Background: The "Republic of the Equator" was one of three countries that emerged from the collapse of Gran Colombia in 1830 (the others are Colombia and Venezuela). Between 1904 and 1942, Ecuador lost territories in a series of conflicts with its neighbors. A border war with Peru that flared in 1995 was resolved in 1999. Although Ecuador marked 25 years of civilian governance in 2004, the period has been marred by political instability. Seven presidents have governed Ecuador since 1996.
June 26th 2008South America » Ecuador » Mindo » Bellavista Cloud Forest Bellavista Cloud Forest is a charming place two hours drive from Quito on the Mindo road. Its worth taking the 1 or 2 day all inclusive package as they pick you up from your hotel which is a lot easi ... 15 photos[full story]
July 5th 2008South America » Ecuador » Mindo A visit to the cloud forest of Mindo always promises to be fun - unfortunately I spent the first day throwing up unable to eat or drink anything but undeterred we set off walking in search of the mari ... 9 photos[full story]
June 12th 2008South America » Ecuador » Mindo After Quito we decided to head to Mindo, a small town located a couple of hours drive away from Quito. Mindo is known for adventure sports like rafting and zip lining :-)
Direct buses to Mindo are ... 9 photos[full story]
June 9th 2008South America » Ecuador » Mindo
We rounded off our 23 days in Ecuador with a visit to the laid-back town of Mindo, in the cloudforests on the western slopes of the Andes, not too far from Quito. After spending most of our time i ... 18 photos[full story]
June 24th 2008South America » Ecuador » Mindo » Bellavista Cloud Forest
The coach pulls into Mindo around 11am. Mindo is a small town with less than 3000 inhabitants. The high street extends a couple of hundred yards, consisting mainly of bars, restaurants and tour ... 19 photos[full story]
June 29th 2008South America » Ecuador » Mindo So I have decided I like to upload pictures which tell a stroy rather than write the whole thing down. If you look at my last blog there are many tidbits.
Here we go again. ... [full story]
May 24th 2008South America » Ecuador » Mindo This week at work with the MCF was incredible! After finishing off a very relaxing and enjoyable weekend in Cuenca we returned to Mindo. Cuenca was fantastic. There were loads of old churches, some bu ... [full story]
May 15th 2008South America » Ecuador » Mindo » Bellavista Cloud Forest Ahoyhoy! This week has gone by quite quickly. We caught a bus at 6:00 on monday morning to take us back to Mindo and start our work for the week. We arrived right on time at 8:30 for breakfast, and st ... [full story]
April 1st 2008South America » Ecuador » Mindo » Bellavista Cloud Forest A few more weeks in Las Tolas and I have to be the most relaxed I´ve ever been in my life. The school is closed and I spend my days helping Madge around the house, playing a game called Damas with th ... 21 photos[full story]
April 3rd 2008South America » Ecuador » Mindo » Bellavista Cloud Forest He mates!
After getting back in Quito from the Amazonas, I've been to school for 2 days before I went on my next 2 day trip to Mindo which is a tiny village just 2 hours from Quito.. So I didn't h ... [full story]
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