Private Yoga & Raw Vegan Cloud Forest Retreat in Mindo, Ecuador

Casa Verde sits at 4,500 feet above sea level on the equator, inside the Chocó-Andino Biosphere Reserve. The property borders more than 1,100 square miles of roadless, uninhabited cloud forest, which is why guests describe the silence here as the first thing they notice. The surrounding forest is megadiverse — over 450 bird species, hundreds of orchids, butterflies and hummingbirds, plus mammals and native plants that don't exist in many other places on the planet.

Days follow a consistent shape. You start with private yoga, usually 60 to 90 minutes, working from Iyengar and Ashtanga roots but adapted entirely to you. Wendy gives hands-on assists and treats past injuries seriously — she rebuilt her own practice after several serious ones. Breakfast is raw and vegan, most of it grown on the property. Then the middle of the day is for the forest: a hike to waterfalls, a birding walk, or time with orchids and the smaller things most people walk past.

After lunch, afternoons are open. There's a Finnish sauna, trails to walk, and garden work if you want it. Two or three evenings a week there are guided conversations about wellness, nature and nutrition — not lectures, more like talking through what you've noticed. Everything is private, so the schedule bends around what you want to do on any given day.

The seven-night package includes six mornings of private yoga and daily hiking. The nine-night version adds two days for people who want to settle in properly — as the hosts put it, it takes a few days to truly arrive. The two-week option is for anyone wanting to go further with the raw vegan food and daily practice, and pricing for that one is arranged directly.

Meals are 100% raw vegan and organic, three times a day, made from the property's own garden with original recipes rather than a fixed menu. Dietary needs are worked out in advance by email. The whole operation runs off-grid on solar power and spring water, and Wendy has been hosting retreats in Latin America since 2005 — 21 years of doing this in this same forest.

What's included

- Accommodation on the property for the duration of your retreat - Three organic raw vegan meals daily, cooked from the property's own garden - Daily private one-on-one yoga instruction (6 mornings on the 7-night retreat) - Guided cloud forest hikes and nature activities - Evening conversations on wellness, nature and nutrition - Finnish sauna access - Use of 13 acres of property trails and garden - All-inclusive pricing (no extra fees for meals or classes)

What's not included

- International and domestic flights - Transport to and from Mindo - Travel insurance - Personal expenses - Optional extra nights or extensions beyond your package - Souvenirs or off-property excursions