My earliest memory of the Galápagos was grade school, when their famous birds were used as an example of active evolution. I was well into my teens before I consciously realized that the Galápagos was a series of hundreds of islands ranging in size from tiny country to “does it really count?” Also, they’re famous …

Despite the Teleférico itself being a lift that takes you to the top of a summit, the real trip starts after you take the first step on the hiking path. It’s all uphill from there. Yesterday I spent about seven hours hiking up and largely falling down (in a most efficient manner, I might add) Cruz …

Salinas is a relatively small beachfront town on Ecuador’s southern coast, a 10-hour bus ride from Quito, with direct buses leaving from Quitumbe Station every night. You can fall asleep on the bus and wake up on the coast. What more could you need for a long weekend away? Coastal Ecuador Outside Esmeraldas Salinas blends into the …

In the U.S., we see way too much perfect fruit. Our expectations as to what fruit looks like in the wild have been inflated roughly to the size of one of those supermarket watermelons. It’s affected by advertising, by social media, and by the imag standards which supermarkets now have to uphold, by consumer demand. …

I realize that it sounds silly to hate these seemingly innocuous creatures, but if you’ve ever had a goose quacking outside of your room at 2am, you know what I mean. There is goose shit absolutely everywhere. The kitchen & inside the cabins have only been saved because we have gates and doors to keep …

As my last post as a teenager, this post will discuss the realities of working on a farm and expound upon the excessive hammocking I have been doing since arriving in Ecuador last month. Life Tips From a Chill Expert I have learned that life is kind of like sitting in a hammock you didn’t set up yourself. …

On the farm here in northern Ecuador, we pick and process cacao every other Thursday, allowing us to control each step of the bean-to-bar chocolate making process. Preparing the Premiere Wonder Grinder Part of our weeks-long chocolate making endeavor is the simultaneous grinding & conching of the fermented & dried & newly-roasted cacao beans. To do this in a more …

It feels like I’ve been in Ecuador for years now, despite a mere two weeks having passed. I’m still surprised when I get the “what is this gringa doing here” look everywhere I go. I’m pretty sure that even other travelers have perfected it, but it’s definitely most prominent in the small town close to the farm …

To start my time in Ecuador, both my suitcases were left in the Mexico City airport. The Short End of The Stick Has a Silver Lining So logically the next step was to go straight from Quito to the Finca, no passing go, and then double back and pass go by buying some underwear in …