Rio Cinto, Ecuador - Day 2

Friday, January 21

Good morning from the Rio Cinto house deep in the Mindo rainforest. We all slept peacefully last night, though the river below us was roaring! I woke up around 5:30am and peered over the bed at Tory and Aden asleep on their mattresses by the window. Both kids had pillows pulled over their heads.

Cheryl, the owner of this airbnb, promised the kids she’d bring them fresh muffins this morning. Breakfast isn’t included in the meal plan, but she seems like such a sweet, thoughtful person & she offered the gesture from the heart. All of her food has so much love put in it; you can feel it.

I decided to do a workout on the outdoor patio. What a view! There’s even a yoga mat here, which I appreciated.

Speaking of yoga, this morning a friend of Cheryl’s came to host a private 90-minute yoga session for Andi and I. While we are busy with yoga, Cheryl’s son Patrick took Tory and Aden fishing for tilapia at their pond. I lathered Tory and Aden in bug spray because the mosquitos are pretty bad here (we are in the jungle, after all) and off they went with Patrick while Andi and I did yoga in the airbnb. The yoga instructor was so worried because she doesn’t speak English, but Andi and I assured her it’s fine — that we’d just watch her and follow along. And it really was enjoyable. I couldn’t help but look out the windows at the gorgeous rainforest before us and pinch myself at the thought of where we are right now & the experiences we’re fortunate enough to have.

When the kids returned from fishing, they told us all about it. First, they dug for grubs in the soil down by the river. Then, they took the worms to the pond where they fished for tilapia with bamboo poles tied with fishing line. They didn’t catch anything, but had fun trying. Patrick told Andi that the kids “know a lot of things about a lot of things” which I’m guessing means Aden talked his ears off. Ha ha.

After fishing, Tory and Aden went for a “swim” in the soaking tub. What a view! It almost doesn’t seem real.

Cheryl invited us to have lunch with her and her son Patrick in their kitchen, so we hiked up a steep hill to where they live about 10 minutes from the airbnb property. Over lunch, we learned more about her family’s story. She and her husband Jon (who’s not here this week) lived in Baltimore for many years. They felt the pull to have a farmstead one day where they’d live off the land, grow their own food and have some animals. When the market crashed in 2008, they took it as a sign to change career paths and make a go of their dream in a place they could afford to make it a reality — Ecuador. The cost of living is so cheap here; they bought this piece of land which was completely raw and uninhabited. Eleven years later, they have a small cabin for themselves and an outdoor cooking kitchen. Within the last year, they finished the airbnb cabin and started renting it to guests. Eventually, they’d like to have a few more airbnb cabins on the property. Cheryl does most of the hospitality piece and her husband, Jon, builds the cabins and works on the land. He is currently working to construct a new, larger home for them.

I was amazed at the quality of food Cheryl produces in her outdoor kitchen. It’s a large space, but completely open-air (and there are a lot of bugs here!) which would send me running for the hills after a while. She prepared for us a leek potato soup and paella for lunch with fresh melon juice. It was all delicious! Aden especially loved the fresh fish and shrimp. Seafood is popular in Ecuador, as well as many different fruits and vegetables that are not available at home in the US. Here, Tory is holding a jackfruit that Cheryl says can grow much larger than this.

Andi brought an Ecuador map along to lunch, and asked for Patrick’s opinion on where we should travel in Ecuador. Patrick bounces between living in Ecuador with his parents and working in the United States, and has traveled to various parts of Ecuador over the years. We are staying in Ecuador for 8 weeks total, but don’t have anything booked after the next two weeks so it’s good to get suggestions from locals about where to go.

Next, Patrick offered to give us a tour of their land. He has a background in agriculture and sustainable farming, so he was proud to show us the various techniques he is applying on the farm. We tried another cacao bean, right from the tree, and canistel which is a fruit that tastes oddly similar to egg custard.

Back at our airbnb, we relaxed and read books until dinnertime. It’s so peaceful being disconnected from technology. We have no choice but to relax, read, and spend time together. Later, Tory made us a game of Go Fish to play out of scraps of paper. I didn’t bring any toys with us on this trip other than a small pack of crayons and paper. It’s interesting to see all the ways Tory and Aden find to entertain themselves with so little.

Cheryl arrived at our airbnb around 7:30pm with dinner. Tonight, she made minestrone soup and homemade yucca pizza for dinner + homemade walnut cookies for dessert. We ate by candlelight again, which is so fun and different.

After dinner, the four of us snuggled up in the big king-size bed and watched a few episodes of TV shows Andi downloaded on Netflix.

Tomorrow, we say good-bye to the Rio Cinto house and move onto to the Cotopaxi region of Ecuador. We’ve really enjoyed our time in the Mindo area. What a wonderfully wet & humid, lush, tropical and peaceful place to call home.