Quito to Mindo (Ecuador)

Mon, 09/06/2014 - 12:00

Back in Quito after our tour of the jungle we go to see Diego to pick up the bike only to find that the workshop is closed with our bike locked inside. After a bit of a run around we discover that he is currently out on the road fixing one of the Freedom Motorcycle Tour bikes which would be OK except that they are caught out between two landslides and will not be returning until Tuesday afternoon. Hmmmmm.

Oh well while we are back in Quito cooling our heals we finally get to visit the old part of the city. Sunday is a nice day to visit as the streets are closed to traffic.

The very gothic looking cathedral

Streets of Quito's old town

We spend the whole day wandering the streets and also check out the interesting Museo Casa del Alabado filled with Pre Columbian artefacts from all over Ecuador.

Pre Columbian artefacts

We also find an interesting artesans market/shop in the tunnels beneath the San Franciso Church, it's then time for lunch on the San Francisco Square. The whole time it threatens to rain heavily as the thunder bounces of the mountains in all directions. Big thunderstorms are something we have come to expect daily in Quito. In fact I quite miss them when they don't happen.

Skill Lunch on the San Francisco Square

Lunch, it is Mother's Day in Ecuador

For the rest of the time we just chill back, find a great English bookshop, a very good hole in the wall sushi bar and I manage some home cooked meals in the Hostel's great kitchen. We also venture out to see if we can renew our SOAT (the local 3rd party insurance), after trying 5 different places in our local vicinity we have to venture further afield. The problem being we only want to buy a months worth and they can only sell us a year policy. Other reasons not to sell it to us were they only sell it in the morning, they don't sell it on Mondays, the office is closed because it is raining, the list goes on. In the end we spend $13.00 in cab fares to buy $3.00 worth of Insurance, from of all places, QBE, an Australian based company. I sat in the foyer of the huge building nostalgically watching promotional trailers of Sydney Harbour, Ayers Rock, Alice Springs and the Great Barrier Reef. Oh well not a totally wasted effort I guess.

Tuesday afternoon arrives and we go to see if Diego has returned. He has, but the bike is still not ready. He is very apologetic and promises Manana Manana. By this time Skill is a bit peeved but it is hard to be angry as Diego is such a lovely guy.

Wednesday dawns and surprisingly the bike is actually ready. It is nice to have it parked back at the hostel car park.

Skill, the bike and Diego.

Diego in the workshop

Our original plan to ride to the coast has been thwarted by time constraints as we need to be back in Quito on Sunday in order to catch our flight to the Galapagos on Monday. Once again Klaus comes to the rescue and suggests we go out to Mindo for a few nights and gives us the name of a lovely place to stay. On Thursday we pack up and we are off, easily negotiating the streets of Quito with Mr Zumo, our new GPS to replace Carmen the Garmin. We stop off at the Mitad del Mundo, the tourist park on the equator, well actually it is a little bit off the equator according to Mr Zumo. We take the obligatory photo and have a good wander around before it is back on the road to Mindo.

We cross the magic line

Mitad del Mundo

The GPS reading

The ride is very scenic although there is a lot of roadworks due to the many landslides from last weeks heavy rains. I think I stop counting at about 10 major landslides. We arrive at our accommodation La Roulotte. Oh my goodness it is just beautiful. We choose our little gypsy caravan and settle in. Even the bike is undercover which is a good thing as it pours down in the afternoon.

Our gypsy caravan

Inside our gypsy caravan

The Garden - Heliconias

The Garden - Red Bananas

The Garden - Heliconias

To be honest we are a little overwhelmed by the beauty of our idyllic surroundings, it is like being in a beautiful eco resort, we just chill back with a beer and a picnic lunch for the afternoon. Later in the evening we get to hear the famous Cock of the Rock bird calling his mate. We then have a beautiful meal in the huge restaurant dining room before a walk around the garden looking for all manner of frogs. This walk is lead by Ignacio who is such a lovely enthusiastic man and also the owner.

The following day we are treated to a huge breakfast in the restaurant, we are sitting at our table watching all manner of birds flying in to feed, including the amazing humming birds and a toucanette. Amazingly Mindo bioreserve has over 400 species of birds and 250 species of butterflies. It is then off for a walk to the nearby butterfly farm where we spend most of the morning, such a beautiful array of butterflies and humming birds. The Mariposas de Mindo breeds 25 species of butterfly including Brown owl eye butterfy and the Peledides Blue Morpho butterfly.

Brown owl eye butterfly

Butterfly

Skill and a matching butterfly

Lan

More butterflies

Chrysalis

Emerging Butterfly

Another Butterfly

Chrysalis

The incredible, magical hummingbirds

Garden at the Butterfly Farm

We then trek alongside the river for a couple of hours. It really is a stunning place.

Lan trekking near the river

That evening we enjoy the best woodfired pizzas we have had since Cusco, and a nice evening with Ignacio. Between our Spanglish and his Spanglish we have a pretty good conversation.

Although we would love to stay another night we are a little worried about the heavy rain overnight, with the possibility of more landslides we decide to return to Quito on Saturday just in case, we do not want to miss our flight to the Galapagos. This proves to be ok and we have a rainless ride back into the city. At one point Mr Zumo seems to shut down and Skill is pretty sure we have taken a wrong exit. He exits the roundabout and decides to pull over to the curb to check things out. As we near the gutter he puts his foot down in the rolly gravel and looses his footing. He struggles to keep the bike up and at less then walking speed the bike falls onto the gutter. I just step off the bike onto the pavement but Skills foot is trapped between the bike and the gutter. Fortunately there is a space and he is not hurt in anyway. However I cannot lift the bike off his foot so after gaining the attention of a couple of pedestrians, we manage to get the bike upright. They are very concerned for our well being, but we thank them profusely and tell them we are OK, which we are. The bike is also completely unscathed.

Oops rolly gravel where Skill's foot skidded along

The bike and Skill now upright (I didn't think I should take a photo off his foot trapped and him sprawled out on the pavement)

Back on the bike with Mr Zumo now operational we continue on. I comment to Skill saying Do you realise that in all of our travels this is the first time I have ever come off the bike, pretty good going don't you think to which he solemnly responds I would prefer it not to have happened.

Back in Quito we go out to buy our supplies for the Galapagos including some snacks, sweets, water bottles and most importantly, vodka and seasickness medication. On Sunday we get ourselves packed up and we are all set for our big expedition tomorrow. We cannot wait.