My Second Home - Mindo

Maisa & I - On The Canopy Swing

Not too long after my school friend (Martin) had departed Quito and continued on his way, an opportunity came up for Maisa and myself to escape on another trip out of the city. Maisa's family had gone off to the States for a week or so to meet up with Grace who was coming down from Canada and also with Henry, who had travelled from the UK. That left Maisa and myself alone more or less. We still had work as normal, but we decided that once the weekend came - we would get out of Quito.

We ended up going to Mindo - a place that I was more than familiar with but was happy to go back to. We also took along Mauri (a person who is essentially like a brother to Maisa but actually the two aren't really related) and his wife Yadi. So off the four of us went. Now, the odd thing for me in this situation is that whenever we take Mauri and Yadi anywhere we basically have to finance them for the entire duration. Mauri works for Maisa's father and gets paid, he is 31 years old, yet the two of them never have money. Now I don't know their full financial situation so it would be wrong of me to judge - it is just strange that Maisa and myself always seem to be like a mother and father to these two whenever we go out or on a trip away. I have never been a father, let along a father to a 31 year old - but now I feel I have had some experience in it when I actually do have kids of my own.

Mindo was the usual beautiful, relaxing and peaceful place, that strikes you straight away and reminds me why I always keep going back. I have been to Mindo probably more times than any Ecuadorian I have ever met. We did all the normal things that I love to do in Mindo too - first by eating at my favourite pizza place out in town and at night, we went to a local bar. It was a good start. The next morning we first went on the Canopy Swing - a series of zip-wires attached from tree to tree where you glide above the canopy of the cloud forest. I had done it so many times but love it too much to care. I have been so many times now that the guy who owns it must be financing his kids through college on the huge sums of money I have given him. Maisa had never done it before and I don't think Mauri had ever done it or anything like it in his life - so they also enjoyed the high-altitude adventure.

We also did something that I had actually never done before in Mindo. The Hotel where we stayed at also produces its own chocolate and as part of the price for your room they give you a free chocolate making tour. On the tour they teach you how they grow the Cocoa plants, give you a bit of history on the making of chocolate and then take you around their nearby farm which has big green-houses with different stages of the Cocoa beans. We saw the drying process, the grinding of the beans and finally the production of the chocolate. At the very end there was a tasting session where we all got to try 100% chocolate without any preservatives or sugar added. Now I love dark chocolate but even for me this was a bit bitter. We then added different amounts of other ingredients including on one occasion, hot peppers. I think I prefer Cadbury's, but we did get to try a completed chocolate brownie at the end - which was delicious.

Mindo had been just what we all needed. We left the small town happy and relaxed, knowing that whatever stress awaited us back in Quito - we were now ready for!!! As it turned out there was a lot of stress awaiting me in Quito. Now was that dreaded time, the time I hoped would never come. Even the thought of it strikes me with fear and anguish. I shiver, sweat and shake at just the mention of it, but, there was no getting out of it because now was the time...............the time - to get a new work visa.