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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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Real Latin american experts

  • 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.

  • Kathryn
    Kathryn Rhodes - Travel Expert

    Kathryn backpacked across Argentina, Chile, Bolivia and Peru before joining us. She has a degree in Philosophy and French and is a keen netball player.

  • 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.

  • Mary
    Mary Anne Nelson - Travel Expert

    Born in the Atacama Desert in northern Chile, Mary’s insider knowledge and dry sense of humour make her a highly valued member of the Tailor-made Holidays and Group Tour sales team.

  • Hannah
    Hannah Waterhouse - Travel Expert

    Hannah had an early introduction to Latin America when her family moved to Ecuador and she returned to study in Buenos Aires for a year before backpacking across the continent.

  • Alex
    Alex Walker - Travel Expert

    A globetrotter since her childhood, Alex spent a year studying abroad in Guadalajara and has returned to Latin America countless times since then.

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