MINDO

This small, tranquil village has been receiving more and more visitors as its reputation as a birding hotspot has spread. Set in a quiet, lovely valley dotted with flowers and surrounded by forested mountains, Mindo is smack in the middle of one of the best birding areas in South America. Part of the Chocó Bioregion, Mindo and its environs count hundreds of species of birds, from flycatchers and hummingbirds galore to woodcreepers, manakins, and cotingas. Nineteen endemic bird species share the Tandayapa Valley with pumas, spectacled bears, ocelots, and 80 species of orchids.

  Almost 21,000 hectares of forest, from tropical jungle to páramo, fall within the Mindo-Nambillo Protected Forest, which wraps around the town to the east and south. Drained by the Ríos Mindo, Nambillo, and Cinto, the area is run by the Amigos de la Naturaleza (tel. 2/2765-463, amigosmindo@hotmail.com), a local conservation group that has an office two blocks from Mindo’s plaza. The forest is home to over 400 species of birds, including toucans, barbets, and golden-headed quetzals. Local guides can lead you to Andean cock-of-the-rock leks, where brilliant crimson-colored males compete for females.

  Mindo is still a low-key place, but word is starting to get out. Lots of development is underway, in part because it’s so close to Quito. The surrounding forest is starting to be affected by an influx of settlers and tourists. Most worrisome is an oil pipeline from Quito to Esmeraldas that the Ecuadorian government put right through the middle of the area. With the help of foreign tourism operators and business owners, locals fought to stop it, to no avail, and the scar through the forest is only slowly fading.

Recreation and Tours
A German-Ecuadorian couple owns a section of land uphill from Mindo called Mindo Lindo (tel. 9/92443-820), which offers easier access to the cloud forest than other properties in town. They charge $2 pp to use the trails and charge $25 pp for accommodation. A few freelance birding guides operate out of Mindo and can guide visitors on day trips out of Quito; Vinicio Pérez (tel. 2/2765-384) charges around $50 for a morning’s guiding. Andean Birding (Salazar Gómez E-1482 and Eloy Alfaro, tel./fax 2/2244-426, info@andeanbirding.com, www.andeanbirding.com) also operates out of Quito.

  Local guides are recommended for hiking, and charge about $25 per day to take you to nearby waterfalls such as La Cascada de Nambillo (entrance $5 pp), at the end of the Vía Mindo Gardens. Ask at the Centro de Información or at one of the hotels in town for details on hiking and tubing on nearby rivers. The Mariposas de Mindo butterfly garden (tel. 2/2440-360, $3 pp) is two kilometers out the Vía Mindo Gardens.