mini break!

   ok so Mindo, well it´s a town further up north in the jungle. In my opinion it´s a village not a town but apprantly locals are trained as guides and they have 3 pick-up truck taxis and 4 cars so that makes them a bustling town! Who are we to argue?! We had to take the bus through the mountains to get there, took about 3 and a half hours and we left at 5.45 am. Fun times! The bus trip was quite pleasant and the views were spectacular.

   In Mindo we stayed at a hostel. The hostel is entirely made of polished wood and one side is totally open so you look out directly into the  trees and are surrounded by hummingbirds. On one side of my room I had a verandah and on the other side was a lounge(?) with 2 hammocks. I spent a few very relaxing hours swaying away and listening to the birds. On Saturday morning we were up and breakfasting at 6am and got a truck ride up to the top ridge of a mountain. The truck ride will forever stay with me!! No seat belts (of course) and nothing to hold unto. The road (and when I say road I mean dirt track with whopping big holes in) was dreadful. The locals tried to fix the holes by pouring gravel all over the place which just made the road even bumpier. If you ever do this kind of journey then be warned-sit by the window and if aren´t very careful you will end up banging your head against the glass (guess how I learnt this.) We got to the top by 7.20 and spent the next 4 hours walking down the mountain. The early start and bumpy ride were worth it-the walk down was amazing!

    It was so peaceful; all I could hear was the water dripping off the leaves and birds all around us. So much natural beauty before you, it´s impossible to not believe in a Creator God. Everything was so green and lush. Hundreds of different kinds of trees and creepers, the only ones I could recognise were palm tress and banana trees. GIANT ferns bigger than me (and a normal sized person) guarded the sides of the ridge. The jungle is so dense. Our path had a 60ft drop on either side but you couldn´t really see it because of the thick undergrowth. The trees had dangling vines-looking like right out of a Tarzan film! The trees are covered in moss which hangs down, I felt like I was in an "Indianna Jones" film. Whilst walking down we spotted some beautiful birds including a couple of Toucans! I´m not an Ornithologist but seeing those birds in the wild was quite an experience! Take that Chester Zoo 

   At about 9.30 we passed a truck dropping off hikers. We went past feeling smug. Giving kindly but patronising looks of those who´d already been on the trail for 2 hours  Made me feel hardcore whereas they were merely day trippers! We tutted (in Christian love of course) as we passed them.