Monday November 19/12 update
# 291
We were up early for a leisurely breakfast on the terrace of
the Hostal Chimenea and were treated to some lovely sequential pencil drawing
instruction. Gosh I wish I had that
talent.
We caught the same cab as the night before to the bus
station for a 9:30 departure to Quito
with a connection to Mindo. What was supposedly
a 2 hour ride was really 3 ½ hours, stopping at every town and for every person
that stuck their arm out.
This bus ride was not a happy one because Mavis noted that
her cel phone was missing upon arrival in Quito. She had put her purse under her seat during
the trip and admitted that she did feel it move at some point but had just
yanked it forward. I asked her to
quickly check further and she was horrified to see that all her cash was gone
too. That was a very costly lesson the
keep your valuables close in any foreign country. Luckily her passport and credit cards and
documents were untouched, so at least she was able to get some replacement cash
at a bank machine. The connecting bus to
Mindo was within 20 minutes of our asking so we had to rush. It was another very picturesque ride and
almost twice as long as quoted. We were
left on the highway with 10 kms to go but there were vehicles waiting to assist. They directed us to the crewcab pickup n the
lead and started loading our luggage in the back. However when we looked in the cab we saw
there was only room for one more person!
I asked him what gives, and Bella suggested they expected us to ride in
the box. I just shook my head NO, and
right away the two Ecuadorian men were asked to occupy the box with our
luggage, which they did without argument.
We found out that everyone was very accommodating because we were
sharing the $3 cab fare.
We were taken to our lodgings at the Casa Cecilia which is
right next to a rushing river. The
chalets were built by someone not very professional and were a hodgepodge of
rooms and bathrooms. My bathroom had the
sink facing the side of the toilet so it was most awkward to do anything. The room had no electricity except outside
the door and security was non-existent.
Anyone could have come through any door or window within 3 seconds,
however we noted the whole town was like this, no grates or security bars and
many homes were wide open, no windows or doors!
Very different!
Mindo is a town of ecological wonders, plants and birds to
whet anyone’s appetite for adventure, as well as waterfalls, canopy tours,
rafting, butterflies, etc, etc.
Since it was late we wandered down a couple of blocks and
saw a family cooking all manner of local food which was being frequented by the
locals (always a good sign) so we sat down.
The pork chop was monstrous and the beer delicious as we devoured this
great food. The family was very close
and colourful. It still amuses us how
the local children and teens interact with their parents and play happily with
their siblings. Think back to the 50’s
for any such possibility at home…. The
daughter and son were playing at a combination dance and playful
kick-boxing. When I took a video of
them the whole fam damily came down to watch and laugh. Gotta love the Ecuadorians.
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