I spent my weekend in Mindo, a "cloud" forest that actually is a beautiful cloudy forest with an amazing amount of growth and vegetation, including spiders, huge butterflies, birds, and other strange insects. The pueblo itself is small and friendly, with plenty of locals to talk to and tiendas to look into. It had a similar vibe to Monte Verde in Costa Rica. We were dropped off on the highway in the rain on Friday evening and greeted by two anxious drivers who wanted to overcharge (in Ecuadorian terms) us for a ride that we gladly accepted into Mindo. On the way, a man rode up on a motorcycle, exchanged a few words with our driver, and we were headed down a gravel road at the end of town to a hostel. The seemingly shady situation
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