Tandayapa

Travel Guide

Here we have a very distinctive hummingbird - the Collared Inca. In most lighting they appear all black with a white chest. but if you get them out in some direct light you can make out the blue/violet cap and the green throat. Make sure you hire a birding guide for your visit to the valley. In addition to locating and identifying the birds, a guide is the only way you'll find this amazing hummingbird garden. It's hidden among some dense vegetation, with the only marker being an overgrown footpath leading from the road.
Yesterday I posted a female Violet-tailed Sylph, and today we have the much showier male. It's a wonder that they can fly with such long tail feathers, but clearly the reproductive advantage outweighs any such inconvenience.
The Tandayapa Valley is a birder's paradise. The rugged slopes of this pristine cloud forest offer a spectacle of exotic birds like few places on earth. The mountain roads themselves are great avenues to hunt out mixed flocks, but for a truly amazing experience you need to visit Tony Nunnery's hummingbird garden at Parador Pacha Quindi. Tony grew up in the US but has spent the last fifteen years in a small cottage he and his wife built on 70 hectares in the Tandayapa Valley. They have been reforesting the former pasture and have established a phenomenal hummingbird garden right outside their house. The sight and sound of a hundred hummingbirds whizzing about is something you won't soon forget. It also makes for great photo opportunities, so much so that professionals will even shoot here with their shade umbrellas and strobe arrays. I didn't have anything that fancy, and you'd do quite well here with a 200mm lens and large flash. BTW, I believe that this here is a Speckled Hummingbird.
Here we have a female Violet-tailed Sylph. How do I know it's a female? Because the male has a long blue tail that extends twice his body length. We spotted this beautiful girl at Tony Nunnery's hummingbird garden in the Tandayapa Valley. I love hummingbirds and always hunt down the best places to see and photograph them, and Tony's garden is world class. Hundreds of hummingbirds from at least a dozen species flitted around us in the short couple of hours that we were there. A place you must visit if you ever find yourself in Ecuador.
Booted Racket-tails are easily seen at Tony Nunnery's hummingbird garden. Only the males have the iconic deeply-forked tail. These guys are pretty small, even for a hummingbird, with a 3 inch body length (8cm).
Bellavista Cloud Forest Reserve & Lodge

Bellavista Cloud Forest Reserve & Lodge

2.5 out of 5
Km 52 Ruta Antigua Quito - Nanegalito Mindo Pichincha
Stay at this lodge in Mindo. Enjoy free breakfast, free parking, and an airport shuttle (surcharge). Popular attractions Bellavista Cloud Forest Reserve and ...
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Bellavista Cloud Forest Reserve & Lodge
Hampton By Hilton Quito La Carolina Park

Hampton By Hilton Quito La Carolina Park

3 out of 5
Catalina Aldaz St. N34 267 Quito
Book a stay at this business-friendly hotel in Quito. Enjoy free breakfast, free parking, and a 24-hour front desk. Our guests praise the helpful staff in our ...
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Hampton By Hilton Quito La Carolina Park
JW Marriott Quito

JW Marriott Quito

4.5 out of 5
Avenida Orellana 1172 Y Avenida Amazonas Quito Pichincha
Book a stay at this luxury hotel in Quito. Enjoy a full-service spa, 4 restaurants, and 2 hot tubs. Our guests praise the helpful staff in our reviews. Popular ...
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JW Marriott Quito
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Harmony Luxury Apartments

Harmony Luxury Apartments

4.5 out of 5
Av. República de El Salvador 34-127 Quito Pichincha
Book a stay at this luxury apartment in Quito. Enjoy free WiFi, a full-service spa, and a sauna. Popular attractions Botanical Garden of Quito and Parque La ...
Harmony Luxury Apartments
Old Town Quito Suites, Apartments & Boutique hotel

Old Town Quito Suites, Apartments & Boutique hotel

4 out of 5
José de Antepara E3-61 y Vicente Léon Quito Pichincha
Book a stay at this family-friendly aparthotel in Quito. Enjoy free breakfast, free WiFi, and 24-hour room service. Our guests praise the helpful staff and the ...
Old Town Quito Suites, Apartments & Boutique hotel
Edificio Tofino

Edificio Tofino

3.5 out of 5
Av. Naciones Unidas Quito Pichincha
Stay at this apartment in Quito. Enjoy free WiFi, breakfast (surcharge), and parking (surcharge). Popular attractions Iñaquito Shopping Center and Naciones Unidas ...
Edificio Tofino
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Popular places to visit

Here we have a very distinctive hummingbird - the Collared Inca. In most lighting they appear all black with a white chest. but if you get them out in some direct light you can make out the blue/violet cap and the green throat. Make sure you hire a birding guide for your visit to the valley. In addition to locating and identifying the birds, a guide is the only way you'll find this amazing hummingbird garden. It's hidden among some dense vegetation, with the only marker being an overgrown footpath leading from the road.

Bellavista Cloud Forest Reserve

Explore the great outdoors at Bellavista Cloud Forest Reserve, a lovely green space in Tandayapa. While you're in the area, wander around the parks.

Bellavista Cloud Forest Reserve

Maquipucuna Cloud Forest Reserve

Explore the great outdoors at Maquipucuna Cloud Forest Reserve, a lovely green space in Nanegalito. While you're in the area, wander around the forests.

Maquipucuna Cloud Forest Reserve

Things to do

Mindo Ziplines Tour, offers a 10-wire tour through the cloud forest where you can enjoy adventure, nature, adrenaline.

Mindo Ziplines Tours / Canopy Tour / Zip Line

$21
per adult
Mindo Ziplines Tours / Canopy Tour / Zip Line
Butterflies in Mindo

Mindo Cloud Forest Full Day Tour from Quito

$59
per adult
80% of travellers recommend
Mindo Cloud Forest Full Day Tour from Quito
Mindo Adventure.

Mindo: Bird watching, Chocolate, Waterfall and Adventure

$75
per adult
100% of travellers recommend
Mindo: Bird watching, Chocolate, Waterfall and Adventure
Hummingbird Watching

Mindo Cloud Forest Private Tour: Chocolate, Coffee, Birds, Nature

$90
per adult
92% of travellers recommend
Mindo Cloud Forest Private Tour: Chocolate, Coffee, Birds, Nature
Andean Cock Watching tour in mindo

Andean Cock Watching tour in mindo with hummingbird and breakfast

$50
per adult
Andean Cock Watching tour in mindo with hummingbird and breakfast
Centennial trees

Ecological Experience in the Quito Cloud Forest

$70
per adult
Ecological Experience in the Quito Cloud Forest
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Cities near Tandayapa

Quito featuring landscape views and a city

Quito

Did the full zip line tour here and it was the best zip lines I’d ever done. There are places where you can’t even see the other end of the line that you’re on as you glide at high speeds, hundreds of feet above the jungle.#Adventure

Mindo

Landscape with clouds, jungles, mountains and crops Andes, Ecuador

Nanegalito

This is the cloud forest and village of Nono, Ecuador where: I rode a horse in the clouds, got impaled on a tree branch, and was blessed by a lovely 100-year-old woman. An amazing little place near Quito for hiking, cycling, bird watching, horseback riding, and generally having your head in the clouds. For more, see: http://www.travelblissnow.com/blessings-nono-cloud-forest-ecuador/

Nono