Sunday dawned slightly cloudy with the potential for rain.
Larry stayed in and spent a relaxing day reading, Linda and Mary headed to the
Galapagos Islands for four days, and Pat, Amy, and Callan headed to Mindo with
their guide, Juan Carlos.
On the way to Mindo, Pat, Amy, and Callan took a refreshing
walk along a stream in the cloud forest where they saw many species of orchid,
a turquoise jay, and an intrepid humming bird. Fortunately, Juan Carlos went
first and carefully moved spider webs out of the way. Even so, Callan almost
fell into the stream trying to avoid passing too close to a web. From there
they went on to Mindo where they visited Le Quetzel Chocolate Factory. The
factory makes organic, hand processed chocolate. The tour included the
opportunity to taste test the chocolate combined with ginger, hot peppers, and
lemon grass. The factory is owned by an Ecuadorian-American couple and the
American touches are obvious in things like the espresso machine (very rare in
a country that prefers instant coffee) and paper towels in the restroom.
After lunch they followed in Larry, Linda, and Mary’s
footsteps and visited the butterfly, humming bird, and orchid center and then
stopped by the Center of the World on the way back to Quito.
Entry submitted by: Amy McLaughlin
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