Mindo Canopy Adventures

At Mindo

After 4 1/2 hours of sleep, I woke up and quickly washed my face and wet my hair so that it wouldn't look so crappy.  Fortunately I had showered the night before.  6:30am was the time Brian had to meet us at our gate so that we can go on our last-minute decision trip to Mindo.  Holy smokes did I feel sleepy and out of it.  Four hours of sleep is no bueno.  Yonseili had called up a cab and we went looking for breakfast.  Adriana, my host mom, said we should look for an American Deli place that she thought would be open.  Since we saw it was closed we just ate at a bakery near the bus terminal La Ofelia.  None of the bread looked appealing to be honest, but she offered to make us a sandwich and we asked her to warm it up for us.  It was like eating a cookie with salchicha, fresh queso, and mayonnaise, because the bread was very toasted.  I drank water.

We walked ahead to the terminal and paid $2.50 for our 2-hour ride.  I paid with a $20, and the lady thought she could get away with giving me less than $10 in change.  I don't appreciate that she tried to rip me off right in front of my face.  Our seats were 14, 15 and 16 - I got window seat.  The ride wasn't bad at all, especially after paying only $2.50.  The drive was nice, good view.  I began reading my book "La Mecanica del Corazon," and I can see how reading Spanish books will help expand my Spanish vocabulary.  It started off good, let's hope it ends good.  The music played on the bus was good.  The temperature was good, too.  Sometimes I can't believe I trust drivers here after seeing the way they drive.  I have gotten used to the reckless driving here and the fact that I can't wear seat belts.

On way to Mindo.  Beautiful view.

We arrived at 9:30am to Mindo.  Immediately we bought our tickets to leave at 5pm, the latest we could leave.  Before we went to look for the zip lines, "tirolesa," and the waterfalls we needed round 2 of breakfast. We had egg and pancakes.

Egg and pancakes.  Deliciousnesss.

The owner of the place got us to eat there after he offered us a good deal for the canopy/zip lines and the "tarabita" which is a basket hanging from a cable powered by a bus motor that allows people to get from point a to the waterfalls (a lot quicker than hiking to them).  Before him, two other guys tried selling us the same things and they offered them for different prices.  The third guy was good.

To get to the Mindo Canopy Adventures, we took a chiva for $1.  I can't get over how cheap transportation can be here!  It was either a chiva for $1 and get the amazing fresh air and great view or get charged $8 for a not-as-cool-ride.  The Mindo Canopy Adventures group offered a total of 13 zip lines for $10.  Although we were over it by the 4th one, it was breathtaking to see how high up we were.  There are two tricks you can do other than just "sit," and for both you need a guide with you.  One trick is to cross like Yonseili did, in a superman pose, and the other is called the butterfly, which is what I did.

Thaaaat's me.  I don't know how high up in the air I was.  But it was high.

After completing them all we started walking to the waterfalls.  Fortunately a couple driving by in a pickup truck asked if we wanted a ride, and we said sure.  Well, if I would have known how long the walk was going to be, I wouldn't have just said sure, I would have said "Heck yes!"  I can't remember the last time I was on the bed of a truck.  The wind felt a-mazing. On the way up there we saw a young male and female and they, too, were asked if they wanted a ride.  They agreed as well and the dog that was following them continued to follow them up the hill.  In fact, the dog followed us down to the one waterfall we went to.  He was our guide - the best guide ever.  It was neat to have the dog sit with us on the tarabita.  What was crazy is how the, I guess, guide didn't really have a safe hold on to the tarabita.  If he fell, he fell.  I preferred not to look at him because the thought of him falling freaked me out.

On the tarabita.  The guy in the yellow could easily fall to his death

The walk to the waterfall was sweet.  It wasn't too far and the ground wasn't too rough.  The fresh oxygen was good for my lungs.  I touched as much flora as I could on my way there and it felt so fresh.  The view was green, all kinds of enormous plants with huge leaves.

Yonseili at bridge

Jumanji

We were worried we wouldn't make it back in time for the bus so we had to enjoy the waterfall quickly and get back up, get across in the tarabita and then get back down to the center of Mindo.  After we crossed the tarabita, it was about 3:30 and we were told the chiva may arrive soon.  Well Yonseili asked and turns out there wasn't going to be any more chiva's or taxi's coming up so we asked a guy nearby if he could give us a ride.  He agreed if we paid him $10 EVEN THOUGH he was going down anyway.  All we needed to do was wait for his family to get back across.  During our wait for the chiva that would never arrive, we found out that the guys nearby had been waiting for it for over an hour.  Well, it was kinda funny to pass them on the truck we were able to get in.  We were back in town by 4:30pm so we quickly got something to eat, Yonseili and Brian got a choritazo, and before we got on the bus we bought ice cream.  Yum.

It rained on the way back.  The ride was longer because we made more stops for more people, but thanks be  to God that we got home safe, by 7:45pm.  However, the night wasn't over yet.

My host parents had invited us to a restaurant called Swing where we lied and said that it was Yonseili's birthday.  I'm not sure how old she turned but it was fun.  The live music was awesome, the food satisfactory.

Highlight of the day: Definitely going upside down on the zip line.

The Butterfly Trick