My First Week in Ecuador

Look out at the Bird Sanctuary in Mindo, Ecuador

So the first week of Living and Learning's summer internship program is just orientation. Orientation to the program, to living in Quito, Ecuador, and to being with a group of people who were previously strangers. This week, we had two trips. One to a camp called El Refugio a little over an hour outside of Quito. The other was to Mintad Del Mundo (Half of the World, also known as the equator) and a town called Mundo, where we ziplined and visited a bird sanctuary.

Info hike at the bird sanctuary in Mindo, Ecuador.

My favorite had to be the zip line tour in Mindo.

When we got to Mindo, our bus dropped us off at this "parking" area (it was a fairly large patch of dirt where people could park), where we got picked up by taxis. But they aren't taxis that we are used to in the U.S. Instead, they are trucks that let you sit or stand in the truck bed while they drive you to your destination (depending on the model of the truck bed).

Taxi ride to the zip line tour in Mindo, Ecuador.

We took these taxis up to the main building that had harnesses and helmets hung up all around the porch where they got us fitted into them. After we were all fitted, they brought us to the first ziplining point. To say that I was nervous, I was beyond nervous. The workers seemed perfectly comfortable with this tour, but I don't think that Ecuadorian laws are as strict about the safety of those tours as the U.S. is. So, I couldn't help imagining myself falling to the ground on the first two ziplines. But I ended up loving it.

Ziplining in Mindo, Ecuador

I got a nice workout in walking from zipline to zipline and I got to get a good look at the Ecuadorian countryside. Needless to say, I highly recommend going to Mindo if you have the chance.