Frog concert in mindo

Outside our cabin in Mindo,  I am having a drink and listening to the simply amazing sounds of the small frogs here.   They have set up a series of ponds and gardens that draw orchestral frogs at night and an incredible variety of birds during the day.  Breakfast is delicious and it all feels very private.   I went on a 5 mile hike today and saw one person,  a farmer that was putting his cows away for the night.  I didn't see many birds, but I went very late, but I did find a lot of fruiting plants along the way, about half of the ones fro  my fruit salad in the morning.  

There actually is a "frog concert" in Mindo and the hotel, Mindo Lago, is associated with Yellow House somehow,  cousins or something like that.  I didn't think the frog concert itself was worth the $4.50, but I liked the thimble full of wine we got and the man's explanation of the project.  Basically,  they are trying to save frogs and restore the local ecosystem.   They expanded a pond into a lake, then reintroduced local flora and first tried to bring frogs in, which they didn't go for.  Frogs from higher up the mountains went back up, ones from lower went back down.   Over 8 years, they improved the space to "invite" frogs in and now they have more than 12 kinds in less than an acre.  Eight years ago, there were 2.  And so, I really don't mind supporting the project a little.  

If you don't speak Spanish,  there's not much to pick up, it seemed like there were no English speakers there.

Wifey is laid low at the moment with some nausea thing and had taken everything we had except something to stop her vomiting.   Gratefully,  I have always had great luck with pharmacists down here.  It'll cost you pennies and really sort out what ails you.  again,  Spanish is very useful here.  I was getting a bit worried as we need to travel in a day or so and, of course,  she's feeling like hell.   If the meds weren't working,  it might mean a doctor or the hospital,  which is just not what we want.  We're insured for every

So while she maintains her first hours without vomiting,  I am lying I  a hammock,  listening to the frog pond next to our cabin.  Between the crickets and various buzzing insects and the tree and water frogs, it's an amazing sound.  I swear,  whoever records those Nature Sounds meditation CDs would never have to look beyond Ecuador.   Maybe they haven't.

Lindo mindo, Ecuador

After the long haul to mindo,  we finally got to our cabjn at the Yellow House,  an incredibly clean set if cabins just outside the very small town of mindo.   I am very gkaf to be here, so wifey can see the cloud forest.  It's very different from yanayacu (15 degrees warmer, at least), but it helps solve one of my nagging concerns whole traveling in that I am almost always thinking, "Wifey would really love this."

After falling asleep to the sound of tree and pond frogs chirping,  I woke up, did some yoga, and soent time having coffee by the incredibly active hummingbird feeders.  There are at least 16 species here and there must be several hundred if the right next to the main cabin. 

Bus travel, part 2

We're waiting to catch our bus to Quito tonight and then on to mindo,  a ride that might take us 16 hours with the Quito connection.   Gladly,  it looks like we travel into the north terminal,  which will make our connection easier.

A fellow traveler warned us that they would not allow backpacks inside the bus, which means my camera and other more expensive gear would ride below.   I am prepared to argue our way on.  Never mind that there's not much space on these buses for a 6-foot tall person,  I am not going to be worrying about my gear. 

An 8pm bus means a likely 2 movies blasted in Spanish for our "enjoyment, " shut off at midnight until dawn.  I really hope it's a better choice than the tsunami disaster flick we watched on our way to the coast, where a red cross worker actually handed me a pamphlet and a coloring book on what to do if a tsunami hit the coast here.  Trying yo prepared, clearly,  but it helped us to make our decision for a hotel on a hill, I'm sure.

Buses to Quito seem to be much less comfortable than guayaquil-based buses.  A disappointment as we'd pay twice as much for comfort.    Chile, Argentina,  even Peru,  all have much more comfortable buses available for longer hauls.  Not sure why Quito hasn't done that yet, they seem ready for tourism in almost every other way.

Different pictures of animals from this trip

I'll try to get captions,  but it doesn't seem like the mobile app supports them.

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Should have done this a long time ago.  Anyone can comment.   Go nuts,

More animals from Galapagos

Some more animals from Galapagos., the land iguanas from Floreana,  giant tortoises from Santa Cruz and Galapagos sea lions,  which seem to be everywhere there.

Whales at Puerto Lopez

What an amazing trip out to isla Plata.   One of the best short excursions we've taken and it felt like a bargain at $40.  Whales leaping out of the water right next to the boat, watching va mother humpback whale teach her baby to jump, bird colnies, snorkeling and a nice basic lunch.  Fantastic.  The company was called Palo Santo and they were some of the better guides we've had.

We got picked up at the hotel at 9am to go to the office,  where we were fitted with life jackets and marched through town to the docks to take off in a small cabin cruiser.   There were 16 of us on board, including captain and guides.  By comparison,  the interisland Galapagos ferries packed 25 and more people on these boats, then added crew and guides.   A cozy trip I'm glad I've bought motion sickness pills for.  At 25 cents each, it's a bargain for a three hour tour.

By comparison,  the isla Plata trip was pure comfort.  We got out into the bay and were immediately in search of whales.  Within 20 , minutes,  we were getting closer to the acrobatics of several males that were being called to by a female.   Females have no vocal chords, so she slaps her flukes on tge water repeatedly and the males respond by leaping out of the water dramatically.   We got so close that you could loudly hear them slapping down onto the water before being sprayed with the mist from the splash.  I was lucky enough to get out on the bow of the boat for a prime view and some great pictures with my large SLR camera. 

After half an hour of non-stop showing off from the whales,  we left them to go for our hike on isla Plata. 

We were also visited by about a dozen sea turtles while we waited to get on shore.  Sadly,  our guides threw them lettuce,  which really isn't what they typically eat, but it was amazing to see them come so close.   We've seen a lot of turtles down here and I am still not bored of them yet.

Once we got on land, we decided to take the highest trail to see blue footed boobies nesting and a colony of frigate birds, many of which had their red throats inflated in an impressive display I'd been wanting to see since Galapagos.