Laguna Quilotoa to Mindo

Nicole and Nancy:

We arrived in Laguna Quilotoa from Latacunga yesterday. We were dropped off on the outskirts of the small town of Quilotoa by the bus, and made our way down the road to a hostel called Hostel Alpaca that had a resident puppy and cat, which made the night very comforting. Along with these two friends was a neverending supply of hot tea, and a warm fireplace to read by. There were plenty of other travellers who were all very nice too, especially a nice man from Holland who gave us a good tip for a hostel in Mindo.

Nancy and I hiked down to see the lake and saw two birds on the trail! A flowerpiercer and a great thrush, it  was awesome :) Unfortunately we couldn´t go to the bottom because I was feeling the effects of the altitude quite a bit, so we headed in for some reading and puppy/cat time. They served us a delicious full supper and we headed to bed. The next morning after breakfast we decided to catch a pick up truck (camioneta!) to Zumbahua and then a bus to Latacunga, because my body wasn´t adjusting well to the higher altitudes. Once we got back to Quito I felt much better and then we bussed through the city (El Trole!) and caught the last bus to Mindo, which is my favourite city so far :) It´s been raining non stop since we arrived, but we have a nice cozy cabin by a river so we will be nice and dry and toasty. The drive here was magical. We drove through mountain after mountain that were covered from bottom to peak by lush green shrubs and trees. It was an interesting comparison to the Rockies, which are also very spectacular, but they´re much more.. rocky. There was no space left uncovered by thick, deep green plants here. It´s called a Cloud Forest that we´re in, and the mist that shrouded the mountains and the town as we arrived definitely had it live up to its name.

We are planning lots of fun adventures here in Mindo including lots of birdwatching, a FROG CONCERT! and a chocolate factory tour.. mmmm. Stay tuned, hopefully next time we will upload our Laguna Quilotoa and Mindo pictures.

Love from Nancy and Nicole