Our trip to the Mindo Cloud Forest was spectacular! Our private guide, Andres, was very knowledgeable, friendly and he tailored our trip to our unique interests. If want to experience the beauty of Ecuador at your leisure with a safe guide whose English is far more impeccable than your Spanish, this is the trip for you! We learned so much about the amazing history of Ecuador while taking in its majestic beauty, flora and fauna. This trip reunited us with the wondrous realization that our planet is a precious gift and we have a huge responsibility to pay it forward to future generations!

I had a great experience on this tour and recommend it! I booked it pretty last-minute, but the company was very responsive, and my guide, Francisco, was wonderful. He was as much of a highlight of this tour as the scheduled events themselves. And he takes great photos!! I would do it over again!

Christian picked us up on time and gave us a thorough tour of the sights around Mindo. He clearly loves sharing the wildlife and history of his country! He was a good driver on windy, bumpy roads. His English was excellent and he was flexible with a couple of extra stops we wanted to make.

An safe, incredible, unforgettable experience. As a young solo female traveler, it can be nerve wracking to book tours alone. However, Marco was an amazing guide who not only made me feel super comfortable, but was also super friendly and a great driver. I was picked up from my hotel at 8am, and we drove the beautiful trip to Mindo, chatting in Spanish, but he’s also fluent in English. Marco told me all that was available for me to choose from and completely allowed me to decide what things I wanted to do. We first stopped at a bird watching sanctuary where we saw the largest amount of hummingbirds I’ve ever seen in one place and I even got to hold a little feeder while they drank from it. Plus a scenic bird’s eye view of Mindo. Then drove through the small touristy part of Mindo and went to a short hike to a waterfall (1 mile total) that starts with a super fun cable car ride from one side of the valley to the other. Once we hiked back to the car (you’ll sweat on the way back up but it’s so worth it), we drove over to the Canopy adventures place so that I could go Ziplining!! This was the highlight. I truly felt a sense of euphoria and it was amazing. I did the 10 line track but they also have just 2 or 3 and a Tarzan swing and bicycling on the zip line too. Next we went back down to the town of Mindo and stopped at the butterfly farm (Mariposario) and the chocolate factory for a tour with lots of tasting opportunities. Then an easy 2hr drive back to my hotel. I definitely recommend this even for solo travelers and it could be even more fun (which is crazy because it was great) with friends, family, or a partner.

We loved our trip to Mindo! It was easily one our favorite days in Ecuador. The guide was so nice and willing to tailor our experience to what ever we wanted. We stopped at the very informative museum of Intiñan, the pululahua volcano, hummingbird sanctuary (with other birds and orchids), a cable car to a waterfall hike, and lastly a chocolate tasting and tour of a very informative chocolate factory. Our guide was so knowledgeable about the history and culture of this area. He made us laugh and was extremely polite. Definitely recommended.

David, the guide was very educational and flexible to meet our interests. Even with the mechanical car problems on the return to Quito, I rate him a 5.

