Rio Cinto, Ecuador - Day 3

Saturday, January 22

Today, we are saying good-bye to the Mindo house in the jungle and traveling south to the Cotopaxi region of Ecuador.

Cheryl, the airbnb owner, delivered fresh muffins with a homemade caramel sauce to our door this morning. Tory and Aden — and let’s be honest — Andi are really enjoying all of Cheryl’s treats. Meanwhile, I did another workout on the outdoor patio this morning. It’s such a peaceful place to pray and stretch my body. When I open my eyes, I can’t believe my lush jungle surroundings.

Before we depart today, Cheryl and Andi arranged to have a masseuse come to the airbnb to give Andi and I massages. The masseuse arrived around 9:00am and set up her massage table on the outside patio with sounds of birds chirping and the roaring Rio Cinto below. Andi had his massage firs, while I packed our bags and then took Tory and Aden down to the river to play. Then, we switched and I got a massage while he played with the kids.

A driver came to the airbnb around Noon to pick us up. We said good-bye to both Cheryl and her son Patrick and thanked them for such a peaceful, relaxing stay in the Mindo jungle. It took us 45-minutes to drive the bumpy dirt road back to the town of Mindo where another driver we’d hired named Gustavo (the same driver that brought us to Mindo last Saturday) was waiting to take us to Cotopaxi.

As we neared the city of Quito, Gustavo suggested we stop at the Middle of the World Museum (Mitad del Mundo) because we were driving right by it. He thought Tory and Aden might enjoy the interactive exhibits inside the museum where you can experience the magnetic forces of the equator. Andi and I agreed it’d be a good time to stop as balancing an egg on the equator was on Aden’s must-do Ecuador bucket list. Also, I get a bit nauseous riding in the backseat of vehicles, so I welcomed the chance to stretch my legs and get some fresh air.

Right away, Andi and I could tell the Middle of the World Museum was a gigantic tourist trap, but Tory and Aden had said previously that they really wanted to stop here & in its purest form, it was kind of neat to stand at 00.00.00 latitude. The museum cost $4 per person, so it’s not like admission broke the bank by any means.

Inside the museum, we took an English-speaking tour where we learned about various cultures in Ecuador and conducted several experiments on the equator to test the gravitational pull. It was interesting to learn to learn the sun rises at 6:00am and sets at 6:00pm in Ecuador year-round, and that this is the closest place to the sun in all of the world.

Tory and Aden took turns attempting to balance an egg on the head of a nail, and we watched water swirl around the drain in different directions in the Northern & Southern Hemispheres. Right on the equator, there is no swirl — water goes directly down the drain. It was also surprisingly hard to close your eyes and walk in a straight line on the equator line. That’s because gravity in both hemispheres are pulling you to one side or the other. It sounds gimmicky, but it was actually true.

After the Middle of the World Museum, we hopped back in the car and continued driving through Quito to the Cotopaxi area. Andi and I were both in awe of the sheer size of Quito and number of people who live here. There isn’t a lick of green space! The city is concrete houses and buildings on top of concrete houses and buildings. Gustavo stopped at an overlook in the south part of Quito so we could see a partial view of the city. I’ve honestly never seen anything like it. It made me feel fortunate the countryside where our family calls home.

After five hours of driving, we finally arrived to our new accommodations near Machachi, Ecuador. The place we’re staying is called Papa Gayo, and it’s a small inn on a farm. There are several small cabins for guests here, as well as a main house that serves breakfast, lunch and dinner daily. There’s also animals on the farm including dogs, llamas, ducks, chickens, rabbits, goats, horses, pigs, and a donkey. Plus, there’s a really cool treehouse, underground submarine bunker and playground equipment for the kids. Right away, Tory and Aden fell in love with it here because there’s so much for them to do.

After we unloaded our bags in our cabin, the four of us walked over to the main house to check it out. The inside of the main house wasn’t anything like I expected. It has a bright, artsy feeling (a stark contrast to the dark wood inside our cabin) with lots of little nooks and crannies to sit and relax. Andi and I cozied up by the wood-burning fireplace and ordered hot tea and hot chocolates to sip on until dinnertime. The temperature is much cooler here than in Mindo where we just came from. While we were in the rainforest, I wondered if it was overkill that we brought warm clothes and winter coats, but now I see that weather changes very quickly in Ecuador. It’s best to dress in layers. The elevation at Papa Gayo is 9,500 feet, plus it was raining when we arrived so it felt very chilly outside.

The Papa Gayo restaurant doesn’t open until 7:30pm for dinner and by that time, we were all starving. None of us had eaten anything since breakfast this morning at the Mindo jungle house. As soon as the restaurant opened, we found a table and sat down to place our order. Aden was excited to see wings on the menu. It’s a popular food item in Ecuador which he is loving. Andi ordered the fish special which was a white fish with mustard sauce. Tory wanted the chicken soup and I ordered the grilled chicken plate.

Unfortunately, when our food arrived my order was somehow lost in translation and I received the chicken soup, same as Tory. It was the most bland soup I have ever eaten! It tasted like water with a few carrots in it. And of course, it happened on a night where I could have literally eaten my arm off I was so hungry! Tory handled her poor ordering choice much more gracefully. I could have told the waiter he made a mistake with my order, but by this time the restaurant was full of people so ordering something else would have taken forever. We were all tired and just wanted to go back to our cabin to crash for the night.

Back at our cabin, we promptly changed into our pajamas and called it a night. It had been a long day of traveling and we were all tired.

The area around Papa Gayo is known as the “Avenue of the Volcanoes” because several volcanoes including Corazon, Pasochoa, and Cotopaxi surround here. Additionally, Cotopaxi National Park is just minutes away. Tomorrow, when we’re rested and refreshed we’re excited to see what this area has to offer.