Helpful Hints

This post has absolutely nothing to do about Ecuador but it's something I got in my email this morning and I really wanted to share it with my friends, so here are some of the best little hints I've seen in a long time.  Several of them will find their way into my world.

"What Do You Miss the Most?"

I met with a group of people on a tour of this area just a little while ago and I was reminded that there are things I've forgotten since I got here and other things I don't really think about so I thought I'd share a little of that with you tonight.  If people on the tour were wondering, I'll bet some of you are as well.

Ecuador Tour Anyone?

I know I've told you about the times when I've had the opportunity to work with my favorite tour group when they come to Cotacachi but I've never really told you about the tour company itself and I really want to do that.  I'm so blown away but what they do that I can't imagine everyone who wants to come down here to check out Ecuador (or who's already here but wants to see more of it) going to anyone else!

So, here we go, Ecuador Expat Journeys! (If you don't want to wade through the rest of this post to get to the bottom line, when you get to the site, click on Crash Course and Tour to get the skinny on their top offering.)

Meet the team, well, part of it anyway:
    
On the left we have Jonathan, Sarah, and Suzie and on the right is Roger.  All of them are amazing at what they do and part of that is because they love it!  You can read all about them on the site but it's so easy to read what is on there and say, "Oh, right, that's their website, they have to say good things about themselves." Yes, it would be silly to say negative things about themselves but having gotten to know them, it's also all true.  They love what they do and they are completely enthusiastic about Ecuador.

Another New Hot Spot in Cotacachi

Cotacachi has yet another business owned by an ex-pat.  The Monkey Bar opened a couple of weeks ago to great enthusiasm (including mine).  I got a little wild and crazy that night but it was all great fun with good friends.  The funny part is that this was on a Saturday night and before noon on Sunday, people I went to play cards with already knew how many drinks I'd had (five of them--yes, I know, that's a rather high number and, so, probably memorable).  Small town living is such a riot.  If you can't deal with people talking about you, this might not be your ideal place to live.

Mindo -- Birds of Los Bancos

And here we are, at the end of the Mindo photos.  It was a fabulous trip and one that I hope to make again.  Our tour guide has gone close to a dozen times and never tires of photographing the birds and butterflies (particularly the birds).  I think it could definitely be that way for me.

On Wednesday we made a little trek up to Los Bancos, a small town near Mindo, to have lunch, watch birds, and go to an ATM if anyone needed to do that.  Mindo doesn't have one--Los Bancos does.

The restaurant was also a small hostal.  The rooms are on the left, the restaurant in the back.

Mindo -- Butterflies, Part 2

Yesterday's butterflies were all hanging out on the netting, patio, stones, or people.  Today I wanted to share the shots I got of them looking like they're out in nature.  I think these are my favorites--well, they are until I look at the others.  They're really all my favorites.

Mindo -- Butterflies, Part 1

We went to a butterfly preserve where they help certain butterflies survive the predators in the wild.  It was fabulous to be able to view them in a relatively natural looking setting before they were released back into the wild.

The first thing we got to see was where they put the pupae they have collected so they can hatch.  These are the pupae of butterflies that hatch at the waters edge.  They really are as sparkly as they look.  It mimics the look of sun glinting off water and helps camouflage them.