As an intern from Gulliver Expedition which is actually a tour operator in Quito it is possible to go on several trips they offer. I took the chance by heart that we had a 3-days weekend because of the Indepence Day of the biggest city in Ecuador Guayaquil. If I haven’t had to leave my passport in the General Office of Migration I could have gone by plane to some jungle or beachtrip. Never mind, I took the first bus to Mindo on Friday. The trip was like this: 


And my neighbor had to eat some of them cheese things with some hot sauce which was in a tiny little pot. Of course this guy has to drop this thing exactly on my backpack and pants. Thank you!
Finally I arrived in Mindo, bought a ticket for las cascadas and went from hostel to hostel to find an available room. In the Caffekasku I liked it the most so I wanted to spend my night here. Cheap and quite cozy, nice people and good fresh juice. There I met some people who just finished their biking tour from Nono to Mindo.
Soon I was on my way to the waterfalls. Because of the holidays there were so many people I had to wait like 45 min, but the nice guy took me a bit earlier because I was travelling alone. The view out of the cage was stunning and was looking forward to hike and take a swim. The first waterfall was only 15min of a hurrying walk with a family from Quito. It was quite nice to see but as expected this one was absolutely crowded. On the other side there was a another way down to some more waterfalls, they were much nicer and it was so refreshing to take the swim in the clear water. 


After this super hike I went to the chocolate tour as everyone else and enjoyed – altough I’m Swiss and always surrounded by delicious swiss chocolate – the still warm and melting brownie, not for the last time this weekend.
Actually I wanted to go for a shower and then maybe have a drink somewhere. On my way back I passed a bar in the centre and I guess each habitant of Mindo was here to see the soccer game between Ecuador and Urugay which was actually the entering game for the World Cup Qualifying. There I met a young couple from Irland – they know how to party – and a guy from Switzerland, that incidentally used to live in the same street back home in Switzerland as I do. 
Traditional dinner, a special kind of openair cinema and those funny people made this trip unforgettable – even without canopying. It’s a unique experience to travel by yourself. Enjoy!