Mindo

Yesterday, we took our first field trip in a long time, about 2 hours away to a town in the rainforest called Mindo.
First, we went on a series of 12 200-400 meter ziplines through the treetops. It was amazing! My favorite was going upside down. This was a rather awkward position for the man behind me, who had to hold up my legs and steer me while I zipped, but I loved it nonetheless.After zipping, we rode through a rainstorm in the back of a truck to a spot where we hiked down to some waterfalls.

At the waterfalls, we dove and jumped and slid and galavanted (sp?) our little hearts out while Rex "wet-blanket" Head shouted at us to cease and desist all fun-having.
After the waterfalls, we hiked back up and rode to a spot on the river where we went white-water rafting...kind of. We went on a bunch of tubes that were hooked together to look like a little honeycomb and we didn't have any paddles. It was INSANE. Absolutely one of the funnest things I have ever done. The river was crazy, with huge rocks everywhere, but the water was so high that we could still move. I don't know classifications for rapids, but these suckers were HUGE! It was so much fun! I love being wet.

I do not, however, love being cold, and Ecuador, I must say is very, very cold. I know I will get no sympathy from all of you in the Northwest, but I should because our proximity to the equator means that no one took thought to install indoor heating. Anywhere. So the 50s might sound like balmy weather to all of you, but when you can't escape it, even by going indoors, it's not that fun. Not that I'm complaining. We get a lot of sunny days, too, and I don't miss the Rexburg winds at all.

Oh, by the way, I apologize for the garishness that is my face in all of these pictures. My eyes seem to have shrunk while my nose continues to expand. I'm investigating the cause of this phenomenon.