By Carol and Matt (OEs)
After much anticipation, we landed in the verdant paradise of Ecuador. To be exact, we landed at night time and it was pretty difficult to take in the sights on the 2 hour trip from the airport to Mindo. But in the morning we woke up to a medley of tropical fruits for breakfast and the whir of hummingbird wings.
Mindo is an ideal location for bird watching and as we discovered on day one for butterflies. Many of the students had never had butterflies rest on their fingers much less eat banana off of them. It was here that we took a second to breathe and really take in the fact that we are in Ecuador. We took it pretty easy the rest of the day but took the time to explore town and really sus out our dining options. We even discovered a pizzeria with vegan options!
The next day we got a birdseye view of the cloud forest by riding the tabuga or cable car. Matt led a hike that took us to 5 cascadas. Even though it was frigid some of swam up to a waterfall. The rest of the hike was a little challenging for some but everyone made it!
Hiking to the cascadas
The following day we had a coffee tour where we learned about coffee cultivation and processing and got to sample some coffee products. That evening we got to attend the famous Mindo Frog Concert. Sadly this did not involve singing and dancing frogs as a few of us might have hoped (we pictured Michigan J. Frog) but we did get to walk through the Ecuadorian jungle at night and locate quite a few different frogs, birds, and insects.
Learning about coffee!
(Not this kind of singing frog)
This kind of frog!
We happened to be in Mindo for the Ecuadorian Carnaval holiday, and on our last day a number of tourists from Quito descended on the mountain town and celebrated with the traditional custom of spraying each other (and the very conspicuous group of foreigners) with foam as they passed.
Mindo was a lovely landing spot for us. It gave us an opportunity to finally, with confidence converse without masks and actually play games that involved being within 6 feet of each other. Just before heading to Las Delicias, the students put to use the information they amassed about health and safety by keeping an egg safe during their escapade into town. Many of them completed their mission with the egg intact. As such, we knew we had to say goodbye to our eggs in Mindo. So we created plant baskets and set them down the Rio Mindo before hopping in our transport to Las Delicias.
Alice M. and Kayla and their egg
Alice E. and Tiernan and their egg
More to come soon from the students themselves.
Bye for now!
Carl Fredericksen and Russell (from the movie UP) aka Matt & Carol