Cloudforests, Waterfalls and Sand Flies!

We just returned from a stunning little trip NE of Quito to the little town of Mindo. It was great to escape the pollution, abosultely crazy taxi drivers and hectic city life in Quito for a more remote location, only a few hours away but where dogs outnumbered the amount of people walking the streets. The town itself is located in one of the wettest cloudforests in the world and is surrounded by huge lush mountainsides and beautiful rivers; so of course, we went to check both out. To get to "el sanctuario de las cascadas" or waterfall sanctuary we walked a few miles along a road through a very pretty tropical forest and then took a a beat up looking cable car across a huge canyon. Afterwards, we spent an entire day working our way up the canyon on overgrown trails, exploring some very beautiful waterfalls, weird looking birds and the rest. Ecuador is just so amazingly diverse and we have only seen a glimpse. Overall, the rivers and waterfalls were great fun and the cloudforest was so thick you would have a hard time walking through it....Absolutely one of the most impressive vistas that I have seen.

bridge crossings

Unfortunately however, it just so happens to be a home to the most annoying bug in the world, the sandfly.  I have no clue why it always seems to happen this way, but the second you stop paying attention to you ankles and expend your energy focusing on something else, the annoying little flies just seem to appear out from nowhere and go on the attack! In less than a minute, while bartering with a local over how much it would cost to rent a bike for a few hours, both of us had at least 15 blots of blood covering our legs where the lovely sandlfies had done their dirtywork. Supposedly our immune system cannot properly fight the bacteria/toxin they leave behind in our bodies after a bite so that once you are bitten, they itch like hell and don´t actually disappear for about a month. Imagine that! I wear mine like battle scars...even though I was far weaker than Maya when it came to resisting the temptation of itching them like mad! What fun! I´ll send picture updates soon!

flor

Tomorrow is the commencement of Quito´s huge city festival.... From what I understand, there is lots of partying, street parades and bullfights each day at noon. We will be leaving on the 2nd, midway through the festivities to see some things on our way East to the Amazon-Cuyabeno Nature Reserve where we will be for five days starting on the 3rd. I´ll keep you up to date. For now, we are alive and all is well!

Love my trees

Maya!

me

one of many

Outside Mindo

Pueblo in background