Que Lindo el Mindo

This weekend the other students and I went to Mindo, a little town nestled in the cloud forest.  It is a relaxing and sleepy place, with a warm and welcoming charm.  There is something distinctly Latin American about it: the children playing the streets, a little central park in the town square, dimly lit dirt roads.  

Shortly after arriving, we rode the zip lines.  13 cables criss-crossing a deep valley.  It was such a rush to jump off a cliff to what would otherwise be to the death and then to soar across the valley suspended by a cable.  Later we hiked down to the river and jumped off a 36 foot cliff into a waterfall.  Now with a bad jump or landing this actually could have been to the death, but we all lived to tell the tale.  

Early the next morning, my friend and I woke up very early to go birdwatching with a guide.  It was unbelievable just how teeming with life the canopy of the forest is, but without the guide, I would never have appreciated it as much.  Every few seconds, the guide would stop, and say "look, a beautiful bird over there!"  Then he would quickly find the bird in the telescope and we could see.  We saw many toucans and all kinds of colorful birds.

 

Simply passing through the town was an unforgettable experience in itself.  We ate delicious pizza made of pan de yuca, (yuca bread) and the world's greatest brownies.  Seriously, this brownie was freaking amazing.