Today was the first day of winter in the Southern Hemisphere. Which doesn't really mean much here, since the weather doesn't change that drastically. After a breakfast of- you guessed it- ham and eggs, we headed north by bus to the cloud forest. This is an area north of the Equator that is at an altitude of around 4,500 feet. The ride took us through the dry mountains of Quito and into the lush, thick jungle. The roads were very curvy. If you have ever been on the road to Hana on the island of Maui in Hawaii, this area looked exactly like that.
Our destination was Toucanopy, a ecological park run by an Ecuadorian family. Their family members took us on hiking trails and described the forest, and then we rode zip lines over the top of the forest. It was quite exhilarating. After a great lunch we headed back to Quito. We've spent the rest of the evening (after dinner and a devotional) packing up and separating our our clothing donations and souvenirs.
Sunday (after our ham and eggs) we are having a church service, then most of us are going to ride the cable cars up to the top (over 14,000 feet) of one of the local inactive volcanoes. After lunch another group will be heading to the Equator. And after dinner at the hotel, we'll be headed for the airport for the trip home. Sunday will be a VERY long day.