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Published: August 19th 2015
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The Chocolate Pod
This is where the chocolate story starts Just a short little blog as we finish our time in Ecuador with the realisation that we have been married for a month (there was a quiet moment of reflection while on the boat for the two of us on the 28th) and that we have spent the majority of our married life so far in Ecuador. And what a month it has been; we have hiked around crater lakes and through canyons, ventured through the Galapagos, swam with sea lions and bird watched more than we ever thought we wanted to, gorged on vegetarian food, mountain biked down a volcano, visited traditional markets, met some great people and stood on the equator. And our final 2 days in Ecuador didn't disappoint us.
While we were still on a bit of a downer following the end of our Galapagos, one of our fellow tourists, who hails from Quito, took us out to dinner on the Wednesday. A beautiful place, it felt like we were on top of Quito, the views were simply stunning, with a clear view of the Basillica, the Virgin Mary statute and all the lights of Quito houses up and down the surrounding volcanoes and
Chocolate Pod
And this is what the fruity bit in the middle looks like. valleys putting on a show.
The next day, we moved to a small little town about 2 hours north-west of Quito, called Mindo. This little town, in one of the cloud-forests at the foot of the Andes, is home to about 3000 people, and is seemingly only just getting its fingers into the tourism pie, with lots of development going on around town, but we definitely enjoyed the non-touristy feel of the place. Upon arrival, Renee had coincidently booked our stay at the Casa de Cecelia, right next door to the local artisanal chocolate factory, El Quetzal. So once checked in, we completed the tour, and learnt how chocolate gets created from the cacao fruit/pod stage all the way through to the chocolate bar stage, and how all the derivatives are also created. Actually being able to taste 'chocolate' at these different stages helped us realise how much effort goes into making the proper chocolate we love, and we should appreciate it more. I don’t think we’ll be eating that Cadbury bar all too soon, we’ll stick to our homemade chocolate delights.
El Quetzal also has a cafe in the building, and over our
Chocolate Nibs
Another early part of the chocolate creation process 2 days there we had 2 meals, one with a massive club-like sandwich made from locally made and grown hams, cheeses and bread and then the second meal, where Pete finally had an enjoyable steak in Ecuador! It was cooked as requested, was actually thicker than a piece of bbq steak from home, and was accompanied by a coffee sauce (another product they make locally). Pete was a happy man. Renee even tried, and enjoyed a locally grown and brewed Ginger beer, but nothing was as good as their brownies. They were everything a chocolate brownie should be.
While in Mindo, we did a spot of birdwatching in a rather large, self-created rainforest in a backyard, visited the Mindo Butterfly farm and visited a range of waterfalls. The bird watching was interesting, and the hundreds of birds and dozens of species that inhabited the garden there was pretty cool. Along with the hummingbird species, we saw various species of finches and a couple of toucans. Despite our best efforts, we just couldn't get the perfect hummingbird photo, but we had a fair go at it. The butterfly farm, although not as big and without the grand variety
Hummingbird
These were everywhere in Mindo, and it took many attempts to get a photo this clear. of the Kuranda Butterfly farm, had an abundance of butterflies that land on your fingers; just put a bit of banana on your finger. Tahdah! At the farm, we could see the butterflies in different stages of their development, and our 'English speaking' guide did his best to explain the process to us. We spent the majority of the second morning doing the cascades hike just outside Mindo, visiting the various waterfalls in a rainforest that reminded us both a lot of North Queensland. It was quite surreal being in this environment, after the previous 3 weeks in Ecuador.
As said earlier, the first month of marriage has been awesome! Very few people get this sort of experience in their lives, and that we can experience as a newly married couple has made it just that much better. And the fun continues. Next it is Peru for about 3 weeks, with lots of towns to visit, a massive trip down the Amazon and a gigantic trek up to Machu Picchu. So until next time - Pete and Renee
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Jean Rosse
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Blog 6
Love it. Take care Renee and Peter and enjoy what is coming. Love from both of us.