Downpours in Mindo & our last day

After sleeping in yesterday we were advised to get up really early as the cloud forest is renowned for great mornings and very rainy afternoons being a cloud forest and all. So based on that, we set our alarms for 5am and arranged breaky for 6am. IT RAINED ALL NIGHT AND DOWNPOURED THIS MORNING.

So even after waking up in the middle of the night by the time we left the house was about 8am and today we wanted to hike the Hacienda San Vicente nature trails or the Yellow house to us non Spanish speakers.
​
This place has been described as: ‘A place of un-equalled beauty and natural richness. It has one of the richest variety of birds, butterflies, including ones with transparent wings, animals, plants, mushrooms, wild flowers, including orchids and bromelias karatas. Beautiful rivers. With its own rain forest inside its property, the “Hacienda San Vicente” is one of the best known birding localities in Ecuador’’ – so we had to go!

​It cost $6USD pp to enter and don’t get me wrong, it was good, the jungle is beautiful but honestly wildlife wise we have experienced a larger variety from our balcony at Hostal Rubby. We did really enjoy it and managed to hike for 2 hours before the rain started. Now when it started we stupidly made the decision to wait at the Yellow house for it to go off. It didn’t go off. Instead it got heavier and heavier and heavier until the roads flooded and the garden turned into a lake. After 1 hour of waiting we decided to grin and bear it and take our shoes off and paddle bare feet back to the village. 

Thank god for our favourite coffee shop in town being open so even though we were soaked, we managed to keep the camera dry and it was nothing that a coffee, homemade brownie and toastie couldn’t fix. We were looking to go to the butterfly sanctuary today along with tubing but with the weather being how it was and pretty much most of the town closing because the floods were that bad, we decided against it and came home to pack, read and relax.​

​In the afternoon the weather cleared up, and we were able to head back into town for a few last tourist snaps, some cervice and a massive plate of veggies for me as I am now trly sick of anything dough based. We are off to Quito again in the morning as we are meeting my parents – I AM SO EXCITED TO SEE THEM! As much as it has only been 9 months, it will be amazing to get to spend the day with them before we head to Galapagos!