On Sunday, after having breakfast and cleaning up the school where we stayed in Las Tolas for the last week, we departed for Mindo, ready for a couple of days of relaxation and adventure!

We dropped our luggage at the beautiful Cabañas Bambu, a tropical lodge with palm trees, pool and hot tub, perfect to relax after a long week of hard work.

On our way to lunch, we enjoyed looking at the craft stores and started soaking in Mindo’s natural beauty.

At night we took a cooking class in the kitchen of a restaurant called Fuera de Babilonia, where we learned how to make quimbolitos (a steamed cake-like chocolate, vanilla, and raisin dessert wrapped up in a banana leaf) and patacones (smashed, double-fried plantains and delicious fruit juices)!

The following day we woke up really early to go bird watching at a beautiful natural reserve called Refugio Paz de las Aves. We got to see some beautiful specimens!

This dancing bird is called Shakira because it moves its hips from side to side!

And the amazingly colorful fawn-breasted tanager:

But the most amazing part of this reserve is that it holds more than 20 species of hummingbirds and we got to have breakfast up in the hills with them flying around everywhere.

On Tuesday morning, we enjoyed our last few hours in Mindo by flying high above the tropical forest at Mindo Canopy Adventure. Ziplining through the lush forest and facing our fears on the exhilarating Tarzan swing was a perfect end to our little getaway. From there, we headed back to Las Tolas and the students officially moved in with their homestay families. We’re excited to see how much students learn over the next week.

— Alvaro & Leah