Mindo Cloud Forest & avontuurlijke tour

What an adventure! We learned so much about the forest and the waterfalls were beautiful and refreshing. The scenery was breathtaking.

I did the Mindo day tour after traveling with a friend through the Galapagos Islands with the same tour company, GUIDEcuador, and before flying home that evening. I had a great time and the I can't say enough good things about my experience using GUIDEcuador. Thank you, Alejandro and team, for the wonderful adventures! I felt so well taken care of every step of the way!!

Where do I even begin?! Our tour guide, Jo, was incredible. He taught us so much about Ecuadorian culture in a fun way. Renee, our bus driver took us from Quito to Mindo and back again safely. Jo was so incredibly kind, patient, friendly, and knowledgeable. The teleferico cable car in the cloud forest was so much fun - we were able to fit 7 people safely. The hiking tour through the rainforest was scenic and Jo explained fun facts and uses of the plants that you can find in the Amazon rain forest and demonstrated how to use them. It was so fascinating! The chocolate your at Yumbos was so much fun and we had an amazing time trying all the chocolate, learning the process of how it’s made, and eating the delicious brownie and hot chocolate! It’s all made fresh with 100% cacao and you can really tell the difference in quality. It puts American hot chocolate and brownies to shame. The hummingbird and butterfly tour was a nice resting period. Seeing the different stages of metamorphosis was fascinating. Jo and Renee were kind enough to take us on a short detour to view the original Mitad del Mundo that was provided by the French. Thank you, Jo, for an incredible experience and for being the kindest. We treasured our time with you and our new friendship. Love, Heather and Kevin (Anaconda and Peter Pan)

The trip description stated all excursions (chocolate, bird sanctuary, butterfly sanctuary and waterfall tram) were included Other trips stated it was not Our guide insisted we pay so this cost us an additional $72 Do not use this trip

'Cause it was a subreal thing. I've never experienced seeing fauna. Q' There's no other habitat. The purity of its waters. The constant rain clouds the purity of the air. And the harmony and harmony of fauna and nature.

We had a great time with our guide Renato, who was both very knowledgable and adjusted the details of our tour regarding our wishes. We did a beautiful hike to a waterfall in the cloud forrest, saw the mariposarium and lots of hummingbirds. In addition to that, we visited a local chocolate manufacturer, where we had an interesting tour. All in all a great day for us!

We just returned from a day tour to Mindo Cloud Forest with our guide Estevan. It was a wonderful well spent day. Estevan was a great guide, prompt to pick us up in the morning and very knowledgeable about the flora and fauna in the Cloud forest and friendly. As we chatted during the drive to Mindo Estevan listened to our interests and tailored the day to what we wanted to see and do. We hiked to all the waterfalls, visited the butterfly and hummingbird sanctuary and visited the chocolate factory. On our way home Estevan added in a driving tour of North Quito and a stop for ice cream. Thank you Estevan for a fun adventure!

Alejandro took us on a private day trip from Quito to the Mindo Cloud Forest in early October and it was just fantastic from beginning to end: Alejandro is professional, punctual, friendly, a wealth of information, speaks perfect English and was a joy to be with all day. The actual tour to Mindo was organised perfectly and was tailored to our wants/needs - he was flexible and the day was wonderfully diverse, from a walk to a waterfall to a chocolate museum, hummingbirds, orchids and butterflies, to a gorgeous lunch spot and even a stop on the equatorial museum on the way home. I cannot recommend Alejandro or this tour highly enough!

This is really a two-part review. First, the experience in general: This was a fantastic way to see some highlights of Ecuador outside of Quito. Alejandro tailored the trip to my preferences and interests. He also knowledgeably answered my constant stream of questions. Hiking through the jungle was lovely, and there were a lot of examples of what my houseplants would look like at 10 times the size. The other highlight for me was the chocolate factory, which was fascinating (and delicious). Next, here’s how things changed from just “well that was a great day out” to “I’m naming my firstborn child Alejandro.” While I was enjoying the peace and beauty of the cloud forest, Quito was becoming the center of political unrest due to the government ending fuel subsidies. Protests shut the city down, with transportation at a standstill. (Don’t let this put you off of visiting Ecuador— hopefully it will all be a distant memory soon.) By the time we were finishing up at the chocolate factory, word was trickling in that some of the roads in and out of Quito were closed due to blockades put up by the protesters. Alejandro made the (as it turns out correct and very smart) call to not try the main roads back, lest we get stuck. Instead, he took dirt backroads ~50 miles through the jungle. He promised me he would get me back to my hotel safely one way or another, and I completely believed him. He drove safely and confidently through rough roads and villages, and, bless him, he kept giving me interesting tour guide facts along the way. I felt safe and comfortable, in spite of the circumstances, and I trusted him absolutely. I kept thinking that the drive reminded me of the Indiana Jones ride at Disneyland. We didn’t know what the roads would be like once we got into Quito, but he picked a route through particular neighborhoods that he correctly predicted would be less impacted by the trouble. I was worried about how he would get home himself, but he repeated that it just mattered to get me to my hotel, and that he could walk home if needed. He kept his word, and I was safely delivered back to my hotel, where we said our goodbyes, even though “bye, thanks!” Felt totally insufficient after what we’d just gone through together. I would highly recommend this tour and Alejandro, and I will be looking into his longer tours for future trips. Not many guides can make a government-declared state of emergency feel like a day out at Disneyland.

See above. In every aspect, Alejandro complied with our special request on pick up and drop location. I can call him as a well trained naturalist, and an enthusiastic Ecuadorian, giving all possible information on Ecuador.