Mindo Cloud Forest dagtochten - privé - Richard Hernandez

Hoogtepunten

Inbegrepen

Route

1. Vogelen Straathond genegenheid :) Hiking Botaniseren Fotografie Lokaal eten

   2 u

2. Een professionele gelicentieerde begeleider zal de natuurwonderen van het nevelwoud ontdekken. Watervallen, watervallen, endemische vogels zoals toekans, tanagers en kolibries ontdekken. Proef het lokale eten, geniet van het prachtige subtropische weer zoals. Boeken bij een professionele expert is een andere manier om mensen en de natuur te ontdekken en te leren. Vloeiend Engels gesproken.

   1 u

3. Een erkende natuurgids met vloeiend Spaans / Engels gesproken. De natuurwonderen ontdekken tijdens het wandelen over eenvoudige of gematigde wandelpaden. Orchideeën, bromelia's, boomvarens, heliconias, reptielen, amfibieën, bomen, bioregulators, in het algemeen alle verklaringen van een lokale deskundige natuuronderzoeker, zijn naam is Richard Hernandez.

   2 u

4. Uitstekende plek voor wandel- en vogelparadijs. Lokale plek om exotisch lokaal eten te proberen (op aanvraag :)

   30 min

5. Charmant klein stadje waar we langskomen zonder te stoppen. Mensen in het weekend komen uit de bergen om naar de service in de stad te luisteren en hun leveranciers te kopen.

   Komt langs

6. Een charmant stadje, lokale politieke parochie. We kunnen hier stoppen voor de lunch of een andere attractie zoals: vlindertuin, waterslangen, zip-line, koffie- of chocoladetour (op aanvraag):

   1 u

7. Een korte stop bij het Inty Ñan museum of Mitad del Mundo om de Equator-lijn te bezoeken op de weg terug uit het nevelwoud.

   30 min

8. We zullen de economisch meest welvarende provincie in het gebied bezoeken. Als optie om te lunchen. Lunch is niet inbegrepen in de tourprijs.

   1 u

Annuleren

Gratis annuleren tot 24 uur voor aanvang, met volledige terugbetaling.

Reviews

Beoordelingen komen uit 114 reviews die onze boekingspartner verzamelt. Het zijn de eigen woorden van reizigers, in de volgorde waarin ze geschreven zijn — nooit herschikt om de ervaring mooier te maken.

Hier staan reviews die in het Engels geschreven zijn.

• 1Terrible service and terrible guiding

  Please do NOT book this guide. He took money from us and did not deliver and was absolutely obnoxious and self obsessed. He also has some false notion inngis head that he is an amazing photographer which is a joke

  VNB1809september 2026via Tripadvisor

• 5Mindo experience

  We had a wonderful trip to Mindo with Richard. He is a professional guide who truly knows his stuff and was attentive to all our wishes. The Mindo cloud forests are a must-visit for anyone traveling to Ecuador; I would recommend spending at least one night there so you can hear the birds singing in the quiet of the forest in the morning. There are plenty of opportunities for outdoor activities and trekking. We especially loved the hummingbird farm—it’s an experience our children will remember for the rest of their lives!

  _Q9213YIaugustus 2026via Tripadvisor

• 5Great guide

  Richard was incredibly helpful, informative, and clearly passionate about what he does (especially about birds and indigenous people) He also listened to what we wanted to see and made sure to take us to the places we were most interested in. Highly recommend!

  maycE2754HOaugustus 2026via Tripadvisor

• 5Fantastic hummingbird and butterfly experience

  We spent ten hours with Richard on our trip to Mindo. He asked us what we wanted to do and that’s exactly what we did. We took a short hike to visit a waterfall and saw hummingbirds, butterflies, orchids, and really interesting plants. We went to a butterfly garden where you were allowed to let the butterflies sit on your fingers. We visited a hummingbird reserved where you can feed them from your hand. And, we visited a chocolate factory where we tasted fifteen different varieties. It was a fantastic day with a fun, intelligent, professional, safe, and well-informed guide. Your time with Richard will be well spent.

