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Beware if you're handicapped or traveling solo. I had to hunt (and hunt) for guides to take me (and my walker) and while I finally got lucky and found help for one place I wanted to go and one thing I wanted to do, it was frustrating getting turned down again and again because I am handicapped and because I was traveling alone. There are several places in town that I could walk to that were very nice (Butterfly House Nathaly Mindo; Punto Ortonologico and Mindo Maya Chocolate — yum) and kudos to Walkygo Mindo who had no trouble taking me solo tubing for a great price. But there were places i wanted to go to that no one would help me with. Sigh!

Mindo is a quiet, safe town and you can tell their main focus is tourism. If you’re into extreme sports, adventure or birding, this is the place for you! They have lots of options. I suggest waiting to get there to book your activities as there are lots of “travel agents “ offering “tourist information “ which is basically them selling the same tours and activities others are, and prices seem similar. I suggest asking about transportation to and from activities because if it’s not included, you’d have to figure that out. Also, I recommend double checking the activities you don’t need a guide for, as there is definitely a markup for having a guide when it’s not necessary). At lunch time, there are usually a few restaurants that offer a set menu (soup and a main course) for a fairly inexpensive price, but if you order off the regular menu it gets expensive for the area. I did the Tarabita waterfalls which took at least 1/2 day, but worth it, the yellow house trails/lookout (great if you’re a birder), a chocolate tour at Yumbos (my favorite activity), the night walk (saw lots of frogs and spiders) and the hermit trail (fed hummingbirds). I probably could have combined some of these and stayed a little less time, but I decided to relax a bit. I stayed 2.5 days and 3 nights. If you’re doing the adventure activities, you’d have plenty to do. Getting around in Mindo is fairly easy, as the town is walkable. There are trails nearby, but if you’re wanting to do adventure stuff, you’d need a taxi and get their WhatsApp number before getting out because otherwise there’s no guarantee there will be a taxi when you’re done. Lastly, try to have small bills (cash). $20 bills are extremely hard to break and no one really wants them, and credit card machines don’t always work reliably so you have to use cash.

when we arrived, there was one person who was cleaning rooms, did not speak english and did not know we were arriving. She asked me to contact the owner on my phone. We finally got in touch and she showed us two rooms... one was a treehouse, which looked great from the outside, but if you are over 5 feet tall, you will have a problem and it is deep in the woods. It rained while staying and was buggy in the forest, so glad we did not select that place. The room we reserved had a hot tub, but was small and the hot tub was not private. We asked about another room, which was raised off teh ground and had a room on main floor and room on second floor like a tree house. It was comfortable. It was stuffy and would suggest they get a fan to help with circulation and bug control. The bathroom was ok, only a thin towel, not wash cloth and room originally had no toilet paper. I think they could do a better job with welcoming guests with fruit, drinks and a book on things to do. The place is located far up the mountain on a dirt road, so be prepared.

Be prepared for rain - it is after all, a rain forest, but still surprised by amount of rain. Chocolate tour and butterfly conservatory were great. Chocolate tour about 90 mins and butterfly visit about 45 mins so can be done at the same time. Plan them perhaps for when rain expected. Birding is great. We did not zip line or hike wet trails as I am recovering from shoulder surgery but they did look like fun.

Hiking in the cloud forest was a special experience. The Cascadas de Nambillo, the Butterly Garden , the birding tour with Marcelo Arias - were all great opportunity to understand local flora and fauna and having a lot of fun.

Mindo is a great little town, and can arrange lots of activities directly in Mindo. I wish we'd have had more time to explore the town, but we were here just for a birdwatching tour -- which was simply amazing!