Friday, March 8th

Hi Everyone
Rob and I just returned from an exciting and exhausting day in Mindo - about 80 km west of Quito. We were up at 6.00 this morning and after breakfast, went on a 5 hour hike through an area of the Ecuadorian 'cloudforest'. This is similar to a rainforest' except that it is at a higher elevation. This is a very mountainous region around 3000 foot elevation that gets a great deal of rainfall year round and consequently the mountains from top to bottom are covered in lush, thick vegetation of every sort including trees, bushes and vines. It certainly is the closest to a 'jungle' that I have ever
experienced.

 We stayed at 'El Monte' lodge which is run by an expatriate American and his Ecuadorian wife. Along with running the lodge, they are involved in a number of ecological initiatives designed to preserve the natural surroundings. Our walk actually went from the lodge which is at the bottom of a valley, up to their research station which is about two thirds of the way up one of the mountains. We were accompanied by an Ecuadorian guide who along with guiding us, pointed out numerous native birds along the way. Mindo is actually one of the best bird watching locations in the area and the El Monte lodge actually posted (in a world wide contest)the highest 24 hour bird count a while back - apparently over 100 species in 24 hours!! 
We didn't see quite that many but did see a number of magnificent Macaws, Parrots, Tanagers among others. One Macaw was huge with a long black beak and brilliant black and yellow colouring.

Tues 12th

Just got back from a mountain bike ride down the valley from the town of Banos - about 150 km south of Quito. Hard to put into words what the road is like that we rode on. Picture a narrow valley that is covered in thick vegetation with steep slopes rising to mountain peeks over 18,000 feet. The highest peak is Volcan Tungurahua (that’s volcano) It just recently was downgraded from orange to yellow alert (3 to 2 on a scale of 4) as far as danger of eruption is concerned. In fact, the entire town of Banos was evacuated back in Oct 1999 due to an eruption.
The road winds along the side of the valley and at times you are looking straight down at least two thousand feet to the river below. Unbelievably, there are full size buses, oil tankers and other large trucks that negotiate hair-pin turns along the way. We rode down for about 30 km and then took a bus back (bikes got stuck on the roof). Along the way we stopped at two spectacular waterfalls. Banos is probably one of the most popular towns in Ecuador for outdoor ecotourist activities. Biking, hiking, mountain climbing, horseback riding, kayaking, river rafting and trips into the Amazon jungle are all available here. This is a slow time of the year but we still have run into numerous NA and European tourists.

On the weekend, Jeff and Nancy joined us for a trip to the famous Saturday market in the town of Otavalo - about 70 km north of Quito. This  market has been going on since Inca times and the native people dress in traditional garb and offer an amazing array of colourful weaving products. The many wall hangings, rugs, clothes, hats etc are a visual feast for the eyes as you stroll through row after row of goods. Sunday we took a taxi up to the volcanic lake - Laguna de Cuicocha. We walked around the rim of the crater and got some spectacular pictures of the lake below and the surrounding mountains. This area reminded me of Switzerland with small villages and houses dotted high up the green mountain side.

You can’t go more than 10 km in this country without either going up or down mountains. The Andes run right through the centre and numerous volcanic peaks are visible as you travel down the central plateau. The weather has been quite good since we arrived - temperature in the low 70´s with very little rain. If you have more time you can travel west to the Pacific and enjoy lovely beaches or east towards the Amazonian jungle - both trips within a one day bus ride from Quito which is in the middle north of the country at an elevation of 9300 feet.

That’s it for now - we head back home tomorrow after only scratching the surface as to what this country offers for tourists.

 Best wishes to all,

Larry                                                   Return