MINDO So, after being sick for a few days in Quito, I caught a bus to Mindo. When I got off I was approached by an easy going lady who asked me if, by any chance, I knew where I was going. 'No'. Was I looking for a room? 'Yes'. So that's how I came to stay in her wooden house with many rooms and hammocks and porches and great breakfasts and lots of birds.
I didn't do much in Mindo except go on a few walks, go to a Frog Concert where they showed us a really really really big cockroach (at least 15cm, if not more. It had red wings and, from someone that finds cockroaches disgusting, looked pretty impressive), and see loads of hummingbirds. I've never seen hummingbirds in real life before. Hummingbirds are like people with too much caffeine in their system. I'm sure the movements of the players of Quidditch in the Harry Potter movie were modelled on their movements.
I also met two Israelis that excitedly told me about a family they had stayed with in the jungle. The family was wanting more people to come and stay and I had been planning on going in that direction anyway so, after Mindo, off I went back to Quito and via Puyo to find this family.
PUYOWhile not the hot, sticky jungle town, filled with motocarros, that Iquitos and Pucallpa were, Puyo was nice enough. Easy, quiet, though I seemed to have picked days to visit when half the tourist sites were closed.
Highlights? The President of Ecuador waved to me! He was in town when I was there and I saw his entourage leave town. From what I saw of him, hanging out the window waving to Puyo'ians, he's quite young, for a president, and not too bad looking! Well, again, for a president.
I also found some fruit that looked very similar to dragon fruit, but is yellow on the outside. Everyone was telling me 'oh, it's great for cleaning out your insides'. Yeah, yeah, whatever. Well, after eating THREE of them because they were so delicious I soon found out that everyone was telling the truth after all.
From Puyo I got on the bus to Macas in search of this 'family'. My instructions: ''Catch the bus to Macas, tell the ticket boy you want to get off at Kilometre 54. It's close to San Ramon. They call the house Musap, I don't know why.'' That was all I knew. I had sent them an email but not heard back. I felt really weird just turning up somewhere, firstly not even really know where it was and secondly, not knowing if they were expecting me. The Israeli couple had assured me it would be fine but I still didn't feel entirely comfortable. As it turned out, the ticket collector dropped me at the bottom of a longish path, going up a hill. From where I was standing on the side of the road, I could see a bit of a house and already three children were running in my direction. ¿Eres Geraldine? Si, soy Geraldine :) YEY! They were expecting me! More on Musap in the next blog entry.
BAÑOS
From Musap to Baños, surrounded by big green mountains on all sides. I'd planned to go mountain biking and rafting on my full day here, but I never heard back from the agency confirming the trip and as it turned out, it was raining the next morning anyway. So, instead, I spent most of my time there walking up various paths and eating milcocha (a type of toffee they make by stretching it back and forth across a hook on a wall).
I also had my first steam bath. You know the wooden box that you sit in with only your head sticking out? Something you might see Scrooge McDuck sitting in. Or Albert Einstein. Or some other men from a black and white movie. It went something like, from steam box, to a routine (right side, then left) of washing yourself off with a cold wet cloth. Repeat several times. Then suddenly I had to sit in a tub of freezing water massaging my stomach. I think my heart nearly stopped, the water was so cold. Back to the steam box. The whole procedure ended with the guy hosing you off with something about a gentle as a fire hose. It's definitely one of those things where you forget
the pain quickly because I was considering having another one the next morning.
From Musap to Baños, surrounded by big green mountains on all sides. I'd planned to go mountain biking and rafting on my full day here, but I never heard back from the agency confirming the trip and as it turned out, it was raining the next morning anyway. So, instead, I spent most of my time there walking up various paths and eating milcocha (a type of toffee they make by stretching it back and forth across a hook on a wall).
I also had my first steam bath. You know the wooden box that you sit in with only your head sticking out? Something you might see Scrooge McDuck sitting in. Or Albert Einstein. Or some other men from a black and white movie. It went something like, from steam box, to a routine (right side, then left) of washing yourself off with a cold wet cloth. Repeat several times. Then suddenly I had to sit in a tub of freezing water massaging my stomach. I think my heart nearly stopped, the water was so cold. Back to the steam box. The whole procedure ended with the guy hosing you off with something about a gentle as a fire hose. It's definitely one of those things where you forget
the pain quickly because I was considering having another one the next morning.
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