buddies and planned a robbery. After the robbery, that employee was caught and is currently in jail now. Since then, a change in management has brought many improvements, including employee screening.


Well, once we arrived at the lodge, we didn't care what had happened, because it was so beautiful and cozy and... awesome! There are no shoes allowed throughout the whole lodge, only slippers and socks, including the downstairs restaurant and upstairs living room/rec room, which made it even homey-er. Pool tables, movies, games, cards, couches, hundreds of hummingbird to watch out the windows, cricket and frogs singing all night....It was like paradise. Our home lodge was located about a minute's walk from the main lodge through the forest. It sat right on the river, surrounded by orchids and hummingbirds. You may already know that Ecuador houses the most diverse species of humming birds in the world. As we sat down to dinner, guess who our waiter was? The manager, Rodrigo. In the slow season, apparently, he fills the positions of front desk clerk, waiter, cook, bartender, room service, chofer and guide, among other things. It was so relaxed at the lodge, at one point, while Hannah and I were playing pool, he walked by and yelled out, "I'm playing the winner!"

If you order his favorite drink, the Chilean Pisco Sour, the first one is on the house. It was goooood!




The first evening there was great fun. We had cocktails and delicious fish for dinner. We sat in a little deck that was build over the river and we were the only guests in the loadge that night, until the next day. It is slow season.


Anyway, the next day, we went on Rodrigo's suggested Hike, which includes a hike up the mountain, after crossing the river in a home made pull cart. The first person across has to pull themself across, then can pull the rest of the group across the river.

Once we hiked to the top, we walked an hour or so to a cable car, which took us across the canyon to where we hiked more to find a hidden waterfall, only accesible by crossing a rusted, decaying wood bridge that shook and creaked in proper scary fashion.











From there, we hiked back up the mountain, crossed the canyon and continued walking until we eventually reached the zip line canopy. We got the same guide, Jacinto, as we had last time. Since the last time we were there, they "improved" a few of the cables, making them steeper, longer and faster. These 4 new cables are called La Bestia, or The Beast. And they were super sweet. Fast and scary, the way I like them. Of course, to get to all the cables throughout the jungle, it required more hiking!... The padres seemed to like it pretty well. My dad got ton of video, but no pictures. Sorry. You can go back to the first Mindo blog to see what the zip line is like if you haven't already.


Below are butterflies from the Butterfly Sanctuary, where they harvest butterflies and teach about the metamorphasis of the catapiller. Very interesting...