In the clouds of Mindo

It is only a 1.5 hours-busride from Quito to Mindo. Even though it is close, this little village surrounded by pristine cloud forests feels like another world. Cloud forests are very special ecosystems in tropical mountain regions where most of the time moisture is present in the form of fog and clouds wafting through the treetops which are covered in bromeliads, orchids, and liana. I love it there since it is full of life but not as humid and hot as tropical rainforests. 😉

The laid-back village of Mindo does not offer as much action as Baños, but a lot of relaxing alternatives. We went to a “frog concert”, walked through the lush forest, had some delicious chocolate drinks and -soup, and visited a mariposario (a butterfly breeding station). There, I was blown away by the metallic bright cocoons of a certain butterfly species (see photos). It is amazing: the caterpillars of this butterfly pupate near rivers and the shiny appearance is to imitate water drops!

We needed a little bit of action: tubing in Mindo River! In this activity you sit (or try to do so 🙂 ) on a float made of inner tractor tubes whilst drifting downstream (see photos). It is a lot of fun – Mindo River is not as large and torrential as Pastaza River in Baños where I did rafting. However, we managed to smash one of the tubes when colliding with a rock face! 😛

Enchanted by all the fairy-like creatures – butterflies, hummingbirds, and dragonflies – we headed back to real life: up to busy Quito.

Nos embarcamos en la boya para hacer “tubing”. We board the float for tubing. Wir steigen aufs Floß fürs “tubing”. (© Sarah Margolis)

Yendo abajo el Río Mindo con Sarah. Going down Mindo River with Sarah. Den Mindo Fluss mit Sarah hinuntertreibend. (© Sarah Margolis)

Una naturaleza muerta con una botella de cerveza y una vela. Still life with a beer bottle and a candle. Stillleben mit Bierflasche und Kerze.

Entrada del mariposario. Entrance of the butterfly breeding station. Eingang der Schmetterlingszuchtstation. (© Sarah Margolis)

Algunos capullos especiales que imitan las gotas de agua y parecen ornamentos. Some special cocoons which imitate water drops – they look like jewellery. Einige abgefahrene Kokons, die Wassertropfen nachahmen – sie sehen aus wie Schmuck.

…de los cuales las mariposas Tithorea harmonia salen. …out of which the Tithorea harmonia butterflies eclose. …aus denen die Tithorea harmonia Schmetterlinge schlüpfen.