Lights Out Mindo

Mindo has problems with electrical things.

Mindo is a small town about 2 hours north of Quito, which is 2 hours north of Latacunga, my next destination. The town is surrounded by cloud forest, which is a euphamism for second growth scrub trees where it rains alot. However, birds love it, so the major draw of the town is birding. I of course hate birds, so my purpose was to hit up the series of zip lines spread around the forest. Such a setup existed in Durango, for 300 a pop. Here, you get the day for 15 bucks, 10 if you pretend you're still a student.

I also couldnt pass up an opportunity to visit the Butterfly Farm, only 3 bucks. I spent entirely too much time, energy, and sanity in the rainforest trying to get a picture of a wild Blue Morpho Butterfly, but I figured I'd settle on a captive one and pretend otherwise.

A full day of touristy shit for 13 bucks? Awesome! Especially since I only had 15 in my wallet. Wanting lunch but figuring 2 dollars might be a little short, I hit up the town's only ATM. It beeped and whirred and displayed strange text, but did not give me any money. The town's only ATM was broken.

The closest ATM, and therefore lunch, was in the next town over, a small town called Los Bancos. The irony was not lost on me. My options were to wait an hour, take a bus (one dollar), hit the ATM, wait an hour, take a bus back to the town's entrance road (another dollar), and hire a taxi into town (a third buck). Then, I could try and make it in time for one of the activities, and skip the other. Or I could pay 10 bucks for a roundtrip taxi, and 3 bucks to take me to the zipline. Dejectedly, depressingly, I chose the more expensive option. I paid as much to get there as I did to do it. My friend who'd been to Ecuador before me was right: after only a short while, you learn to become infuriated by small expenditures.

That said, I'm kinda glad. The buses here are simultaneously slow and homicidally fast, and the walk to the zipline was long and muddy, so once was enough. The zipline itself was worth it, as you do it sitting (makes your butt hurt), Superman-style (makes your hips hurt), or even upside down (makes your head hurt). The Butterfly Garden was fun too, a little Garden of Eden to an entomologist wannabe such as myself. They had Morphos, and I manically chased the terrified insects back and forth across the garden, banging helplessly to escape against the impenetrable mist net walls. And yet, I still failed to get a good photo of the flighty flyers. Only when I was calm, slow, and non-pursuing could I get a worthy shot. Lesson learned. Finally getting a good look, I saw the Morpho was old, tired, with beat up wings, and suddenly felt contrite. Lo siento, mariposa.

Afterwards, I returned to my hostel. I'd managed to score a room in a small place on the outer fringes of town. I was roomed up in the attic, a respectable size place for one, if you dont mind walking up rickety steps to squeeze through a crotch-height door where you repeatedly bang your head and back trying to simply go to sleep. Oh, and the pillow is draconian, the bug net too small and full of holes to be of any value, and like every other bed I've slept in so far, I share it with cockroaches. Oh, and the claptrap tin roof slams agains the walls with frightening vigor in the slightest gust, making the whole room shake at all hours of the night. Still, I had the room to myself, and isolation by choice is a premium here.

Better still, the woman who owns the hostel does the laundry for you, for cheaper than I paid the self-serve machines in the WashU dorms. Maybe there is a God after all.

As I left my clothes with the old woman and turned to walk back to town for dinner (which I could pay for now), she commented off-hand that the porch light was broken. I dismissed it as 'shitty old hostel syndrome'. The place I wanted to eat dinner appeared closed, lights out, and I dismissed it as 'shitty old Ecuadorian syndrome'. However, by the time I'd hit town square, it dawned on me that lights were out everywhere in the town, and it was easy to see why. A truck had smashed into and toppled a power pole of the only major electrical line into town.

Still, there was an upside. Kids were playing ball in the streets. Musicians were performing impromptu jams in the park. Families were eating dinner together by candlelight. This is the way a small town is supposed to be. Bah Fucking Humbug, I want my internet!

After dinner, with nothing to do in a small town without electricity where you cant communicate with any of the locals, I had nothign better to do than go back to the hostel. With no sun, lamps, or flashlight, it would not be easy. I wouldnt be able to see the turnoff, or the approaching feral dogs. I asked the family who owns the restaurant I'd eaten at for help, and they responded by sending their youngest daughter to guide me back by candlelight, the hot wax audibly searing her hands as she walked without complaint. Lo siento. I'd have rather just stumbled along blindly, which is what I ended up doing anyway for nearly 10 minutes when I reached the hostel, trying to find my room and the flashlight within.

Speaking of, I'd like to make a small tangent about communication. I've noticed there are two kinds of Ecuadorians: those who try to understand and help me with my broken Spanish, and those who just stare and say nothing. Or worse, giggle and say nothing. I'm seriously beginning to hate the second type. Then again, the first type usually fails miserably at helping, merely managing to confuse me more, which pisses me off all the same. People understand my English more than they do my Spanish, and they dont even fucking speak English! I realize my grammar isnt perfect, but cuando yo hablo a usted, respondeme, motherfucker!

And if I have to eat arroz con pollo one more god damn time...

Anyway, enough ranting. All things considered, I enjoyed Mindo, and was a little reluctant to leave for Latacunga. Now, seven hours, four buses, 3 Ninjas (dubbed, poorly), a second mudslide, and one snake oil salesmen who droned on to his captive audience on the bus from here to fucking Doomsday later, I have arrived in Latacunga, ready for more rain and misadventure.