We took this daytime to Mindo and it was great. This tour includes transportation, but not entrance into the places you visit. You can ask to do the things you like so every tour us us little different and thus costs different. We stopped at a Birding place first to see some local birds and tons of hummingbirds. There were so many different colors and types of hummingbirds. You see them up close as they have feeders you can hold in your hand. The other birds were few, but we weren't really here for the birding. The kids loved it. Cost was $5/person. Next we went zip-lining. The course had a 3 or 10 zipline option. We did the 10 ziplines which was $20/person. You zigzag back and forth across a valley on some really long ziplines. The cable is a two cable system with multiple points of connection for redundancy which is safer. Just be sure the person before you is off the line before you let them send you down. They give you a helmet but wear good shoes to hike in. It's not a lot of hiking, but there are a couple of uphill sections that will get you breathing. They have bathrooms and an office, but not much else. If they offered some items for sale I think they would do well, but there was nothing here to buy. They do let you zip superman style and upside down if you like. Great fun! Next we went to a butterfly garden which was an indoor butterfly aviary. There are bathrooms, a gift shop, restaurant and hiking trails with boots towers to climb, but the highlight is the butterflies! It was magical! Thousands of colorful butterflies all around. We could have sat here all day, it was that cool! They show you all of the life cycle of the butterfly and you can see the chrysalis' and even watch one 'harch' if you are lucky. This cost about $7.50/person. Next we went to a chocolate maker. We got to see every step of how they make chocolate bars at their organic farm with local ingredients. Then we got to try the ingredients and experimenting with our own creations while sipping cocoa tea. We chose to eat lunch at the Quetzal restaurant on-site as they had some unique items including a chocolate BBQ chicken, coffee sauce beef, yucca fries, quinoa salad, and more. We also picked up some artisan chocolate. For 4 of us, the tour and our meals and drinks, and the chocolate we purchased was about $75 total. I'm not sure of the breakdown, but without lunch and shopping it is probably $5-7/person for the tour. Then we headed back he to Quito. It was a wonderful day and our guide Christian was great.

Devil's Nose Train is NOT currently running and has not been running for awhile. Misleading that these trips are left up to book when the description is inaccurate.

David and his assistant (tour guide in training) were absoltuely amazing. Once we got to Mindo, they gave us the option to do whatever we'd like. We ended us doing more than just the Butterfly farm and Chocolate tour and they were very flexible and easy going. However, no entrance fees were included so I felt as if it was slightly overpriced. I don't regret anything, however. David told us all about his country on the way back and it was obvious he loved what he did.

We did a custom 8 day tour across Ecuador including Cotapaxi hike to 4800m, hike to Chimbarazo 5100m, Quillatoa crater, cloud forest and Banos. Also included was a city tour of the historic Quito city. Our tour guide David and the other staff were very helpful and kind. They explained a lot of things, helped buy fruits from street vendors and was a delight to be around. Most importantly they made us feel safe and secure. I will recommend this group to anyone interested in traveling to Ecuador.

I have traveled extensively and this tour provider is excellent! David is very through and dies not overlook any detail. I learned so much about the country and it’s rich culture. David is so patient and understanding. This was definitely a life changing experience for me, tracking through the jungle, into caves, Under waterfalls, swimming in hot springs, visiting indigenous villages and hiking around volcanoes all unbelievable! Ecuador is a beautiful country with so much nature and in my opinion the best way to see it is with David and Andean Roots.

Such an excellent trip thanks to all the planning by Raul! After giving us several options, Raul set up EVERYTHING for our girls trip. There were 5 of us and everything was handled so professionally. He catered to any personal requests or changes as the trip progressed. He has a very friendly personality and his English is excellent! Our driver and van transportation was clean and safe, and water was provided the entire tour. I cannot day enough nice things about Andean Roots agency and especially Raul! Thank you so much for creating an unforgettable trip!

This was the first time in Ecuador for my traveling partner and I felt that our guide Christian did a wonderful job. He was so informative and friendly and a good driver to boot. It is quite a drive to Mindo and we stopped on the way to see the crater which was an interesting and worthwhile stop. We then went on to Mindo where we saw hummingbirds and other wildlife, orchids and the cloud forest. We ate at a lovely restaurant and the tour of the artisanal chocolate was really informative and enjoyable. We felt the trip was well worthwhile and fairly priced for a driver who also served as the tour guide for the entire trip.

My wife and I left from east side of Quito. Christian was prompt, courteous and excited to show us Mindo. He loves the area and his job. Nicest guy. Super accommodating. Has good relationships with the locals in Mindo. We enjoyed the place so much more with his introductions and recommendations. So worth it!

We had a good day in Mindo and the guide was a nice guy, but comparing to other tours we went to it felt like we overpaid massively. Andean Roots offers little compering to other tour operators, you can hire a driver for a day and get the same experience.