Roaming South America

San Miguel de Los Bancos, Ecuador

September 10, 2025

Los Bancos dates back only to 1971, not long after the highway across the Andes Mountains was completed. The town is small, with around 18,000 people. It’s steep and hilly, as you’d expect in the Andes. Two roads are almost level - the highway, Ruta E28 (heading southwest out of town) and Av. 17 de Julio (heading northwest out of town). All the other roads are quite steep, some having stairs instead of sidewalks, and most are "paved" with hand-laid pavers, not asphalt.

Being that the town is so mountainous, it is not built around a central plaza on a grid layout. They have a Central Plaza a couple of blocks from the actual city center, but it's nothing special. The town church is not at the central plaza, it's alongside Ruta E28 in the town center. And, being that this town is not old, you won't find any interesting architecture here.

A Little History

The Mindo area, pretty much all of these Northwestern Andes Mountains, was an important settlement for the Yumbos-Niguas people, who inhabited the subtropical forests during the pre-Columbian era, as well as the western Andean jungle, located on the western slope of the Pichincha volcano. The Yumbo people were located in a strategic geographic position, a bottleneck, which allowed them to establish themselves along a trade route.

During the colonial era and during the early years of the Republic, there were large estates where a large Black population worked. During the colonial period, Mindo had sugarcane fields and mills where Black slaves produced panela (pure unrefined sugar). Remains of the mill now known as La Casa Amarilla, built by General Vicente Aguirre, still remain.

In 1963, construction began on the highway that would reach Mindo, which was completed at the end of 1964. The Calacali-La Independencia highway was inaugurated in 1992.

The Parish of San Miguel de los Bancos was created by Ministerial Agreement of April 2, 1971, being President of the Republic Dr. José María Velasco Ibarra and its cantonization was carried out on February 14, 1991 by President Dr. Rodrigo Borja.
El Comercio
Wikipedia

The Landscape

The town's elevation ranges from 550 meters (1804 feet) up to 1800 meters (5905 feet). If you walk, as I do, you will climb up and down a lot of those meters. The climate is wet, pretty much every day, all year round. It may not rain during the day, but it more than likely will be misty, even foggy, especially at night and in the mornings. Nights often see rain. It never gets "hot" here, which is good, as the average humidity is 95%. In this region of the mountains, at least 9 named rivers have their headwaters, and those flow down to form at least 3 big rivers. Many other rivers have their headwaters in this region and make their way down to a couple of major rivers.
Wikipedia

UNESCO Biosphere Reserve

Ecuador’s Chocó Andino Biosphere Reserve was officially designated, by UNESCO, in July 2018. That includes key areas like Mindo, the Mindo-Nambillo Cloud Forest, and surrounding regions in the Chocó-Andean transition zone. This zone is comprised of 19,200 hectares (47,444 acres) of mountain forests and jungles.

To be precise—Mindo and much of Los Bancos fall within this biosphere reserve, part of UNESCO's effort under its Man and the Biosphere (MAB) Programme to promote conservation while integrating sustainable development.

Being part of the Chocó Andino Biosphere Reserve adds to the region’s appeal, especially for eco-tourists drawn to birding, waterfalls, and cloud forests.
Wikipedia

Tourism

Tourism is centered around eco-tourism, especially for visiting the waterfalls, rivers, and river rafting. Bird watching is very important, as well. Today, while in my hotel room I heard a bird making sounds I've never heard before. This hotel is at the edge of town, and across the street is some forest, and the sound came from a tree along the dirt road. Without glasses, which I need, I was able to make out the bird making the noise. It had a long beak which I recognized as most likely a toucan. I recorded the sounds and did some research and found out that it was, indeed, a toucan. Pretty cool. That's the first time I've seen one that wasn't in a cage.
MindoBirdParadiseTours

My Impressions

This is a very small town, but it has many restaurants and just about every kind of shopping you might need to do. The town is a pleasant place to stop for lunch, or any meal, but in the town itself there's nothing of interest. Should you put Los Bancos on your must-see list? No. The next town I'll visit - Mindo - though, is probably a must-see, at least for eco-minded people.