4 / 5 - 2 reviews
How to get there
Two hours from Quito by bus
When to go
All year round
Minimum stay
One day
Mindo (Ecuador)
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Graham Wise
Practical information on Mindo
Reviews of Mindo
As you're heading down towards Mindo, after passing Mitad del Mundo, you begin to detect the kind of warm humidity that suggests you're entering a region with a tropical climate, and the presence of lush vegetation confirms this to be the case.
My suggestion:
Take a waterproof coat or an umbrella with you, and footwear suitable for wet conditions: Mindo is not exactly a dry place!
My review
Water, that's what the day I spent here was largely about. The first thing I wanted to go and see was the waterfall. However, because it was raining hard, I settled for a visit to the butterfly centre there instead: a wonderful place containing hundreds of living "mariposas".
Having picnicked at the site, I made another attempt to visit the waterfall but once again found myself defeated by the rain, and a lovely family took pity on me and let me hitch a ride back to the village. My plan would have then been to go and visit an orchid garden, if I hadn't met Janictza that is, a young lady of eight years of age who decided she wanted me to see HER Mindo, and who in the end convinced her parents to take me back to Quito in the car with them to avoid me having to suffer the discomfort of the bus ride.
As she slept resting on my shoulder on the way back, I though about how, once again on this trip to Ecuador, I'd had the chance to meet some fantastic people and enjoy one of those wonderful experiences that stays with you for a lifetime. Thank you, rain!
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Graham Wise
Only 1,300 metres above sea level, the little town of Mindo has a tropical micro-climate which has led to a large diversity of plant and animal life (and lots of birds). It's perfect for nature lovers!
My suggestion:
As well as the waterfalls and hummingbirds, Mindo also has Quetzal, the chocolate maker! So you can learn everything about growing cocoa and making chocolate...before finally getting to taste it, obviously!
My review
Mindo is only 90 km from Quito so I decided to stop there for a few days, especially as it felt good to leave the coolness of the mountains for a bit of tropical heat!
The town is really not very big: there is a long main street with restaurants, and travel agents, with other small roads around it, especially the one where my hotel is, which is famous for the hummingbirds in its garden. I left my things and went into town to find out about different activities: hiking, tubing, butterfly watching, chocolate...I wasn't going to be bored! For the moment, I was just going to walk around the area, in the forest reserve, where I hoped to see some birds.
I wasn't really successful from that point of view, but too bad! Instead of that I was able to watch the hummingbirds in the garden of my hotel during breakfast: a lovely setting!
On the other days, I hiked along some waterfalls (which were nice, but I have seen better waterfalls in other parts of the country), did some tubing on the river (like rafting but on big rubber tyres - guaranteed thrill) and I made sure to visit the chocolate maker's before leaving town: a very interesting visit and undoubtedly the best brownie I ever had!
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stéphanie charbit
114 travelers' photos
