MINDO, Ecuador — But the armchair naturalist in me didn’t want to work too hard or subject myself to the tribulations they suffered as they circumnavigated the globe, climbed the South American Andes or slogged through the swamps of the Southeastern United States, places where one might encounter sharks, bugs, snakes, piranhas, jaguars and crocodiles. So I kept deferring on the grounds of time, cost and discomfort.
My visit to Mindo, in a cloud-forested valley of the same name, helped me realize that I didn’t have to set sail or strap on the crampons to see spectacular and exotic life forms. Mindo is an easy-access epicenter of biodiversity in northwestern Ecuador teeming with hundreds of orchid and bird species, all framed by spectacular Andean scenery in a cool, temperate climate.
During my two days traipsing around Mindo – a 90-minute drive from Quito, the capital – I spied scores of plant and bird species that I thought I’d have to travel much farther to see. There were netherworldly orchids (about 4,000 species grow in Ecuador), vibrantly colored bromeliads and dozens of rare birds, including toucans, cocks-of-the-rock, quetzals and swarms of hummingbirds and parrots.
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