Zip lines and butterflies

We took a weekend trip to a small town called Mindo, a couple of hours north of Quito. The town is in a cloud forest, an area where the land is frequently blanketed by low hanging clouds. We did what is called ”a canopy” a.k.a. zip lining in the US. OMG it was amazing! The first two runs were more than a "little" scary. We zipped high above the trees along a ten line course. I (Patricia), did not look down, but the view across the trees was spectacular. How do they build these things I wonder??? That was 1½ hours of fun for $10. (You can watch me zipping in the link below.)

Also in Mindo, we went to a place that breeds butterflies. They were beautiful (link below). I fed them with a little mashed banana. One stayed on my hand for approximately fifteen minutes. The guide said the normal time people spend there is twenty minutes. We were there for over an hour and only left so we could catch our bus.

We stayed in a lovely hostel with good food and accommodation. Also, we discovered some yummy chocolate that is made only in Mindo. We didn’t buy enough.

http://picasaweb.google.com/fourney/MindoAlbum?feat=directlink