Christams Vacation Pt. 3 X-Treme!

Family Picture on the
Equator

After successfully navigating the cross dressing streets of Quito and enjoying our day of rest, it was time to move on to our next adventure, Mindo. Since we didn’t have a car yet we pre-arranged for one of the bus drivers from our school to drive us in his charter bus for the day. He picked us up (and Howie!) and we went to Mitad del Mundo, the Center of the Earth.

Meagan, Shannon, Me, and Cait at the
Center of the World

Shannon and I hadn’t been to Mitad del Mundo yet but it is one of the most famous sites in Quito. It is a monument to the equator and there are many restaurants and shops surrounding it. Howie wasn’t allowed to go in with us, so he hung out with Paul the bus driver. While we were there we took some pictures with everyone on the equator, which is a pretty cool concept. It obviously doesn’t feel any different but conceptually, it’s neat to think that you are in two halves of the world at once. Meagan and Caitlin successfully

balanced an egg on a nail which I think is supposed to signify the symmetrical centrifugal force from both hemispheres as the earth rotates, or something. After taking some pictures and doing the egg experiment, we were on our way.

Cozy Little Rain Forest Cabin

We all hopped back on the bus and drove a few hours outside of the city to a small town called Mindo. Mindo is a cloud forest town that is truly something special to see. It is located in the rain forest, but the elevation is along the sides of an Andean mountain ridge so it is always just about at cloud level. We checked into our lodge which was a very clean small two story cabin that reminded me of summer camp.

When we got to Mindo, we went to a chocolate farm and

The Girls Thought the Cacao was Bitter

restaurant and had some lunch. I took a risk and ordered a chocolate bbq sauce grilled chicken that was stuffed with onions, carrots, and peppers. Yes, I said chocolate bbq sauce. It was fantastic. One thing we learned about chocolate while we were there is that in its simplest and most bitter form, it can take on many flavors with just the slightest hint of what you’re accustomed to. The bbq sauce tasted like chocolate, but yet wasn’t sweet. It’s hard to describe.

After lunch, we all took a sweet tour of the chocolate farm. (Yes, pun intended) On the tour we got visit the different parts of the farm where the

Cacao Beans Drying Out

cacao is grown, roasted, pressed, and mixed with the sugar and milk. It was a pretty cool experience, and of course at the end we had some samples.

When we got back to the lodge, everyone rested a bit and read some books while sitting out among the rain forest plants and a huge array of colorful birds and hummingbirds.

The next day we went on a nice X-Treme adventure. Now this isn’t really my story to tell, but I feel like I have to give some semblance of context, if one of Shannon’s family members reads this and wants to correct any

X-Treme!

discrepancies please comment in the spot after the story. A few years ago, the whole family went to Costa Rica and went on some pretty cool outdoorsy adventures. They were all “X-Treme” adventures. The end result was doing a cross-armed X every time someone did something “X-Treme.” This same thing lived on with us on our trip.

We woke up early and took a bus to a zip lining place where we were promptly strapped up and sliding on a cable across rainforest canopies. It was incredible. The views were truly indescribable and the rush from flying over a rainforest at 50 mph (ok, it felt like 50 but was probably more like 15) was exhilarating.

After our “X-Treme” adventure, we all went back to the lodge and partook in some “X-Treme” reading outside. After another evening of rest and delicious fresh seafood, we all went back to Quito equal parts rested, exhilarated, and fulfilled.

Coming in Hot

The family visit was a blast and we certainly made the most of our time together. A delicious traditional Christmas dinner, gifts, a tour of the city, going up on a volcano, and trips to the Galapagos and a cloud forest really made it one of the most exciting and fun vacations of my life; and of course it was great to see some familiar faces.