Where Mindo is
Mindo sits in a valley on the flanks of Pichincha volcano, where the Andes start dropping towards the Pacific coast. It is a rural parish of the canton of San Miguel de Los Bancos, in Pichincha, the same province as Quito.
The town itself is a grid of a few streets around a park, with guesthouses, cafés and tour offices, and forest on every side. You can walk everywhere in the centre. Most of what people come for starts at the edge of town.
Getting there from Quito
By car, take the Calacalí to La Independencia highway northwest out of Quito, past the Mitad del Mundo monument and down through Nanegalito. The local government puts it at about 81 km and an hour and a half from the Carapungo interchange to the turnoff, known as the Y de Mindo. From the Y a side road winds 7 km down into town.
By bus, Cooperativa Flor del Valle runs direct buses to Mindo from Terminal La Ofelia, in the north of Quito. Tickets are sold at the window on the day; there is no online booking. Buses from Terminal Carcelén towards Los Bancos or Esmeraldas also stop at the Y, and shared and private taxis wait there for the last stretch.
The cloud forest
A cloud forest is a mountain forest that spends much of its time inside cloud. The constant moisture feeds moss, ferns, orchids and bromeliads on every branch, and a very large number of birds.
Mindo is one of the best known places in the world to see them. In 1997 BirdLife International named Mindo and the western foothills of Pichincha the first Important Bird Area in the Neotropics. In 2011 the National Audubon Society reported that Mindo's Christmas Bird Count had recorded the highest species total of any count in the world for four years in a row, over 400 species each time.
The forest above town has been protected since 1988 as the Mindo-Nambillo Protective Forest, roughly 19,000 hectares. In 2018 UNESCO declared the Chocó Andino de Pichincha Biosphere Reserve, 286,805 hectares running from 360 to 4,480 metres, and Mindo is part of it.
Weather and what to pack
Mornings are usually clear and the rain arrives in the afternoon, most days of the year. The wettest months are roughly December to May; June to November is drier, which still means rain some afternoons. Days are mild, in the low twenties Celsius, and nights are cool.
- A rain jacket, every time.
- Shoes you do not mind getting muddy, or rubber boots if you plan to hike.
- A warm layer for the evening.
- Binoculars if you have them. The birds are the point for a lot of visitors.
Plan outdoor things for the morning and keep the afternoon loose. That is how people who live here do it.
Things to do in Mindo
- Birdwatching at dawn, alone on the roads out of town or with a local guide. Early morning is when the forest is loudest.
- The tarabita, a cable car across the Nambillo river canyon, and the trail of waterfalls on the far side.
- A butterfly farm, about 2 km from town, with species from the area.
- A chocolate tour. Mindo has small makers who walk you from the cacao pod to the bar and let you taste as you go.
- Tubing down the river with a guide.
- Canopy zip lines through the forest.
- A night walk to find frogs, run by several operators in town.
When the rain comes in, a class or a session is a good use of the afternoon. That is where Portal de Paz comes in.
A day trip or a few days?
A day trip from Quito works: leave early, spend the morning outdoors, have lunch in town and head back before dark. You will see the waterfalls or the butterflies and taste the chocolate, and miss the dawn birds.
Two or three nights is better. You get a dawn in the forest, an afternoon of rain on a roof, and time to do nothing, which is most of the reason people stay.
Where Portal de Paz fits
Portal de Paz is a hall under a bamboo roof near the park, on Vicente Aguirre, where independent teachers and therapists work. There are open classes through the week: yoga, pilates, sound baths and a strength circuit. You register online and pay at the door, so it works even if you are only in Mindo for a night.
There are also cacao ceremonies with Monica, and individual sessions such as Reiki, massage and kambo, each booked directly with the person who gives it, usually on WhatsApp.
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