Mindo Cloud Forest
Overview
Inclusions
- A Naturalist Guide/Driver (English-speaking)
- Pick up/drop off from the hotel
- Activities according to your expectations
What to expect
This is a typical itinerary for this product
Stop At: Quito, Quito, Pichincha Province
Early departure from Quito city will take us to the northwest of the Province. We will cross the northern populated area of Quito. After a 65-minute drive, we will stop in the Alambi reserve. This nature reserve is a premier place for birdwatching, especially to spot hummingbirds. We continue our way towards the cloud forest.
Duration: 2 hours
Stop At: Alambi Reserve, 28J9+6G8, Quito, Ecuador
Alambi is a private reserve full of playful hummingbirds and other bird species. The reserve is located at the lower part of the Tandayapa valley at 4, 900feet. This place is dreamy and perfect for taking pictures or filming the hummingbird flying on a slow-motion video. One of the experiences of this place is that you can feed the hummingbirds by holding a feeder and they will approach you with complete confidence. If you are lucky, we can find other species of birds such as the Crimson-rumped Toucanet, Oropendolas or Tanagers, Quetzals. Occasionally, they visit this place.
Not far from this place, you can see a coffee plantation.
Duration: 45 minutes
Stop At: Mindo Nambillo Cloud Forest Reserve, Mindo Ecuador
Visiting the waterfall sanctuary is the best experience that someone can take from this place. Waterfalls are located within the Mindo-Nambillo protected forest, about a 15-minute drive from the town.
Before arriving at the departure station, we take the "Tarabita" (Cable car powered by a car machine). This cable car will be the beginning of our adventure. We will make a flight from one mountain to another one, covering a distance of approximately 500 meters. From the cable car, we will observe the beautiful cloud forest covered by a dense and green vegetation of trees and plants of different sizes. The Nambillo River can also be spotted from above.
We will start the walk along one of those trails that will lead us to a series of waterfalls, starting from the smallest one until we reach the largest waterfall where visitors can enjoy a swim or dive in the refreshing and clear waters.
Duration: 2 hours
Stop At: Yumbos Chocolate, Calle Sebastian de Benalcazar N 2-26 2nd Floor, In front of Iglesia San Francisco, Quito 170150 Ecuador
Visit Yumbos which is an artisanal chocolate factory located in Mindo Town. Yumbos Chocolate has a passion for Cacao and a vision of creating a chocolate factory of excellent quality for the benefit of the Ecuadorian farmers, workers and the delight of the consumers. Yumbos Chocolate is pure and handmade, without preservatives or artificial flavorings. It is made from Cacao selected from Aromatic Varieties, which in Ecuador are called ‘National, Fine and Aromatic’.
Together, we learn and taste Ecuadorian chocolate. A local expert guide will tell us about the origin of chocolate, the history of the cocoa plantations that are mostly found on the coast of Ecuador. We will see the process of making chocolate from the harvest to its refining to finally reach the tempering stage.
Finally, we will taste the different types of chocolates with their respective purity.
Duration: 1 hour
Stop At: Mindo, Mindo, Pichincha Province
Besides, Mindo offers activities such as: Ziplining which consists in a full tour of 10 cables or just 2 across the cloud forest. Another option, travellers can visit the butterfly spot, where you can observe the butterfly metamorphosis. You can also see the entire process that cocoa takes before becoming chocolate bars and see other derivative products that can be obtained from this fruit. If you love water sports, a great option is tubing. Tubing consists of getting on a series of inner tubes tied together and descending 3 km on the river. The suggested activities will be coordinated by our Guide, according to the available time or passengers' expectations. Finally, Transfer back to Quito.
Duration: 2 hours
Additional information
- Not wheelchair accessible
- Near public transportation
- Not recommended for travelers with back problems
- Not recommended for pregnant travelers
- Most travelers can participate
- This experience requires good weather. If it’s canceled due to poor weather, you’ll be offered a different date or a full refund
- This tour/activity will have a maximum of 21 travelers
- Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Ticket delivery
Cancellation
The tour with Eduardo was terrific! It was an incredible adventure, including feeding hummingbirds, hiking in the forest, swimming in the Mindo waterfalls (best part for me), and many hardcore ziplines. Every landscape was stunning. I will repeat it when I come back to Quito.
The tour with Eduardo was terrific! It was an incredible adventure, including feeding hummingbirds, hiking in the forest, swimming in the Mindo waterfalls (best part for me), and many hardcore ziplines. Every landscape was stunning. I will repeat it when I come back to Quito.Fantastic day exploring outside Quito. The hummingbird sanctuary was magical and the ziplines so fun. Eduardo was a very knowledgable and welcoming guide and was very flexible depending in what activities we wanted to do. I will say, it is probably safer to take $30-$40 cash for all the activitie...
Fantastic day exploring outside Quito. The hummingbird sanctuary was magical and the ziplines so fun. Eduardo was a very knowledgable and welcoming guide and was very flexible depending in what activities we wanted to do. I will say, it is probably safer to take $30-$40 cash for all the activities and lunch. Highly recommend.Incredible and attentive tour guide (Eduardo), very knowledgeable and flexible with our itinerary. Saw everything I wanted to see in Mindo and it was by far one of the highlights of my Ecuador trip! Couldn’t recommend this agency enough.
Incredible and attentive tour guide (Eduardo), very knowledgeable and flexible with our itinerary. Saw everything I wanted to see in Mindo and it was by far one of the highlights of my Ecuador trip! Couldn’t recommend this agency enough.Small sleepy town. Base camp for water activities. If you are into water activities or and have a few days to spend a couple of days, it is a nice resort type of town, However we think it is not for a day trip. Long drive thru the mountains
Small sleepy town. Base camp for water activities. If you are into water activities or and have a few days to spend a couple of days, it is a nice resort type of town, However we think it is not for a day trip. Long drive thru the mountainsEduardo is a passionate, knowledgeable and fun tour guide. From the pick up and driving through Quito on the way to Mindo Cloud Forest he provided so much great information on the Ecuadorian culture, indigenous history, food, topography, wildlife and more. Some highlights included the visiting ...
Eduardo is a passionate, knowledgeable and fun tour guide. From the pick up and driving through Quito on the way to Mindo Cloud Forest he provided so much great information on the Ecuadorian culture, indigenous history, food, topography, wildlife and more. Some highlights included the visiting the Alambi Hummingbird Reserve, ziplining across Mindo Cloud Forest, hiking to the waterfalls and tons of Ecuadorian chocolate and food. Eduardo, you have a friend for life! Gracias hermano.Unfortunately this was a very disappointing trip for me. From the description of the trip I though I would be able to experience options as listed, not the case. I wanted to zip line - which i did, hike to see water falls and the butter flies. The butter files were closed when we arrived and only...
Unfortunately this was a very disappointing trip for me. From the description of the trip I though I would be able to experience options as listed, not the case. I wanted to zip line - which i did, hike to see water falls and the butter flies. The butter files were closed when we arrived and only one water fall out of the 6, there were no other option for more water falls which i expected to do for the day. Turns out the whole group had to agree on the options - the last activity was the chocolate factory which I have seen in other tours so sat out - this turned into me sitting out side waiting with no other option, with nothing to do for over an hour, then a long drive back. the guild and drive were exceptional but the actual tour was misleading and felt that the afternoon was very long and a waste of time and money.