Today was an action-packed day that by the end I was so physically and mentally exhausted, and also tingly (thanks to the altitude meds). We saw various different ways of life in very diverse and different areas of the country all in one day, it was a pretty special experience. We departed from the Hotel Continental after we ate our breakfast, we go on a bus that would be the bus that we were taking everywhere for the rest of the trip. A lot of time and shuteye was spent on this bus throughout the rest of the trip. On the way to the Cacao farms we saw various different agricultural lands in which people grew all kinds of crops. There were many more produce markets and stands because of the availability of these crops in this area. We also passed the one of the rich areas surrounding the city of Guayaquil called El Darado. It was interesting even just driving by to see the polar opposite of the two cities that were so close to each other. In the agricultural land the houses were very traditional, made of bamboo and raised incase of flooding. The houses here are used strictly for shelter as the people that live n this area work their butts off all day everyday so when it comes to shelter they don’t need much. As we started getting closer and closer to the cacao farm we got in to more rural areas, but again just like the Galapagos the amount of land cleared to make this agriculture possible is pretty mind blowing.
We then arrived at the Cacao farm and met the owner and one of the workers who took us on a little tour of the croplands. The cacao trees were lined in rows which you could walk down to get to the plants. There are two types of cacao fruits, one is yellow and is known as the National fruit and the other is red and known as CCN-51. The difference between the two plants is that the red one is genetically modified to resist disease. They made this because many farmers were losing too many crops due to a fungus that has the potential to grow on the national plant. We grabbed one of each fruit and brought it back to the main area in which they had a kitchen like station set up outside to process the fruits and make them into pure cacao paste in which then can be distributed and made into chocolate. First Diego cut open one of the fruits for us and there were a bunch of white slimy beans, Diego told us to suck on them, they were very sour and had such a strange texture, I wasn’t the biggest fan in the world. The owner of the farm then took the beans and put them in a skillet to toast them. During this process they changed from white beans to brown beans. Once they were done toasting he dumped the beans out and we shelled them and took off the outer casing of the bean, you were now allowed to eat one if you wanted. I thought it was so gross, I’m not the biggest chocolate fan in the world so I don’t think I even had a chance to like it but they were so bitter and a wired texture, it was just overall gross in my opinion but oh well, he process was still awesome. From there they had a special grinder made for the beans, it was man powered so you had to crank a handle for the beans to come out in a paste like substance, it looked like brownie batter more than anything, nut again this paste was also very very bitter. We learned that 1 ton of this paste can sell for $1500, which is honestly not too much for the amount of pure cacao paste that is but it is what it is and they must do this for their own lively hood. Overall the cacao farm was a very interesting and impactful experience, we were taken through the process that makes it possible for us to consume chocolate that you never really think about to much.
From the cacao farm we headed over to the mangrove forests of Churute. While there is an abundance of biodiversity within the mangroves I was not too excited due to the number of bugs that they told us would be there. We all geared up in our fancy bug jackets, pants, and hoods to protect against the peskiness of these bugs, primarily mosquitos. We got to the mangroves and hiked out to where we were supposed to be meeting a boat for a ride through the mangroves, but the boast was not there, he ended up being very late. We all sat by the dock waiting, at this point we were starting to run late for the day and needed to get going. Finally, the boat came, it was like a long canoe that all of us were able to fit us by sitting two per row, that’s how narrow it was. It also felt like it could tip over at any given moment. Luckily, we stayed dry for the entire ride, we saw some very cool and interesting animals that liked to call the mangroves their home. We were out on the boat for about an hour or a little over an hour before coming back in and going on a short hike through the forest due to our limited time. This is where we had the biggest problem with the mosquitos, they were everywhere. And they were so relentless, they were biting me through my bug jacket!! On the short hike we were hoping to be able to see a couple of the howling monkeys, but we didn’t get so see them, however we definitely heard them, and they sounded pretty tough. After a short hike we turned back to get on the bus to take the climb to 13000 ft to Cajas National Park. I was pumped. This whole day I drank an insane amount of water to ensure that I wasn’t going to get sick and no be able to go on our hike when we got there.
We boarded the bus and started our journey up into the thin air of the Andes. Periodically my ears would pop, and I knew that we were climbing in altitude, and we were doing it very quickly. I adjusted well though and was so glad that I did. We finally arrived to Cajas and it was like nothing that I’ve ever seen before, that landscape was absolutely stunning. This was hands down my favorite park of the trip. It was just a vast grassy mountainous landscape, and we happened to get there towards the end of the day and it was beautiful, seeing the colors of the sunset there was an experience like no other. The hike again was amazing, the park is full of endemic plant species including multiple different species of medicinal plants used by the locals and indigenous people. The hike itself was unique in the sense that we had to walk so slow and breath so hard from it because of the altitude. Being at sea level is something that I have done my whole life, I’ve never really experienced anything like this before in my life and it felt awesome in a way even though it was harder for me to breathe. I wasn’t really worried about it because it was part of the experience of actually being there and being able to take in the sights and learn about the delicate ecosystem within the park and the various endemic plants to the park itself and what their uses are, it all culminated to a hike and experience that I will never ever forget.
