Recorrido privado de día completo por el bosque nuboso Mindo, la reserva de mariposas y ruta del chocolate desde Quito

Tuvimos un día maravilloso en nuestro recorrido. Nuestro guía, Patricio, fue absolutamente de primera categoría y se desvivió para asegurarse de que lo pasáramos muy bien. Patricio es ecuatoriano, nacido en Ecuador y criado en el área de Toronto, por lo que habla perfecto español e inglés. Disfrutamos el recorrido muy informativo de la fábrica artesanal de chocolate Yumbos, que produce chocolate increíble y apoya a las cooperativas locales de mujeres. Luego recorrimos el río Mindo para observar las vigas. Luego fue al Marioposario Nathaly para fotografiar colibríes, orquídeas y mariposas. Después de un delicioso almuerzo, comenzamos de regreso a Quito con una parada en el pueblo de Calacali en uno de los monumentos del Ecuador. Fue al Museo Inti Nan, conocido como el "ecuador real", donde nos divertimos balanceando los huevos en la punta de un clavo y experimentando con tinas de drenaje a cada lado del ecuador y observando la dirección del agua a medida que drenaba. . Patricio luego nos llevó de regreso a nuestro hotel al final del recorrido.

Nos saltamos los colibríes, como los había visto en nuestro recorrido, pero el área de mariposas era agradable, con muchas mariposas variadas. La fábrica de chocolate fue mi verdadero atractivo, y fue excelente. Nos mostraron de principio a fin cómo funciona el chocolate. Se hizo una barra, se le dio un plato de fruta y choc espeso en el que mojarlo, un vaso de chupito. licor, y finalmente, una bandeja de muestras de los diversos tipos de barras que hicieron. ¡Estaba muy drogada con chocolate cuando finalmente nos fuimos! Marcus fue una excelente guía para esto. Respondió preguntas cuando se le preguntó, y también nos llevó a ver el monumento original de Mitad al Mundo, ya que dijo que podríamos no verlo si no. Muy buen hombre.

This tour, which we arranged through Viator, was through Andean Roots. Our guide, Christian, was more than we expected. He was friendly, polite, and so informative. He was a great driver, as the roads can be a challenge. We saw hummingbirds, orchids, butterflies and toured an artisanal chocolate factory. We had a delightful trip seeing a part of Ecuador we had not seen before. It would not have been as good had we not had such an excellent guide.

Fun day - especially great for families. The drive to Mindo was about 2 hours and we started with some bird watching. The hummingbirds at this stop were a highlight! There were SO MANY of them right in front of us. We opted for the zipline which my 10 year old loved. Note - there are 10 ziplines and short but sometimes steep hikes between them (not so easy if you're not used to the elevation) - but it was a blast! We spent some time at the butterfly farm and then finished off the day with lunch and a tour of the chocolate factory (which included lots of samples!) Christian was a very professional and knowledgeable guide.

A full day, with a good guide, who spoke fairly good English. I did the hike to the waterfalls first, then zip lining. Then I went to the butterfly and hummingbird farm, and the chocolate tour last. This turned out to the be a good decision as you get a LOT of chocolate on the tour, and you don't need lunch. It tould have been nice if the guide had known a bit more about the forest and animals during the hike, but he did point out a couple of birds, and I found some butterflies sunbathing by one of the waterfalls

A really nice driver turned up - felt totally safe, but he was not a Certified Guide as I thought I was paying for. 2 hr drive to Mindo - butterfuly tent, orchid tent, and humming bird tent are all in 1 location and you can see all in 30 minutes. The chocolate factory is about 300m from here!! Mindo - didn't get far but my choice. You need to be more than moderately fit. I paid for lunch but didn't get lunch. Not really happy at all with this company Andean Roots. I have no doubt Mindo was lovely but it was spoilt by the travel agency (though the driver was lovely)

Had a great time. My guide was really nice and provided great transportation. He even made an extra stop that wasn't in the itinerary

Our guide, David, was excellent. He was right on time, had water in his immaculate car, and was so knowledgeable! He customized this trip just for us, including taking us to a locals restaurant that was less expensive than the more touristy option - and SO good! He was just such a nice guy, and did everything he could to ensure we had a great day.

So much fun to see how the chocolate bars are made here!

Important info, dont know if you have to re-confirm the day before? Viator and there client re-contact confirmation not clear!, but we did and the hotel confirmed pick up time was same all ok. The owner driver, was a really nice, interesting guy, nothing was to much trouble. Car was a decent size for only X2 people, he was not pushy, with past experience on tours, trying to get to pay upfront or overcharged!!! He asked what we wanted to do on the day tour and told us were to pay, appreciated this touch. We asked for the Zip line's, Choclate factory tour and the butterfly visit. We paid a fair price for private vehicle and driver included knew the entrance fee's were seperate. Could we have found this cheaper possible!!! thou in my extensive travel experience, could have spent far to much on our holidays searching.. The price for zip line's was fantastic, 3 options to chose from. Basic 1 line, 2 line's and max 7 zip line's and we chose the 2 line's middle option for 14 p/p WOW, same thing in US would have cost us in excess of 100 p/p!!!! The 2nd item we picked was the choclate tour ok, 20 p/p entrance fee and limited tour was ok, I would have given this part 6/10 as mentioned ok, thou not wow. worth a visit thou compered to 1st part zip line's found a little expensive for 2 people being 40 for limited factory tour and tasting experience On the last 3rd option we picked for the butterfly visit, very enjoyable, shame about the rain in early afternoon, hey no one's falt. We were offered @ that time to have lunch, which was fair price and excellent choice and standard. The guide/driver tried his best to get us the entrance costs on this part for free, because we were eating @ there resturant. He advised the staff. Got charged meal and entrance fee's, he still insisted that they remove the entrance costs being 14-15 USD p/p. Again he didint need to ask or offer this for us and thought this was a special touch. We paid for his meal and drink. The driver/guide dont know who he worked for? guessed he was freelance owner driver supplied Name was Hanibal OMG. different. Hanibal was not at all pushy with visit time or @ any time in the day, tried to rush us, from one to the next. He didnt ask for any money upfront. Really nice guy, a credit to the business and would hope other's get this gent. Only wish we had of stayed over night, to enjoy the small town in the Mindo Cloud Forest, shame we didint have enought time. Would give it 5 Star, just thought the choclate tour was over priced. Many Thanks Again. Lee UK