Mindo Full-Day Tour
During this full-day tour, you'll explore the El Pahuma Orchid Reserve and the Mindo-Nambillo Cloud Forest Reserve. In Mindo, you'll visit waterfalls and a butterfly farm, and take a cable car over the forest.
- Duration:
- 10 hrs
- Available Days:
- Every day
- Schedule:
- 8:00 AM
- Inquire for Transportation
- Mobile Ticket Included
- Offered in English, Spanish
The tour begins with an 8:00 AM pickup from your hotel. The first stop of this tour is at an overlook with views of the Pululahua Volcano. Take pictures and enjoy the wonderful scenery before continuing on to the El Pahuma Orchid Reserve. This reserve spreads out over some 1,500 acres (650 ha) of protected cloud forest. While here you'll learn about some of the 200 identified species within the reserve and also will visit a beautiful waterfall.
The tour continues on to the Mindo-Nambillo Cloud Forest Reserve. This reserve has around 22,000 acres (8,900 ha) of primary forest, including everything from jungle to páramo. You will visit the Butterfly Farm to learn about the 25 species of butterflies that live in this area. The tour then visits the Nambillo Waterfall.
Next, the tour crosses an impressive canyon over the Mindo River on a cable car. The cable car travels some 230 feet (70 m) above the forest, providing you with an incredible view of the area. Once you're on the other side, you'll walk along a pleasant path to the Waterfalls Sanctuary. The walk takes about 30 minutes, with a trail that runs through lush vegetation.
After this adventure, you'll enjoy lunch in a tasty restaurant. Keep an eye out for hummingbirds and tanagers, which may be perched on the branches of nearby trees. An optional canopy tour is available after lunch.
You will return to Quito and arrive in the city around 6:00 PM.
NOTE: In Group Tour or Shared Service does not include the entrance fees nor lunch.
What to Bring
Sunscreen, insect repellent, rain jacket, sunglasses, camera, hiking shoes, water bottle, and comfortable clothing.
What's included
Transportation and English-speaking guide.
Transportation
Many of our tours and activities offer transportation pick up & drop off options from several locations and destinations. Options vary by tour, see “BOOKING REQUEST” for full details.
Traveler Comments
Mindo is about a 2 hr drive from Quito. Our guide, Eric, picked us up at our hotel and was on time and well informed with history of the area. We picked up tickets in Mindo to the cloud forest cable car line, bird watching and chocolate factory. The cable car ride is about 4 mintues across the top of the tree line and the hike down to the waterfall and back up is about 90 min. and a little strenuous. Chocolate factory tour was Great! We saw Toucans on the bird watch. Wonderful!
Similar things to do
Our drive to Guango Lodge will initially lead us through the drier central valley before rising up steeply to the high and windswept paramo. Among the many bird possibilities, we will be particularly on the lookout for Andean Condor , Carunculated Caracara, Andean Gull, Black-tailed Trainbearer, Scrub & Blue-and-yellow Tanagers and Southern Yellow-Grosbeak. The Papallacta Pass by birders, is rich in paramo birdlife, and with the proper weather, you can expect to see some of the following: Rufous-bellied Seedsnipe, Ecuadorian Hillstar, Tawny Antpitta, Many-striped Canastero, White-chinned Thistletail, Red-rumped Bush-Tyrant, Black-billed Shrike-Tyrant, Brown-backed Chat-Tyrant, some interesting seedeaters, and even Giant Conebill. At at Guango Lodge will be devoted to birding the trails and spectacular hummingbird feeders. In a matter of minutes it isn’t uncommon to see Bar-bellied Woodpecker, White-banded Tyrannulet, Blue-backed Conebill, Black-capped and Black-eared Hemispingus, Slaty and Pale-naped Brush-Finch, Gray-hooded Bush-Tanager, several species of mountain-tanager and even Plushcap.
The tour starts at 5:30 am, from your hotel in the city of Quito, we go to the reserve of Yanacocha where we develop activities of bird watching and photography, as well as the eco-route Nono-Mindo, for this First part of the tour we took a packed lunch. In the afternoon, we are arriving at Tandayapa Bird Lodge where we visit the famous drinking fountains for hummingbirds, to later return to their Hotel.
The tour starts at 5:30 am, from your hotel in the city of Quito, we go to the reserve of Yanacocha where we develop activities of bird watching and photography, as well as the eco-route Nono-Mindo, for this First part of the tour we took a packed lunch. In the afternoon, we are arriving at Tandayapa Bird Lodge where we visit the famous drinking fountains for hummingbirds, to later return to their Hotel.
