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Thursday (24th) afternoon I did go to the orchid garden- it's this lady's garden and she shows you around pointing out the orchids, a good job too really as many were really small (she even gives you a magnifying glass so you can see them in more detail). Some were growing on the leaf, others were growing at the ends of the leaf. Only saw a couple like the type we tend to have at home. Afterwards I went for the chocolate brownie (delicious!) and wrote a few postcards (a little cheaper to send from Ecuador but still cost $2 or so which is about £1.30- crazy!)
Of course I ended up staying another day in Mindo! I was already considering it whilst eating my breakfast as it is such a lovely place and then got chatting with a German couple who I could share a taxi pick up truck to the 'tarabita' to cross the forest to walk to some waterfalls. I had decided against doing it as one way cost $8 and it was a 7km walk to get there, with about two thirds being uphill! However the possibility to share the cost was a good one and then 3 Spanish girls arrived so we all went together, making it even cheaper. Unfortunately as we arrived 1) the sun seemed to disappear and 2) there was a huge group of school children waiting for the 'tarabita' so we had to wait a while. The 'tarabita' is a kind of small cable car, pretty much a wire basket that goes across the forest 152 m above the ground. On the other side you can do different walks to different waterfalls. I ended up just walking to 2 out of the 4 which were grouped together, the uphill was too much for me (I wish I wasn't so unfit but hopefully this will improve!) so I sat and read by one of them while the others went to the ones further up. In the afternoon there was some rain and the cloud came down low- now it seemed like we were in the cloud forest! Though I have to say I was lucky to have 3 good weather days here as it tends to rain in the afternoons. In the evening I went to eat with the group who had gone to the waterfalls today so got to speak a nice mix of Spanish, German and English!
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