I will try again

Howdy everyone,
It is Thursday afternoon in Mindo and it is raining. That is not news, but it is the explanation whay I am on the internet.
Since my blog entry yesterday didn´t seem to get posted for some unknown reason, I will try to recall what I said yesterday an fill you in on the events of last night and today.
I did catch my bus to Mindo, but it was more of an adventure than I had expected.
I called the bus company on Tuesday afternoon to check the schedule. I got no answer, only a ¨leave a message¨ message. So I left earlier than I had planned on Wednesday and took a taxi. I told the driver I wanted to take the bus to Mindo, and showed him the address of where to catch it. He informed me that they closed that station last Saturday and now they were located at the central bus depot of Quito and he took me there.
The central bus station of Quito is slightly larger than enormous. I hunted around and eventually found the bus, bought my ticket for $2.50, ran to the bathroom (there is no bathroom in the bus and it is at 2.5 hour ride. I bought a bottle of water and got on the bus.
The bus was very comfortable. I just put on my iPod, leaned back and relaxed and enjoyed watching the scenery gradually change from mountgain to jungle.
Mindo is at about 5000 feet in elevation and it is in the middle of the jungle.
I quickly learned that part of the reason it is a jungle is it rains every day from about 1:30 through the night and stops about 8.00 the next morning. It is just a constant shower, not a hard rain at all, but mud is the main carpet of the area.
I found a place to stay quickly and it is a very nice little room, hot water in the shower (but not the sink). It is very clean , a few blocks off the main street and only $16 per night.
I found a place on the main drag to get a pizza and a beer, $2.50 and walked around until it started to rain. Fortunately I had with me the pancho Dick and Marilyn gave me for Christmas. It is perfect. I went back to my room and found that off the back patio of the main building they have hummingbird feeders that attract literally dozens of humming birds. Sounds like a photo op to me, so I sat on the covered patio and took photos all afternoon of hummingbirds.
When it was time for supper I looked for a place Chris had recommended called ¨Out of Babylon¨. I found it easily and it is the most fascinating buliding I have ever seen. The owner built it himself over a six yer period. It is a work of art. And he has no formal training in art or architecture. The dinner was great and I went back to my place and went to sleep about 8:00 PM listening to the rain in the reoof.
Earlier I had made arrangements with a guide to take me out early in the morning to see and shoot photos of birds. I woke up at 4:00, (a solid 8 hours of sleep) and got up, had my prayer time and got my camera and lenses ready.
I had a small breakfast of cheese, bread, jam and juice and we were off to find birds. We saw Tucans (several specie) and a number of other birds that I don´t know the names of, even though the guide told me. A couple of the phots are OK, but the birds were far away.
After I returned, I looked for a place to have lunch and found a neat place with anglo owners. It turns out the lady is from Tucson, met her husband while she was in the Peace Corp and they started this restaurant. I will go there for supper and get to know them better. Well I had better stop and get some supper.
Hasta mañana folks,
Glenn+