Once we finished the hike the bus picked us up and we headed to Diego’s hometown of Cuenca. Cuenca sat at around 8,000 ft above sea level. We checked into the hotel Victoria which apparently used to be someone’s house and then the converted it into a hotel. Anyway, the hotel was on the edge of a ridge basically they were called hanging houses, so you entered on the ground floor but then everything was below you instead of above, so my room was on the bottom floor, so we had to go down 4 flights of stairs. The hotel was very rustic looking, and it was a very nice hotel. Diego planned a welcome dinner for us that night at the hotel restaurant. It was a great night to relax after a very long and demanding day. We then got to bed to rest up for the city tour the next day!
We then arrived at the Cacao farm and met the owner and one of the workers who took us on a little tour of the croplands. The cacao trees were lined in rows which you could walk down to get to the plants. There are two types of cacao fruits, one is yellow and is known as the National fruit and the other is red and known as CCN-51. The difference between the two plants is that the red one is genetically modified to resist disease. They made this because many farmers were losing too many crops due to a fungus that has the potential to grow on the national plant. We grabbed one of each fruit and brought it back to the main area in which they had a kitchen like station set up outside to process the fruits and make them into pure cacao paste in which then can be distributed and made into chocolate. First Diego cut open one of the fruits for us and there were a bunch of white slimy beans, Diego told us to suck on them, they were very sour and had such a strange texture, I wasn’t the biggest fan in the world. The owner of the farm then took the beans and put them in a skillet to toast them. During this process they changed from white beans to brown beans. Once they were done toasting he dumped the beans out and we shelled them and took off the outer casing of the bean, you were now allowed to eat one if you wanted. I thought it was so gross, I’m not the biggest chocolate fan in the world so I don’t think I even had a chance to like it but they were so bitter and a wired texture, it was just overall gross in my opinion but oh well, he process was still awesome. From there they had a special grinder made for the beans, it was man powered so you had to crank a handle for the beans to come out in a paste like substance, it looked like brownie batter more than anything, nut again this paste was also very very bitter. We learned that 1 ton of this paste can sell for $1500, which is honestly not too much for the amount of pure cacao paste that is but it is what it is and they must do this for their own lively hood. Overall the cacao farm was a very interesting and impactful experience, we were taken through the process that makes it possible for us to consume chocolate that you never really think about to much.
From the cacao farm we headed over to the mangrove forests of Churute. While there is an abundance of biodiversity within the mangroves I was not too excited due to the number of bugs that they told us would be there. We all geared up in our fancy bug jackets, pants, and hoods to protect against the peskiness of these bugs, primarily mosquitos. We got to the mangroves and hiked out to where we were supposed to be meeting a boat for a ride through the mangroves, but the boast was not there, he ended up being very late. We all sat by the dock waiting, at this point we were starting to run late for the day and needed to get going. Finally, the boat came, it was like a long canoe that all of us were able to fit us by sitting two per row, that’s how narrow it was. It also felt like it could tip over at any given moment. Luckily, we stayed dry for the entire ride, we saw some very cool and interesting animals that liked to call the mangroves their home. We were out on the boat for about an hour or a little over an hour before coming back in and going on a short hike through the forest due to our limited time. This is where we had the biggest problem with the mosquitos, they were everywhere. And they were so relentless, they were biting me through my bug jacket!! On the short hike we were hoping to be able to see a couple of the howling monkeys, but we didn’t get so see them, however we definitely heard them, and they sounded pretty tough. After a short hike we turned back to get on the bus to take the climb to 13000 ft to Cajas National Park. I was pumped. This whole day I drank an insane amount of water to ensure that I wasn’t going to get sick and no be able to go on our hike when we got there.
We boarded the bus and started our journey up into the thin air of the Andes. Periodically my ears would pop, and I knew that we were climbing in altitude, and we were doing it very quickly. I adjusted well though and was so glad that I did. We finally arrived to Cajas and it was like nothing that I’ve ever seen before, that landscape was absolutely stunning. This was hands down my favorite park of the trip. It was just a vast grassy mountainous landscape, and we happened to get there towards the end of the day and it was beautiful, seeing the colors of the sunset there was an experience like no other. The hike again was amazing, the park is full of endemic plant species including multiple different species of medicinal plants used by the locals and indigenous people. The hike itself was unique in the sense that we had to walk so slow and breath so hard from it because of the altitude. Being at sea level is something that I have done my whole life, I’ve never really experienced anything like this before in my life and it felt awesome in a way even though it was harder for me to breathe. I wasn’t really worried about it because it was part of the experience of actually being there and being able to take in the sights and learn about the delicate ecosystem within the park and the various endemic plants to the park itself and what their uses are, it all culminated to a hike and experience that I will never ever forget.
Once we finished the hike the bus picked us up and we headed to Diego’s hometown of Cuenca. Cuenca sat at around 8,000 ft above sea level. We checked into the hotel Victoria which apparently used to be someone’s house and then the converted it into a hotel. Anyway, the hotel was on the edge of a ridge basically they were called hanging houses, so you entered on the ground floor but then everything was below you instead of above, so my room was on the bottom floor, so we had to go down 4 flights of stairs. The hotel was very rustic looking, and it was a very nice hotel. Diego planned a welcome dinner for us that night at the hotel restaurant. It was a great night to relax after a very long and demanding day. We then got to bed to rest up for the city tour the next day!