Mindo Cloud Forest Day Tours - PRIVATE - Richard Hernandez

The trip was very well organised. We were picked up from our Airbnb right on time. The hummingbirds were amazing and we got to feed them. The butterfly farm was fascinating. There was a nice hike to a stunning waterfall. Andres was very knowledgeable

AMAZING. Best day birding I've ever had and Richard is the perfect guide. Passionate, selfless and extremely knowledgeable. Clocked up 68 beautiful birds I ve never seen and wanted to see and provably will never see again. All happened in 5 hours. An experience I will never forget, Thank you Richard.

We did a Wonderful day tour of Mindo Forest veryinteresting we saw a lot of Flowers birds fall we did a hike in the Forest we went to a Wonderful restaurant in Mindo big thanks to Richard with his photographies tips hé is a pro to find birds in the trees.

Richard was an incredible guide for our day of exploring! He asked us about our interests and built the schedule around our priorities, making sure we had plenty of time to enjoy birds, butterflies, and the center of the world. Plus a great stop for lunch! He is full of knowledge about not just birds but the cloud forest and Ecuadorian history as well. Plus, a great sense of humor!

Richard was a great host who helped us see beautiful hummingbirds, butterflies, and unique plant species. Overall, having a guide to go through Mindo and the surrounding cloud forrest is very worth it to help identify the right places and transportation! I would love to do another trip with Richard if we return to the area!

As others have said, Richard is extremely knowledgeable and accommodating. Despite having an important engagement in the afternoon, he made sure we had an entertaining and educational trip to the cloud forest. We focused on seeing birds, and despite our schedule for a later start, we saw several dozen new to us species, many of which were endemic. Touring with Richard is highly recommended.

My husband and I had two full days with Richard for a private tour, with him customizing the trip to match our interests. Richard grew up in the area and has a lot of personal connections and knowledge which greatly enhanced our experience. With his background and studies and personal experience, he was able to answer our many questions, whether that was identifying the 87 bird species we spotted, or discussing local and geopolitical history, describing the various biomes of Ecuador, and telling about the rich Ecuadorian culture. We learned a lot! Beyond the tour, we thoroughly enjoyed our time with Richard because he is a good human. We came away with a friend who cared about us and our experience in his beautiful homeland. Señor Bird Monk, thank you for your patience with our endless questions, your many kindnesses, your willingness to share so much about Ecuador. We will never forget you.

Our guide, Juan Carlos, has excellent local knowledge. We went to see the hummingbirds, a sweaty (but very achievable) hike in the cloud forest, had an excellent lunch suggestion in Mindo and really enjoyed our coffee making tour in Quinde. It was well organised and a fun day trip from Quito.

Richard was great. Not only was the day fun, it was very informative. Never a dull moment. Birding was easy, very easy. Richard does have flexible itineraries from nature to culture or a mix. From easy to hard outdoor activities. The itineraries are flexible and for you to decide. It was worth it for sure.

We did not go birdwatching in the cloud forest. Our first stop was to a very nice woman’s yard, where she had set out lots of feeders. That was really cool, there were all kinds of hummingbirds and several tanagers. I’m glad we stopped there. Our guide (this is a company, not an individual) then took us to a butterfly greenhouse. I had been asking birds, was telling him how I had booked an extra day because I was so excited about the opportunity to see the birds of the Amazon. The butterfly garden was nice, but you can find similar things in any big town. I do like butterflies, but I saw a sign outside pointing to bird observation areas, nature hikes and things. A sunbittern flew overhead which was awesome, so I asked about that, could we go walking to look for birds? Our guide said, sure, and we walked up and down the road for 5-10 minutes, not on any kind of forest trail, just the street we happened to be on. That seemed to negate any other item listed on the itinerary. There was no nature walks, no waterfalls, no orchid farms, chocolate factories or ziplining. All of which we had talked about briefly. We ate lunch, which took a while, but he chose the restaurant. And then he was in a rush to get back. I did want to do a quick picture stop at the monument of the middle of the world, but he rushed us into the museum. The museum was also nice, but.. if our time was so limited where we could only pick one thing… what I really wanted to do was go birdwatching in the cloud forest. Like the title of the trip. Like walking in nature quietly to look for wildlife. Like the description of this in Viator seemed to indicate. We didn’t do that at all, and I don’t think our guide knew much about or was particularly interested in birds anyway. His focus seemed to be on general tours, like the populations of each city and what they manufacture and things. I was so disappointed. My recommendation to anyone looking to go birdwatching would be to find transportation to Mindo. They have a great bus system here. I doubt a taxi would cost the $320 it did for the 2 of us to take this tour either. Stay the night in Mindo and then find a tour company there maybe. There were a lot of little excursion companies advertising birding tours.