Entering the Cacao farm that grew the pest and disease resistant fruit, CCN-51, as well as the national fruit
Diego Talking to us about the fruit and giving us a raw bean to suck on, I did not like it very much.
Peeling the toasted beans
Tait also took a try at it
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Walking through the farm and seeing where the fruits grow
The owner of the farm shows Diego up and shows us how to reall cut the fruit open
I took a turn grinding up the beans into a nice paste
The owner of the farm was letting us all smell the finished product, this is what they sell to chocolate companies for manufacturing
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Making REAL hot chocolate
Me in my fancy bug jacket as we waited for the boat
Our boat ride through the mangroves
My entertainment for the duration of the boat ride
We started our journey up to 13,000 ft above sea level!
Approaching Cajas National Park
Our first stop at Cajas
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Our boat ride through the mangroves
Our boat ride through the mangroves
Our hike through the forest, this is where we encountered the all the mosquitos they were even biting though my bug jacket it was insane
Climate and vegetation kept changing as we rose in elevation
Approaching Cajas National Park
Driving to the start of our hike
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The various videos below document my favorite part of the whole trip, the views that we saw were simply amazing and were quite literally and figuratively breath taking. Take your time to scroll through and see some of the views i saw, sometime the camera doesn't even do the landscape justice, and some of the videos look pretty good. It was just a whole different experience witnessing it in front of your eyes
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A flower that is endemic to the park
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