On day two in Ecuador we woke up nice and early to the same breakfast we had yesterday: eggs, fruit, and croissants. We then walked a couple minutes away to our first chocolate tasting at Yumbos. We tried so many unique flavors that included lemongrass, ginger, coffee, mocha, sea salt and chile, mint, tangerine, and blueberry. Blueberry was by far my favorite as it was more of a milk chocolate. They also gave us brownies and hot cocoa, and wow was it good. The brownie was the best I had ever had. It was fudgy but crunchy on top but not too sweet. They also let us try their cacao butter and jarabe de cacao which is a sauce made out of the meat around the cacao beans. It is very sweet but almost sour as well, and I liked it so much I bought a bottle to bring home.
After that adventure we went to get lunch at a place called Querubín where I got a ham and cheese sandwich with passion fruit juice. The juice was so so good and fresh, I loved it. We ate in this beautiful courtyard we found with a fountain and lots of flowers. We then walked around Quito for a little until we had to pack up and head to another chocolate tasting. We went to Bios and tried jasmin, banana, blackberry macadamia, orange, prune/fig, mango, and other flavored chocolates. My favorites were definitely mango and blackberry macadamia. The owner then surprised us with Dubai chocolate covered strawberries to eat while we took a tour of the factory. After the tour he let us unmold small chocolates and taught us how to wrap them. The owner was so nice and very funny. He also told us he only hires single mothers which I thought was very impactful.
Finally after Bios we started our two hour ride to Otavalo. I unfortunately got pretty carsick but started feeling better once we got to our destination. For dinner we went to a place called Quinde, and I got a burger. They had a beautiful rooftop view where we chilled for a little bit before we made our way to Hostel Curinan and ended our day at about 2:00am.
One thing that I’ve really enjoyed so far is the fresh juices you can get at basically any restaurant. So far I’ve tried passion fruit, blackberry, strawberry, soursop, and pineapple. They’re so fresh and refreshing and pair well with any meal in my opinion.
