david's web-log

Although it would be amazing if candy corn grew on trees, alas, these flowers are not the delicious Halloween treat you and I crave/devour/gluttonize each October 31 starting at 6:00 p.m. My internet-y efforts at identifying the particular type of flower has not proved fruitful (bad pun intended), but the picture was taken in in the Ecuadorian city Mindo.

“City” is probably a grandiose word to describe Mindo. Pueblo, or village, might be more apt since it sports approximately one main street and a population of 1,200 or so according to my local and most decidedly unscientific surveying. Located in Ecuador’s sierra, perhaps 50 miles (or, more relevantly, a two-hour bus ride) northwest of Quito, Mindo is known as a “cloud forest” because, well, clouds often linger at the canopy level of the forest.

It’s truly a stunning area. At least two friends in Ecuador have opined that Mindo is the most spectacular place they’ve visited in the county. I’ll withhold judgment until visiting the jungle, but it certainly will be in the running. More pictures of Mindo to come.