It’s day 2 and we started by taking our bus to Cotopaxi, Ecuador. We had our first site visit at Jet Fresh Flower Growers, a boutique rose farm. They not only had adorable dogs running around but took us through acres of their different rose varieties. Unlike rose farms in Holland that have to rely on gas-powered glass greenhouses to grow their roses, Ecuador’s constant warm climate allows them to use plastic greenhouses. My favorite rose type was “Sweet 4 Love” because of its perfect light pink color. Other than the natural rose colors we’re used to seeing, they also sell hippy psychedelic roses. These color-enhanced flowers are airbrushed and dyed and are very bright and colorful. It was also interesting to see the intricate process on how they prepare the roses for shipping. They were so welcoming . They gave us each a rose with “University of Pittsburgh” stamped on it and a bunch of Ecuadorian snacks to try.

After that, we went to Hacienda San Agustin de Callo which had gorgeous architecture. At the end of the tour, we were suprised with llama feeding! Whenever I tried to feed them the carrots, they would immediately try to eat all of them out of my basket. Last, we went to a chocolate-making factory where we learned about how chocolate is made from bean to bar. We got to see where they ferment the seeds and grind them into a powder before mixing it with the other powders. We were also able to make our own chocolate by putting a Reese’s-like filling in molds. Then, they covered those molds in chocolate and we got to package each mini bar to bring home!