The feelings I experience driving to a from Mindo range from awe and excitement to dread and literal illness.
My first trip to Mindo was with one of my counterparts and another friend. Driving around Quito is not like driving in the U.S. People drive in an aggressive manner and will force their way into a lane, or make turns from what is obviously not a turn lane. Motorcycles look for any opening to zip around stalled traffic, even driving up onto the sidewalks. It’s always an adventure! Gustavo is an aggressive driver who speeds up, stops short, and takes the curves at a faster speed than I would. We got to Mindo quickly, but we left my stomach somewhere along the side of the road! At one point, he had to stop the car so I could get out because I was sick. It was not a fun ride.
When we arrived, my attitude improved when I saw the charming little town full of shops, restaurants and a lovely plaza in the center. We stopped at one of the tourist offices that sell tours. There are so many options of what to do in Mindo: chocolate tour, coffee tour, tubing, cycling, ziplines, cable cars, bird watching, the butterfly sanctuary and hiking to the waterfalls.
We went to the butterfly sanctuary first. It is a huge, netted area full of many colorful butterflies flying around you. There are trays of fruit for the butterflies to eat. You can even smear a bit of banana on your hand and a butterfly will land and eat directly from your hand! There is an area they can the butterfly “nursery” where all the chrysalises hang. If you’re lucky, you can watch a new butterfly come into the world and unfurl its wings.
Next we went to the zipline course.
