The Cloud Forest of Mindo

After working hard for two weeks in the Andes, we were rewarded by a free weekend to enjoy the cloud forest of Mindo. We travelled about half of the day, and arrived in the afternoon in the tiny but beautiful village of Mindo.

With its breathtaking settings surrounded by cloud forest on all sides, the small village of Mindo has become a backpackers favourite in Ecuador the latest years. It lives and breathes tourism, and it is conveniently located just off the main road between Quito and Esmeraldas.

Mindo is a paradise for birdwatchers, hikers and adventurers as there are loads of activities to do: butterfly farms, zip lines over the treetops, mountain-biking, tubing, orchid collections, and so on… Me and my group opted for a visit to the chocolate factory on Saturday, tubing on Sunday and a waterfall tour on Monday.

Leap Team B in Mindo

Saturday 31/05/14: Chocolate Factory

Straight after our arrival in Mindo, we booked a tour to El Quetzal, the Chocolate Factory of Mindo. It has a wonderful laid-back coffee shop and the real reason to visit it is to try the locally famous brownie, the American owner’s proud specialty, according to Lonely Planet. And so we did!

We got a tour to see the whole chocolate making process, where they grew the cacao tree, how they roasted the beans, how they mixed the chocolate and so on. But the highlight of our tour was of course the tasting workshop, where we tried various types of chocolate (very pure and healthy) with sirops, herbs and spices. It was quite an experience, and the brownie was indeed unforgettably delicious!

Brownies at El Quetzal

Saturday evening it was time to discover Mindo’s nightlife, and we ended up chilling in a treehouse bar zipping pinneaple daiquiris and other cocktails. It was a good night, hanging around as one big family team! 🙂

Sunday 01/06/14: Tubing

After quite an early breakfast, we had to postphone our tour of the day to the afternoon as it was raining. Not that it was a problem, because Sunday is usually a lazy day and nobody felt like moving. I wandered around in town, worked on the computer and in the afternoon the group went tubing. Tubing the rapids of Rio Mindo is a very popular activity, but can be also dangerous if you don’t know what you’re doing. Therefor, it is always guided. Cost? $6. Not bad!

Tubing Activity

The evening was spend more relaxed and laid-back, having dinner at Biohostal and going to bed early for tomorrow’s trip.

Monday 02/06/14: Waterfall Tour

After an early breakfast we left for another tour, my favourite one in Mindo! The Tarabita, a unique hand-powered cable car, took us soaring across the lush river basin over the tick cloud forest to the Bosque Protector Mindo-Nambillo, where you can find lots of waterfalls along the hiking trail.

The perfectly safe wirte basked on steel cables glides 152m above the ground and, though certainly not for people who are afraid of heights, it is a superb way to get above the forest and enjoy incredible views!

Enjoying the Tarabita views

Cascada Nambillo was the closest waterfall on our map and trail, and took us more or less 15 minutes walking to get there. It was a nice hike with impressive views along the way. In order to get to the waterfalls, we had to do a hell of a rock climb – which I was absolutely not planning to do – but took us to a magical place, where the boys found their paradise and encountered their inner Tarzans! 😛

They used the tubes, the water slide, the ropes, the rocks, the water, and everything else you can imagine to make some waterfall fun!

Rock climbing at Cascada Nambillo

We headed back to Mindo town around lunch time, I bought bus tickets, made invoices, arranged a place for lunch and so on, and then we took the bus to Quito, where we arrived around dinner time. It was a nice and calm but still very enjoyable last weekend of our Leap program.

Next on schedule:

The Ruta del Sol, the last week of The Leap!

Oh my god… Time flies when you’re having fun!!!

x x x

Julie