Wow, this is flying by! I am already halfway through my Ecuador trip and have really gotten close with all my new friends, and I cannot wait to see where this week will go!
Today was a packed day filled with chocolate and walking through the river! Breakfast today had a twist, and instead of eggs, we had oatmeal, bread, and fruit. We then headed to the outside area to make chocolate from scratch!
I learned so much through this chocolate process. We first roasted the beans on the fire, then we peeled them and grinded them up. We then placed a bowl of water with different types of leaves like cinnamon, lemongrass, and orange leaves. You can also place other things like banana, ginger, vanilla, etc. to make different types of flavors. Then, we placed the ground up cacao in the water to get it to a chocolate thick texture. Once it got to the desired texture, we placed the pot on the table and poured it onto the plates where we then tried it alone and with bananas. It had a very bitter taste since it was pure chocolate, but I enjoyed it a lot.
Afterward, we all got changed and put on our boots to prepare for the river hike. (I was not prepared as much as I had thought). However, this hike was my favorite part of the trip thus far and really put me in an environment that I had never been in in my entire life, and probably will not be something I will ever get to experience again. The hike was through the river to fully immerse ourselves with Ecuador’s nature. We walked about 2 miles right in the river, and we had a point where we all had to swim for a minute or two to continue the hike. We saw small waterfalls, and at the end of our hike, we were in a small swimming area where we jumped off the rocks. This hike was super fun that I could have kept going despite all the mud.
We headed back to the lodge for a quick lunch of rice, salad, and a chicken and vegetable stir fry before our chocolate lesson and tasting with the Kallari brand. The tasting was very fun because we got to rate his brand flavors with other brands and their similar flavors. Throughout this trip, I feel that I changed my liking of chocolate, and I am starting to prefer dark chocolate with less sugary of taste. I had a lot of fun doing this and after, they sold their bars, cocoa powders, jewlery, and even had chocolate skincare to buy. I bought a few bars for my family, and I hope they stay good for the rest of the trip for when I get home.
I had a lot of time before dinner, so I went back to my dorm and did some packing to get ready for the Waorani tribe, where we will be spending the next two and a half days.
