Hola All,

This is a very quick message,written from our hostel since the internet is ridiculously slow! We have been very busy exploring Quito, which is a stunning city full of colonial buildings and charming churches. There have been plenty of memorable moments including going to the El Panecillo (Virgin Monument) on top of a mountain and offers beautiful views of the entire city. We also visitedthe La Basilica del Voto Nacional, which has gorgeous stained glass. You can climb up to a tower, I unfortunately freaked out and could not reach the top but Matt did! We just returned from the cloud forest in Mindo where we stayed at a sustainable resort called El Monte. We went hiking, zip-lining over the forest canopy (terrifying), bird watching (saw parrots, toucans, humming birds, vultures and many others, I think I might take up bird watching when I return), butterflys, so many orchids (very small and beautiful), waterfalls. We will go to an internet cafe and send pictures tomorrow. I hope to send more details of our adventures too!