Bellavista lodge and Mindo

We were told by the guides that birds would be awake feeding next to the van at 6 am so we woke up early to watch this. The kids stayed sleeping. The college kids were watching the feeding too. A tayra came out too.

When the kids woke up we had breakfast and they fed the hummingbirds again and then we went for a short 1 hour hike but didn't see any animals. The kids did great. The lodge supplied rain boots and bamboo hiking sticks.

There was a guide, Nathaly Escobar, there who was on her way to become one of a few birders who have spotted all of the native birds in Ecuador. She has 400 more birds to go but has spotted 1600 already.

The drive to Mindo continued on the road we had been on and widened up and was not too bad. It took about 45 minutes. 

Mindo is heralded to be a big tourist center and there are all the fixings for tourists: coffee shops, bakeries, pizzerias, and loads of activities. It was kind of dead. We stopped for lunch at a grill place that was handing out bites of sausage. It was delicious but not super cheap. We had a mixed grill plate of chicken, pork chop, and sausage and a steak plate and a couple drinks for $32.

We walked around town and went to a butterfly sanctuary for $18 but it also had rabbits we fed mulberries to, orchids, and hummingbirds. It has a nice hammock area that reminded me of Thailand. It was great. 

I stopped to get a $6 haircut.

We went back to the RV and could have parked next the grill place for free but decided to go to a hotel and paid $34 to stay in their parking lot. They had a pool and hot tubs and pool table, foosball, ping pong, and a lounge area. We played some pool and foosball and ping pong. It was nicer than a dirt parking lot but not sure it was worth $34. 

We had leftovers for dinner from lunch and kids had a packet of noodles from Ecuador which tasted great.