After ten days in the Galapagos and two days in the capital of Quito, we began the final leg of our journey; two days in the Andes Mountains and the Mindo Could Forest; first stop, Mit del Mundo, or Middle of the World. Ecuador is one of only 13 countries that straddle the equator, and you can therefore stand in both the northern and southern hemispheres simultaneously.
The official monument is a highly visited tourist site located about 40 minutes from the town of Quito. There is a museum and several activities to do related to the equator. However, our guide Vivian from Tours by Locals had other plans for us. She called her friend, a vendor at the tourist site, and he met us at his shop, where he had done extensive research on the equator using ancient techniques. According to him, the tourist site has been proven to be a few tenths of a second off the equator but is relatively insignificant. It was all quite interesting. After hearing his information, reading the displays, and taking photos, we headed deeper into the Andes.
The next stop on our journey was the Pululahua volcanic crater, part of the Pululahua Geobotanical Reserve. Our first thought was, “Oh, just another volcano caldera.” Boy, were we wrong!
Considered one of the world’s largest volcanic craters, the caldera is just over 3 miles wide and is believed to be extinct, but who knows? It is also one of two populated craters in the world whose first inhabitants were the Incas. Yes, that’s right, people live inside the volcano!! We found this quite brave of them, and we’re not sure we would do it. Nevertheless, it was a beautiful view from the top. There is a narrow winding road in and out, which our guide was not about to travel, and occasionally residents climb up the sides to reach the top and adjoining bus stops.
Following our brief visit to Pululahua continued our drive deeper into the Andes to the small village of Yungilla, where we would be spending the night. Yungilla is a fascinating little village in the Yungilla Valley bordered by the Pululahua Reserve to the east and the Maquipucuna and Pahuma Reserves to the west. The valley contains many fruit trees, including mangoes, oranges, bananas, avocados, and lemons. However, it wasn’t always that way.
Until the late 1990s, the primary source of income was wood cutting for charcoal production. As a result, almost the entire area was deforested. Since then, with the help of international organizations, they have developed more sustainable sources of income and have been able to reforest nearly the entire area. We were hosted by a local family who was part of a tourist cooperative providing housing and tours for tourists and students who come to study and learn how to replicate their success.
After meeting our hosts and having lunch, we set out to tour the village and the surrounding area. The first tour stop was a restaurant built by the cooperative. We were joined on our tour by a local college student studying sustainable communities and planning to return and further help her village. She was extremely knowledgeable and a brilliant young lady. She explained the history of the area and the purpose of the cooperative as we went to a restaurant that the cooperative had built. Unfortunately, it was not open, but we learned that it grew much of its ingredients and employed 35 people who otherwise would have limited sources of income.
As I mentioned, the area contains fruit trees such as mango, banana, oranges, etc. The next stops were two very small kitchens, one of which residents used the local fruits to manufacture a selection of local jams and jellies. We were fortunate to have a tasting, and they were delicious! The second kitchen was used to make cheese. Also, very tasty. Our host’s husband, Byron, was on the board of the cooperative, and his role was to take the local products to Quito, a little over an hour away, and sell/distribute them to local vendors.
The final stop on our tour was La Casa de los Abuelos (Grandparents House). This place is somewhat of a living museum where, on weekends, older community residents teach children skills such as painting traditional symbols on wood and paper making.
It was a wonderful day of touring; it was time to return to our host’s house for dinner and rest. We did have a little time to visit; this is my buddy Bengie in the picture below. We spoke hardly any Spanish, but our host, I think her name was Maria, spoke some English so we could communicate effectively. The next day we will be off to Mindo and some sights along the way.
After saying farewell to our hosts, our guide, Vivian, whisked us off to our first stop of the day, the Alambi Reserve, where we observed hundreds of hummingbirds flying between the forest and the many feeders. The owner of this family-run reserve even gave us small containers of food, and the hummingbirds landed upon us and ate right out of our hands! It was amazing!
Just a short walk down the hill was the Cloud Coffee Company. Owned by the same family, this company was formed by an American who purchased land in the area and pays the local family to manage and grow the coffee beans. There was even a little cafe where you could purchase coffee and a snack. I’m told it was very good, but I am not a fan of coffee.
Just a short drive from the Alambi Reserve is the Butterflies of Mindo, a butterfly garden and observatory. The garden contains many varieties of butterflies in all stages of development. We were able to see hundreds of butterflies fluttering about. We also saw cocoons and the metamorphosis of pupae into full-fledged butterflies, which was quite interesting to watch. Did you know that most adult butterflies only live about two weeks? We do now.
After a fantastic morning, we headed to Mindo for lunch, with one stop along the way, Minjoy Park. The chairlift from the parking lot to the park lets you capture beautiful views of Mindo and the surrounding forest. When you go, you have two options. The first is to ride the up and return immediately, or hop off and hike one of the many trails before returning. Due to time constraints, we chose the immediate return. We enjoyed the ride and the beautiful cloud forest. Afterward, we found a local restaurant and had lunch before our remaining tour stops.
Our next stop was the Armonia Orchid Garden. The garden, which also offers lodging and tours, contains approximately; ly 250 species of orchids. We took a guided tour which lasted about 45 minutes and only cost a couple of dollars. We had no idea that there were so many species and that some were so small, I’d say about the size of a quarter. Plants there are grown and reproduced and replanted in the forest. They are also used for teaching, research, and demonstrations. Though I am not a big flower person, I found it informative and a nice way to spend an hour or so.
Our final stop of the day was Yumbos Chocolate. Mindo has several chocolate makers, but according to our guide, Yumbos is the best. Upon entering the shop, we were ushered to the rear, where there was a small outdoor patio where a guide explained the process of going, selecting, fermenting, drying, and roasting the chocolate beans. A tasting of different types of chocolates and chocolate products followed this. Finally, we were walked through a demonstration of the roasting process. The guide explained that the entire process was done by hand using traditional techniques. Then, of course, we purchased some things to take home. When asked about buying in the U.S. or having chocolates shipped, we were reminded that Ecuador has no postal service and shipping anything anywhere is nearly impossible and prohibitively expensive, which is unfortunate, but maybe someday. It was the perfect way to cap off our day.
Sadly, it was time to go home. After a 2 1/2 hour ride back to Quitoa, Vivian dropped us off at the airport, where we awaited our flight home. We loved visiting Ecuador, seeing many wonderful things and meeting many great people. There are a lot of other places we would like to visit, but I wouldn’t rule out visiting Ecuador again. If you’d like to know more, please read one of my other posts or contact me. Thanks for reading, and happy travels!