Ecuador Missives: Flora and Fauna in Mindo

We took a trip to Mindo, a small town in the north of Ecuador, with an adventure/hiking club. After a 13 hour bus ride with the group (*groan*), we got to our cabins. Bobby went hiking, rappelling down waterfalls, and adventuring while I did girly things like watching butterflies, hummingbirds, and flowers. I know I'm a wimp, but he's laid up now with a sprained ankle now and I'm not! This picture is of some immature bananas on a banana tree at the hosteleria where we stayed. When will they start acting more grown up?

Green bananas

Do you suppose these flowery thingies are going to become red, then green, then yellow bananas, or are they just decorative? Or is this a different plant altogether that just looks like a banana tree?

I saw this in town. They don't mess around with half-baked warnings here. "SMOKING CAUSES CANCER" right smack on the front of the box in huge black letters.

I know it would have been better if I could have gotten pictures of hummingbirds without the feeder, but you take what you can get. I was thrilled to get these! This little guy is kind of hard to see because he's green.

Here's a blue one in flight. Click on the picture to see it bigger and better.

Two at once! Aren't they fascinating? And they are loud! Their wings make a kind or roaring sound---pretty cool!

How did he get here twice?

Coming in for a landing

Can you tell I loved seeing them? The word for hummingbird in Spanish is colibri, with an accent over the second i, therefore the last syllable accented.

This long pink flower would have 1 or 2 purple blossoms on it, everywhere I saw it.

I think these are cannas, which we have in SC

A yellow canna with a butterfly on top.

Okay, you know those upside down bell-shaped flowers I've shown before? Sometimes yellow, sometimes white? The kind that can cause hallucinations or death, but is also used as an anesthetic? A man who appeared to be a real photographer helped me get the inside of one of the blossoms, and I was pretty thrilled with it!

I don't know hat these are, but I loved them

Same flower, close up---sort of orchid-like. Maybe they're orchids?

Isn't this little Chinese lantern kind of flower just wonderful?

I think we have these in the US, too. I love them.

These looked like they were on a banana tree, too. Can that be?

We went to a butterfly farm. The word for butterfly is mariposa. Isn't that a great name?

I have to confess I didn't take these next 4. My sister Karen was here about a year ago and took them. When I went to the mariposa farm, it was late afternoon and we were told that the mariposa's wings are mostly closed up then and we should come back in the morning---which I couldn't do. But I wanted to show you some more, so I "borrowed" these for your viewing pleasure.