Mindo - Only Flying is More Beautiful

When I arrived in Mindo, I initially found everything stupid. But that was probably because my stomach was not feeling well and I had gotten too little sleep in the last 2 nights due to stupid roommates, thanks to thriftiness and sleeping in hostels.

Mindo is a small village, 2 1/2 hours away from Quito, surrounded by jungle, rivers, mountains, and many adventures. It wasn't until I saw my beautiful guesthouse 'Mindo Green House' that I felt better. A beautiful wooden house with a garden, cozy rooms with a balcony, and friendly hosts. After arriving, I took a quick look around the place and then just laid down. The next day, my stomach was a little better, but still not great. Nevertheless, I wanted to explore the area a bit, from tubing, canyoning, zip-lining, hiking, waterfalls, horse riding, and fishing, everything was possible. I decided to start with an easy program and set out on foot on the 3 km long and dusty path to the Butterfly House Mariposa. Here, after a short introduction in English, you could observe butterflies in every stage of development, from caterpillar to chrysalis to butterfly itself. There were a variety of colorful butterfly species buzzing around you and happily landing on you. I especially liked the butterfly whose wings were open and blue and folded looked like a snake's head (even though I have a real snake phobia).

Afterwards, I made my way to the Tarabita, a motorized cable car over the jungle to several waterfalls. Fortunately, a Jeep picked me up on the steep 5 km long way there and took me there for 1 dollar. The cable car didn't look very trustworthy, but oh well, no risk no fun. It went fast with the gondola 250 meters over the jungle to the other side. From here, various paths led to several waterfalls. I chose the path that passed 6 waterfalls. It was hot, humid, and sweaty as usual. The waterfalls were not very huge, but very beautiful located in the middle of the jungle. At the second to last waterfall, I took the opportunity to have a private bath in the waterfall. The water was cold, but very refreshing after the long hike.

The next day I felt much better, so I wanted to have more action again. I walked up the steep path to the zip-lining. I was lucky again: I was the only person there around noon and could fly along the 10 tracks all by myself with my personal guides. Equipped with a helmet and harness, we started with the first tracks just normally to get used to it. For the fast tracks, you could decide between Superman, with your head first, or Butterfly, with your head down. Of course, I tried both and it was just awesome, upside down on the cable above the jungle. Incredible. Only flying is more beautiful.

After the 2 days, I really liked Mindo. The accommodation was great, the people there anyway, and I felt much better.