Mindo is a small location of less than 3000 people, located north from Quito, about a two-hours drive from it. Almost hidden in the forest, between the mountains, it is the perfect place to enjoy the richness of nature and wildlife in Ecuador.
Wherever you lay your eyes, you can see green… Mindo enjoys a nice weather all year long, with mild temperatures and an alternation of sun and rain. Although there is a dry and a rainy season, in Mindo there is rain almost all year round. You wake up with the sun in the morning, but in the afternoon the rain likes to kick in. This perfect combination is why nature is so beautiful around here!
Look around you : it won’t be hard to spot several humming-birds gathering pollen or multicolored butterflies whirling around the plants. Most activities offered to you in Mindo revolve around nature : bird watching, night concert of frogs, butterflies farms…
The butterfly farms
There are several options around and in Mindo to discover everything about butterflies. In a butterfly farm, all the family can enjoy and learn about the complete life cycle of butterflies, from eggs to chrysalis, and luckily even the ‘birth’ of a butterfly. You can also walk among them and with a little banana on your fingers, attract them and feed them. Be careful not to use a too scented shampoo, or you’ll experience like I did, the difficulty of freeing butterflies out of your hair !
Hiking and scenery in Mindo surroundings
Everyone will tell you the one thing to do in Mindo, is take the ‘tarabita’, and it is absolutely true ! The tarabita is like a small version of a cable car : you take a seat in a basket attached to a set of cables, and within less than a minute you cross a valley, from one mountain to another. The view is absolutely stunning ! If you suffer from fear of heights, don’t worry it is really very quick. If your vertigo is not too severe, you can even enjoy the beautiful scenery all around you, without having to look down.
But the real interesting part only comes after the crossing, because the tarabita takes you to a very nice hiking trail, leading to no less than 7 different waterfalls ! As soon as you step out of the basket, there is a nice board by a little cafeteria, showing you the various possible trails, whether you prefer a short or a longer hike. We chose the long hike, and even if we skipped one waterfall, it was totally doable with the kids (our youngest was not even 5). Make sure to wear good walking shoes, as the constant humidity and the mountain slope can make it slippery and rough. And also don’t forget your repellent !
Another popular activity is the zipline or I should actually say ziplines, since there are 10 of them, of different lengths, to give you a nice adrenaline shoot while seeing the cloud forest from above. Unfortunately, we couldn’t try it out, as kids are only allowed when older than 6… But we do know it is a very recommendable activity !
Food in Mindo
Mindo might be small but it is almost entirely dedicated to tourism, so there are plenty of options when it comes to food.
Another activity to please the whole family are the ‘chocolate tours’ : from cocoa beans to tasting the delicious chocolate, the entire production process is shown !
After the tour, enjoy a hot chocolate or a chocolate ice-cream on a terrace, or even a local coffee.
Enjoy the end of the day, listening to the sounds of nature, while resting on a hammock. And as the night falls, bring a torchlight to go and listen to the frog’s night concert !
These are a few of the activities you can enjoy during a short stay in Mindo, over the weekend for example.
But if you have the opportunity to stay longer, there are many other things to do and see !