Ecuador Birds Tour-Mindo Cloud Forest - por Richard Hernández

Best day birding in my life. Richard is passionate, selfess, patient and taught me photography at the same time. He took the time to make sure I saw each bird and diagnostics for identifying them plus habitats and distribution. 68 amazing birds in 5 hours, a once in a lifetime experience.

I’m rating this with 5-stars because we did have a good time, but we spent a decent amount of $ with what we felt was not a huge ROI. We had 4 people and our guide did pick us up from Quito. We visited 2 areas in Mindo, both I believe were owned by the family of our guide. In addition to the $460 we paid for the trip, we had to pay per person for each reserve. Again, this was listed in the details, but we also felt like we were going to get to visit a lot more during our experience. Fully willing to admit that maybe we had wrong expectations, but just wanted to share that we had bigger expectations for all that we would be doing on this tour for what we paid.

Richard is a great guide and bird watcher. He allows you customize the your to your liking. He gives you lots of ideas. He took me to look at several species of hummingbirds and explained the various types of them. He also knows everyone’s. 10/10 experience

12 hours from pick-up to drop-off. Hit 4 spots plus saw a Toucan at lunch. In total 70 species, 13 Hummingbirds, 16 Tanagers 4 Toucans, Masked Trogon, Cock of the Rock and a Motmot. Quite a haul. Richard is knowledgeable both in where to go and in identifying birds. He has relationships with local landowners that provided access to great spots with blinds set up. He is friendly and eager to share what he knows. Highly recommend this tour for birders whether they are just starting or are veterans. He brought both a laser pointer to help us locate a bird and a scope to provide great looks- got a great look at a Yellow-throated Toucan through the scope. Best birding experience I’ve ever had.

Booked a day with Richard for bird photography and visiting the Mindo Cloud forest. Wonderful experience with him sharing prime locations to view a variety of bird species. His knowledge and ability to point out birds in the areas was excellent. Highly recommend Richard to guide anyone interested in viewing the wide variety of bird species the Mindo Cloud forest has to offer.

Richard picked me and my wife up at 0530 at our hotel and we had to be at the Quito airport by 1530. In that short space of time Richard showed us 60 species including: toucans, motmots, sylphs, euphonia, caciaues, 9 species of tanagers, ani, barbets, 9+ hummingbirds, and more. Richard proved to be extremely personable and knowledgeable. His ability to mimic birds was uncanny. I strongly recommend his services to any birding enthusiast.

Excellent experience! Richard was a great guide on an unforgettable trip to Mindo with hummingbirds, butterflies, hiking, waterfall, and chocolate. Highly recommended!

Richard was very knowledgeable and professional. He could identify the birds by sound, as well as by sight. We saw three types of toucans, queztal, motmots, and about fifteen other birds plus many hummingbirds. This is a wonderful tour if you are serious about seeing the many beautiful birds of Ecuador.

Richard knows his business. If you want to see the birds of the cloud forest, you will if you follow his lead. He knows the English language names of the birds and knows Ebird. I had a memorable day of birding with Richard.

Richard Hernandez treated us to a FABULOUS day of Bird Watching! He is extremely knowledgeable, was attentive to our interests, and very personable. We'd highly recommend Richard to anyone wanting a memorable birding experience in the Mindo Cloud Forest or beyond.