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Mountain bike to Mindo cloud forest

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Descend a vertical kilometre from mountains to cloud-forest on a mesmerising mountain bike ride through thriving ecosystems.

Dense cloud forest swallows the hillsides separating Andes and Amazon, temperate and tropical. As Ecuador’s bleak highlands give way to more fertile climes, you’ll see the scenery change dramatically on this journey from high-altitude Quito down into emerald forests dripping with life.

We’ll drive you from Quito to Bellavista, where it’s time to get on your bike and hurtle down a whole kilometre’s worth of altitude over the course of two and a half hours. As you approach Mindo the vegetation becomes gradually more lustrous as vines weave amongst orchids and ferns and the furious flapping of tiny hummingbird wings electrifies the air.

Your destination is a rustic lodge, accessible only by a pulley system over a river – the perfect place to lose yourself in the sights and sounds of the remote cloud forest.

Activity Rating: easy

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  • Sallly
    Sally Dodge - Travel Expert

    A former Journey Latin America tour leader, Sally spent 7 years working, travelling and living throughout Latin America before returning to the UK to help people arrange their own adventures to this wonderful destination.

  • Maggie
    Maggie Wilson - Travel Expert

    Maggie visited Latin America on her first backpacking trip when she was 19. Since then, she has taken every opportunity to travel, and has managed to explore a lot of the region in subsequent trips.

  • Lina
    Lina Fuller - Travel Expert

    Lina's passion for the continent where she was born really took off when she moved to Córdoba (Argentina) to study, spending the holidays travelling between Argentina and her native Colombia.

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    Hannah Donaldson - Travel Expert

    Having spent part of her childhood in Colombia and worked in Brazil and Costa Rica, Hannah's ties to Latin America run deep. Hannah is a much valued Travel Expert in our Tailor-made Holidays and Group Tours sales team.

  • Heloise
    Heloise Buxton - Travel Expert

    Heloise started her Latin American journey as an exchange student in Santiago, Chile. With extended summer holidays this was the perfect opportunity to backpack through Bolivia, Peru, Argentina and Brazil.

  • Carrie
    Carrie Gallagher - Travel Expert

    A former JLA tour leader, Carrie brings a wealth of on-the-ground experience to our London-based Tailor-made and Group Tours department.

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