7/26/14-7/27/14 A Trip to Mindo

*Hi all! I have missed blogging very much over the past two days. I was going to blog last night, but after I got home late from my trip, I was too tired to! To make up for it, I will be writing a huge post for the packed weekend filled with a ton of pictures! I hope you enjoy reading about this awesome adventure and I hope you continue to eagerly follow my blog!

Before I get started, I figured I would share a map of where I went! Below is a map of Mindo. It is about a two hour bus ride northwest. 

Saturday- July 26^th, 2014

Morning

The trip began very early! It was Kim (the German girl) and Andrew (the grad student from DC) and of course, me! We met at school and got a taxi to the bus station at about 6:20am. We arrived at Ofelia bus station around 7am and got the last three tickets for the 8am bus to Mindo! We got on the crowded bus and traveled two hours into the jungle (Cloud forest) to Mindo.

We arrived in Mindo around 10am and had to find our hostel. We wandered around and searched for it for a few minutes until finally asking (I was the most fluent Spanish speaker in the group, so I had to do the bartering and asking). Mindo is a really small town, so we were just a street away from our hostel called Casa de Cecilia. Here is the map of the town which you can see from the small town park!

We checked into our room and then went to walk around town for a bit and grab a bite to eat. Here are some pictures from our walk around...

The path leading up to our Hostel! 

The sign to our Hostel! It was very nice for $9 a night!

Me posing in the only park in the town in front of a colorful fountain. 

After exploring the city for a bit, we went to a chocolate factory in the city! Yes, that's right! A chocolate factory that grows and makes all their chocolate right there in the city! 

We saw where cacao beans came from! 

And the tree they grew on! 

They also grow diablo peppers (2nd hottest peppers in the world) at the factory! They grow these because they make chili chocolates and chocolate chili sauces! Be careful! Don't touch your eyes!

We then were able to see the fermentation process of the cacao beans! 

As well as the drying process!

They even are trying to grow their own sugar! Here is a Stevia plant!  All natural sugar!

Here is one of the machines that they roast the beans in! 

And here is the machine they roast their fresh ground coffee in! 

Even chocolate tasting at the end! Yummy!

After chocolate tasting, we went back to the Hostel and explored some of the space there! Kim even made me model for a bit! Here are some pictures of the landscape (and me, of course!). 

A few hours later, we decided to check out the butterfly garden in town. Here are the pictures from this cute garden...

Exotic flowers! My favorite!

We learned about butterfly eggs and even got to hold these big caterpillars! 

We then went into a huge tent with all the exotic butterflies! Here are some pictures of my favorites...

The butterflies liked me so much, they even began to land on me! Check out my new friend!

Kim and I in the butterfly garden!

After the butterflies, there was another area with hummingbirds! There were about 30 hummingbirds and they were all so beautiful! I tried to catch some good pictures, but they fly so quickly! This area also had comfy hammocks to relax in! Check it out...

Kim and I in Hammocks! 

After that, we met a new friend from our hostel! His name is Rafael and he is from California! We all ate Quinoa burgers and Quinoa Ice Cream! My favorite foods so far in Ecuador!

We ended a beautiful night in Mindo with a game a scrabble! It was a lovely way to end a tiring, adventure filled day! 

Sunday- July 27^th, 2014

Morning

Kim and I woke up early on Sunday morning to go and see the sunrise. When we went out to see it, we realized the mountains blocked any kind of view that would have been possible! We decided to enjoy the early morning scenery anyways and took pictures! We even found some newly blooming flowers.

At 9am, a big group of us from the Hostel went to see the waterfalls! We drove in the back of a pickup truck into the jungle.

Dirt roads into the jungle!

When we arrived, we were shown this cable car and told to get on...

We had no idea what to expect, but it was so beautiful, how could we say no! 

Across the jungle! 

We then headed on the paths for waterfalls! In total, it was a four hour hike to see about 7 different waterfalls! Here are the pictures...

Climbing up!

It's a beauty!

We even were able to find some exotic wildlife!

And my lovely group members even got in a selfie! 

What a beautiful group selfie of a beautiful day in Mindo! 

Afternoon

We then approached the last waterfall! The Queen Waterfall! 

Our last picture of a beautiful day in the jungle! 

Evening

After our waterfall hike, we headed back to Mindo. We checked out of our Hostel, grabbed one last Quinoa burger and headed back to Quito on the bus!

It was an absolutely amazing weekend trip! I had so much fun and really enjoyed myself! Thanks for reading (or looking through my pictures)!

Best Wishes,

Danni