Regressing to childhood in the Cloud Forest

Ecuador has many natural gems, but they are hard to compare to the Amazon.  We only had a few more days left to spend in Ecuador and had to be selective as to what we could see and do without traveling too far.  So the first day back we decided to climb up to the Volcano Pinchincha crater right in Quito.  The volcano is is accessed fairly easily by taking the telerifico or cable car; at the base of the mountain, where the cable car deposits you, the altitude is 12,800 feet.  There is also an amusement park right there.  We clearly had not given enough time to acclimatize before we embarked on this climb.  At about 13,000 feet my heart was pounding menacingly in my chest and I was gasping for air with almost every step forward.  Seeing a few brazen souls jogging past me on the well marked trail did nothing to buoy my self confidence.     It was getting harder and harder to sustain recovery.  At 13,500 to 14,000  I finally resigned myself to not getting to the peak of the mountain/ volcano, but I wanted to see the crater.    We trudged on further in hopes we would catch a glimpse of the crater.  A young man from Holland who had just returned from the top stated that that crater was actually on the other side of the peak and would be another hour of straight up climbing.  He cautioned us to reconsider as the ominous looking clouds were beginning to spread over the area and the distant sound of thunder was closer.  Since the pounding in my head and chest was not abating, with the coca leaf candies having little effect, I was happy to turn back.  The young man from Holland was a purser for KLM airlines for over 35 years and had previously lived in Quito with his parents who were missionaries until he was 18.  He stated that the mountains that surround Quito was his playground; clearly he was more accustomed to the altitude than we were.

The following day we awoke early for a tour of a cloud forest and the town of Mindo.  It was a two hour drive just to get there but worth the drive.  We shared our time with a nice young man from New Zealand who had recently been volunteering in Costa Rica and was next going to the Galapagos to do volunteer research work.    Our first stop was to a butterfly garden.  The next stop was a trek to waterfalls with a cable car ride over a deep river canyon.  This was a cloud forest, which is different in degree mostly in vegetation,  moistness and temperature.    They are cooler in temperature and usually higher in altitude.  They  are moist, cool, green, and lush.   A mist often clings to the side of the mountains and between the rain, mist and cool temperatures, the conditions are ripe for the many epiphytes, plants that live on other plants, to grow almost out of control! Moss is everywhere, as are orchids, ferns, and reportedly multiple bird species, however we really didn't see any.  We hiked a very muddy,  steep rustic path towards a series of waterfalls.  Footing was often difficult, but after 1.5 hours we arrived at the last series of waterfalls, all without seeing anyone else until we started our return back.    Our next stop was ziplining over yet another gorge.  Unfortunately it had started to rain gently when we arrived and the mist and fog increased in density to the point that we couldn't see the gorge at all.  Probably a good thing as I might have chickened out.  Our instructions were in Spanish and only with the translation from a young lady who was in front of us did we get any idea of how to do this.    The excitement apparently deadened my memory receptors as I didn't remember how to apply the brakes.  Our first trip was apparently just a trial run as no braking was required.  The speed self regulated as it was a relatively flat transverse of the canyon; it was nonetheless exciting anyway.  We next had to hike to an elevated platform and the young man was attempting to communicate with the staff member on the other side of the canyon to untwist the cables on which we would travel;  there was a series of miscommunications between the 2 with our young staffer getting progressively more frustrated; this did not inspire any confidence in the safety of this adventure nor was it helped with his attempt to shake off the water from the cable as the rain increased in intensity.    The only instruction I got was where to put my nondominant hand, behind my head on the cable, using the special gloves which were provided.  I have no idea how fast I was traveling into the fog but it was fast enough for sure. Because of the thick fog,  I didn't see the opposite platform until I was practically on top of it.  Without time to respond in a rational manner, I did nothing and slammed into the brake, giving my brain a good jostle.  Suddenly I remembered that I was supposed to pull down on the cable with my gloved hand to brake.  Well at least I will remember for the next time.  After drying off, we had an invitation to try tubing down the Mindo River, but none of us wanted to get wet all over again so we declined.  We went instead to a wonderful restaurant that was opened by a couple from Michigan.  Along with the great food, they also sold their creation of organic Mindo chocolates.  How could I resist that?

On Sunday we decided to repeat our previous Sunday's activity of renting bikes and travel in the opposite direction on Amazonas Avenida.  We rode our bikes for countless miles, going through barrio after barrio, to the point of exhaustion.  I have no idea how far it was to the end of the road that is closed to motor vehicle traffic; clearly we were outside of the city proper of Quito.    What a great treat this is to residents and tourists alike.  Although there were many options for other tours we could have done on our last full day in Quito, all of them required considerable travel to get there.  We decided we stay closer to Quito and started with some Ecuadorian nationalism with the changing of the presidential guard, which occurs every Monday at 11 a.m.  There were considerable crowds standing at the base of the palace awaiting this event.  Several nice women invited me up to an elevated viewing platform so I could get a better look.    The president (Correa) stood out on the balcony along with numerous dignitaries from neighboring countries and of course the military.  He made a brief speech waving to mostly adoring citizens.  After the event was over there were protests from about 25 citizens.

We walked to the Basillica Cathedral where we climbed the 211 stairs to the top for an amazing view of the city and the surrounding mountains.    We finished off our remaining time in Quito with a quick tour of the Botanical gardens and then a final meal.    Returning to our hostel to retrieve our bags, we said goodbye to our fellow travelers we had befriended and called for an early taxi to take us the 2 hours to the airport. It didn't seem real that we were leaving our wonderful adventure to return home after 3 months.  Although I wouldn't have ever guessed  in the beginning that 3 months seemed way too short a time.  We've already started to develop our next travel plans.