2 days in and the adventures have commenced. Our second morning in Quito started with breakfast, consisting of eggs, fresh fruit, croissant-like pastries, and fresh juice but instead of strawberry it was tomate de árbol, which translates to “tree tomato”, I preferred the strawberry. after breakfast we had some time to pack our bags and get ready for our first site visit to the chocolate company Yumbos.
Yumbos was located in the same square as yesterday, the Plaza de San Francisco, and inly about a 5 minute walk from our hotel. Once we were inside we were greeted by the friendly staff and we sat down for a chocolate talk and tasting. First they had us try all the different parts of a cocao, including the sweet and yet tart white fruit surrounding the seed, the syrup produced from it, and a roasted cocoa bean, then we tried the syrup and bean together-it was interesting. We also learned about the history of cocoa and the process by which chocolate is produced from the bean. We also rubbed cocoa butter on our hands and they became super soft. Then we tried over 10 different chocolate flavors and we got guess the flavor before it was revealed to us. They then gave us these brownies and hot chocolate and I have never had such a good brownie in my life. It was gooey but not raw and so rich and smooth-I wish I had access to it anytime I wanted a sweet treat. Shortly after, we got to buy some chocolate and I got 3 bars and a bag; the bars were milk chocolate blueberry and 75% cocoa and coffee, plus a bag of the chocolate that they use to make the brownies along with the recipe. (Peep Skip in the background).
After leaving Yumbos, we headed back to the hotel and brought our bags down so that they could be stored after checkout and before we left for our next tour. We had about 2 hours of free time to walk around Quito and get lunch so Leah and I walked around till we passed a restaurant that we passed the day before – it ended up being Sicilian and we both got caprese sandwiches – they were delicious. After lunch we walked to Kitu, which is another chocolatier that part of our group went to day before. Ironically, when we went to the location, the rest of the crew was at Kitu’s other location in Quito ran by the brother. I tried their coconut bonbon and it was soooo good. We then made our way back to the hotel so that we could head to our next stop – Bios.
Bios, another well known chocolate factory was on the way to our next stop, Otavalo, and only about 20 minutes from our hotel in Quito. When we got there, we got see their factory and we were given an amazing presentation by the 4th generation owner Davide, who was as knowledgeable as he was enthusiastic. His presentation included history on cacao, how it started to be used, how it progressed eventually to the chocolate we know today, a history on Ecuador and emphasis on the fact that Cacao was first found in Ecuador. He taught us about all the different flavor profiles; fruity, earthy, floral, caramel, etc. He also shared the history of his family and how they originally were in Europe when the company was founded and then moved to Latin America, and eventually Ecuador.
We got to try all kinds of incredible and unique flavors, even ones that were newly created and not open for public distribution yet. The most astounding thing I learned when there is that a lot of their flavored chocolates do not have extra ingredients added to create the flavor, the flavor comes from the cacao beans. Davide explained that the cacao plants roots have receptors that grow tiny spores and those spores are what create the flavor, such as the banana chocolate we tried, however, cacao beans like that are a lot harder to find. After our tasting we got to actually enter the working part of the factory where Davide surpassed us with homemade pistachio paste and chocolate, and fresh strawberries so we could create our own “Dubai chocolate” strawberries. It was delicious but extremely rich after that we got to walk around and he explained all of the machinery to us. We then got take part in the actual chocolate making process, helping to remove chocolate from the molds and then getting to wrap our own chocolates- which we got to take with us. Finally, we got to purchase bars of chocolate at a special rate since we were buying directly from the factory – I bought 27 bars of chocolate… the most of anyone in the group. I have a lot of people I promised Ecuadorian chocolate.
Leaving Bios, we had about a 2 hour ride to Otavalo. Before getting to the hotel, we stopped in downtown Otavalo to get dinner, it was right in front of the square we would be visiting the next day and it had a gorgeous rooftop terrace where we had dinner. The view was incredible and the outline of the nearby volcanos stood out as a darker figure in the distance.
This morning, day 3 of our trip, we had a full day in Otavalo. We started with breakfast at the hotel, consisting of the best strawberry juice I have had yet, eggs, and rolls with some sort of sweet fruit jam. We then left and ventured into the main part of the city where we went back to the same restaurant as before and our translator Gabby translated for us while we got a presentation from two local Otavalo Quechua people, Maria and Alfonso. During the presentation we got fresh orange juice and it was not like any orange juice I had before, I actually thought it was a mild pineapple. After the talk we finally got to explore the market full of goods mainly produced by the locals.
Rows and rows of colorful scarves, blankets, tapestries, ponchos, all made from alpaca hair. there were copious amounts of jewelry made with Ecuadorian silver and local stones and shells. There were tons of beaded items as well, hummingbird keychains, bracelets, necklaces, etc. We got to spend a couple hours there and I picked out gifts for my family and close friends. I got myself a bracelet with lapis lazuli stones in a gold wire. I really had to grow some skin during the experience as I learned to bargain with the vendors; some of them were flexible with prices whereas others would not budge. I can’t count on my hands how any times I said “no, gracias” or “we will be back”.
We then went to lunch at a nearby Ecuadorian restaurant and the food was delicious, I tried blackberry juice and it might be my new favorite juice. After lunch we had a few more hours to walk around the market and explore more of the city in groups. Emily, Leah, and I went back to the market to grab a few last minute things and then made our way around to pop in different shops along the way. At this point we were all exhausted and decided it was time for some caffeine. we found a really yummy coffee shop and I got a dulce de leche latte and Emily got a frozen matcha latte – I tried it and it was the first time I enjoyed matcha. We hung out at the cafe until it was time to return to the hotel.
When we got back we all decided it was time for a quick power nap. I got maybe 25 minutes of sleep before my alarm went off and we went downstairs for a surprise. We got to try a traditional drink, it was quite delicious and was warm with chopped pineapples, I am not sure what else was in it. We got an incredible musical performance by one of the locals and all danced together. Gabby and another gentleman taught us some traditional dances. Afterwards, we went back downtown and got dinner at a new restaurant. I got chicken empanadas and they were amazing, juicy and fresh. The restaurant also had a great terrace so dinner was full of beautiful views and fun conversations. Once we finished dinner, we hopped on the bus and headed back to the hotel. As a group we decided to go and hang out on the terrace and listen to some music. It was a great way to end the night.
The dog in the picture is one of the owners dogs and an absolute sweetheart. There are actually a ton of dogs, both stray and pets, and almost all of them are friendly. PSA* don’t pet the stray dogs. The same dog in the picture almost got into a fight with another dog from a few houses down, He however stood his ground and the other dog walked away.