After 9 months in South America, Mindo Ecuador is the most beautiful and relaxing place I´ve found. Before arriving here I spent a couple of weeks in Quito. It felt so good to step back from the bustling city and get a breath of fresh air. Being a little outside of the town, all I can hear is the comforting sounds of the surrounding cloud 
forest, so no more blaring car horns!
The town offers so many different activities. One day I can go to the Yellow House and spend the day trekking. The next day, I can relax and watch butterflies. By the way the butterfly farm here is spectacular!. However I have seen loads of butterflies simply in Las Terrazas de Dana Lodge. We have a bird table with some bananas and I love
seeing the different exotic birds fly to the table throughout the day. They never stop coming and eating bananas!.
If you do decide to visit Mindo Ecuador, I highly recommend a stop at the hummingbird garden. My jaw dropped when I saw the sheer amount of birds flying around. I have never seen so many hummingbirds before in my life. There were dozens flitting around at the same time. The frenetic activity of the birds is fascinating yet relaxing at the same time. I must have spent over two hours observing not only the hummingbirds but the other birds. Also butterflies and cute squirrels attracted by the bananas on offer.
Another day activity in Mindo Ecuador I thoroughly enjoyed was a dip in the waterfalls. There is a superb cable car to reach the waterfalls that goes across the entire valley!. It is worth a trip by itself. My favorite waterfall was the Cascada Namillo. This is the largest in the park and you can jump from a platform at the top over 12m down into the frothing water. I´m not going to lie… it was terrifying!. It felt good to get some exercise and see the different waterfalls (6 in total). When I got a little hot I would just take a small break, dive into the water and then continue to walk to the next waterfall. My friend managed with only flip flops but I´d recommend taking proper shoes.
There´s still lots do to in Mindo Ecuador before I leave. I want to check out one of the night hikes where you can see lightning bugs with glowing eyes!. Maybe I´ll go zip lining and one day I will convince myself to get up early to go birding too.