  Annie6472juli 2026via Tripadvisor

• 2Expensive and uncomfortable

  I booked 2 trips with Richard, traveling with a friend. The first was to see the Inti Raymi festival around Otavalo, and the second to see a combination of archeological and wildlife sites around Mindo. I'll start by describing the content of each tour. Before the Inti Raymi festival, Richard sent me a brief itinerary which included many of the components of the festival, such as the ritual bathing and Warmi Puncha, but described them as happening over 2 days, rather than what actually happens which is over a week. This is something I would have expected him to check/know ahead of time, and meant that we did not actually see all the things we had hoped to. For the archeological and wildlife tour, I should explain that this operates differently in Ecuador than other areas I have been to. In particular, around Mindo there are many small private reserves, where the owners allow access for payment and often have feeding stations for birds, with hides or chairs to give close access. The experience is very different to being in a national park for example and having to find birds and animals in a really 'wild' situation. Almost all of the activities I did as part of the tour (archeological sites, chocolate tour, night walk, butterfly garden etc) had their own guides, and in most cases Richard did not actually attend, let alone provide guiding assistance. If I had known this in advance, I definitely would not have booked Richard, paying for what I expected was a high degree of wildlife expertise. It would have been much cheaper and more enjoyable to just book a driver to take us to the different sites. There is no doubt that Richard is an experienced birder. However the only time we actually got to see this expertise is when he found a family of 4 toucans, which we were able to see in the extreme distance through a scope. As soon as we saw these, he considered the task finished drove us back. I now want to say something about how it felt doing a tour with Richard. If you are considering booking, I highly recommend you read all the one star reviews. Their experiences where very similar to mine. When done well, guides can give you insights, share their knowledge and enthusiasms, and allow you to see much more than you ever would by yourself. I certainly had this experience with other wildlife guides in Ecuador. However, that was not my experience with Richard, and often I felt trapped, almost like a hostage in the car, during his stream of consciousness rambling and intrusive personal questions. In many ways I regret not cancelling the 2nd tour with him, and only did not do so because he made it clear he would not repay the 50% deposit I had paid, which was quite expensive. Some examples: he talked a great deal about himself, including claiming healing powers, and the ability to see the future, his health issues (at one point he announced he would show us photographs of his scars/injuries so we could better understand his suffering- fortunately this didn't happen), his very important and rich clients (including mentioning multiple times 'friends of Hillary Clinton'), how much is car cost, mansplaining matriarchy, gossip about people along the way, who we either met once or not at all (X is not sleeping with his wife, Y is a lesbian, but serves good food, how he had to stop associating with Z after she took up with an afro-ecuadorian 'stallion"..). He also mentioned the sexual prowess of his father several times, and explained that an American pope had been elected because the main problem with the Catholic church was in America. I asked what problem that was, in his opinion, and he explained that some American catholics were too indulgent of gays, and there was too much pedophilia. He also explained at one point that the reason Ecuador had not won its World Cup game against Curacao was that God was unhappy there was so much much corruption and prostitution in Ecuador. However apparently God changed his mind against Germany (likely because of Richard's prayers). Of course, there are cultural differences between people, but some if some of Richard's comments or questions had been made in my workplace, they would have been swiftly reported to HR. An example: in the Inti Raymi tour, Richard encouraged my friend to take a ritual bath, which she did not want to do. To explain this she said that she did not have a change of dry clothes, to which he answered that he could lend her his underwear, because he wasn't wearing any. He seemed to consider this funny rather than highly inappropriate. At various points in the trip Richard made comments about problems with "Karens and Cougars". He even explained that he often had to use a microphone and camera in his car to protect himself from sexual harassment claims and/or women making passes at him. The latter suggestion is of course, not technically impossible, but personally I find it exceptionally unlikely. I have thought about my experiences on this trip a lot subsequently, and come to the conclusion that people have likely raised the same issues as I am doing with Richard before- the sleazy comments and stories, the intrusive questions etc- and he has genuinely not understood the problem, or considered it a problem of the client, not himself (eg they were 'a Karen' or ''a Cougar"). But if you are a guide working almost entirely with people from a different culture, it is surely necessary to be able to understand their perspective. What makes a good tour is much more than the wildlife you see, its also about feeling comfortable and treated respectfully. Sadly, that did not happen on my trips with Richard.

  SydneyBluePointjuli 2026via Tripadvisor

• 5Definitely worth the trip.

  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

  Dreamer580626juni 2026via Tripadvisor

Goed om te weten

How it compares in Quito

• Its from-price is 42% above the median of the 338 dagtrips we list in Quito.
• Its length is typical for the group.
• By number of reviews it ranks 19 of 338.
• The operator lists free cancellation on it.

About Quito

Quito, de hoge Andes-hoofdstad van Ecuador, heeft een van de best bewaarde koloniale centra van Latijns-Amerika, omringd door vulkanen en groene bergen.

Het historische centrum behoorde tot de allereerste plekken die tot UNESCO-werelderfgoed werden uitgeroepen, en zijn kerken, pleinen en kloosters zijn spectaculair. La Compañía de Jesús glanst van binnen van bladgoud, de Basílica del Voto Nacional heeft waterspuwers in de vorm van Ecuadoraanse dieren, en de Plaza Grande wordt omringd door de kathedraal en het presidentieel paleis.

Top-ranked sights in Quito: Cotopaxi National Park, Basilica of the National Vow (La Basílica del Voto Nacional), Independence Plaza (Plaza de la Independencia).

See all 1008 experiences in Quito