Learning Where Chocolate Comes From in Mindo, Ecuador

February 27, 2014 Libby Zay

Quality chocolate is hard to come by in Ecuador. The good stuff may be grown inside the country's borders, but Ecuadorians rarely get a taste—most of it is saved to be exported. In all honesty, it is pretty safe to say that most baked goods in Ecuador are not on par with my expectations from back home in the U.S. The cookies are too crumbly and the cakes fall a little flat.

I don't mean to knock Ecuadorian bakers. There's a real reason why the treats are mediocre. That familiar yellow box with the arm and the hammer? You just won't find it on shelves here. Baking soda is a controlled substance that can only be purchased from a pharmacy in small quantities.

Needless to say, after living in Ecuador's capital city, Quito, for several months, I was definitely craving sweets. When my friend mentioned there was a “Chocolate Tour” that we could take on our mini-vacation to Mindo, I had my fingers crossed that my $3 would buy some quality baked goods. As it turns out, El Quetzal makes some deliciously rich and smooth chocolate that fully satisfied my cravings—and everything is grown and made right in Mindo.

This is where it all begins. Who knew?

The “pods,” the “nibs,” and the beans. The slimy outside of the pods tasted melon-y.

The pods get taken here to ferment in boxes.

Next we went to the drying tent.

El Quetzal was drying chiles for some spicy chocolate experimentation.

Next the beans are roasted. Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture—I think at this point I was mainly concerned with eating the chocolate. Which means I took a rather generous sample of this cocoa-goo that tasted awfully bitter without any sugar added.

A whole bunch of other stuff happens, and then voila! Chocolate bars. (Hey, I can’t give away all their secrets)

At the conclusion of the tour, you get to nibble on a brownie and then choose either a scoop of homemade ice cream or a hot chocolate to enjoy. Did I mention an Ecuadorian specialty is to melt cheese into hot chocolate? I will spare you the details of my stringy hot chocolate misadventure, but I would like to say that the chocolate tour in Mindo is well worth your money. If you’re like my friends and me, you’ll probably go back the next day to buy more brownies to snack on during the bus ride home. And to hoard for breakfast throughout the next week.

Scout Adventure #9 // Lost in Translation Over Ecuador's Cloud Forest

December 4, 2013 Libby Zay

I was really, really, really apprehensive about going zip lining. Let’s just say my fear of heights combined with a perceived lack of safety concerns in Ecuador did not exactly have me rushing to propel myself across the jungle on a steel cable. I even skipped out on zip lining on an earlier trip to Mindo — a misty, mountainous jungle town set in what's known as the "cloud forest" — but the second time around I had no excuse. So up I went. After we paid our $10 and got suited up (hellooo man crotch and helmet hair!), my friends and I were shuffled onto a platform along with an Ecuadorian family. As we stared down on the forest canopy, our group was given the lowdown by one of the zip line guides. The only problem was, he was giving his safety spiel in Spanish, a language my friends and I only have basic knowledge of. As he relayed what seemed like very important information my friends and I exchanged more than the occasional nervous glance. This was well beyond my ability to translate menus or stumble through giving directions; based on the Ecuadorian family's intense listening and nodding, I could tell he was advising us on what to do and what absolutely not to do. But what, exactly, the latter was — well, I could not comprehend that for the life of me.

Fortunate for us, at the end of his speech he did say one word I know: “preguntas?” (in English, that's "questions?"). Nervously, I spit out “Sí, hablas inglés?” (Yes, do you speak English?). I'm pretty sure my voice even cracked a bit. The guide and the Ecuadorian family we were about to defy death with erupted in laughter. Mercifully, the guide ended up knowing enough English to direct us on how to save ourselves from an untimely demise — or at the very least, getting stuck hanging in the middle of a line high above the forest canopy. Before I knew it, we were laughing and joking and the sassy Ecuadorian mom was proclaiming “I’m 50 and this is my first time zip lining!” Well, if she can do it, I guess I can give it a shot.

One-by-one I watched Sassy Mom, her husband and two sons, and finally my friends take turns zip lining across the forest. The zip line was so lengthy that by the time each one of them got to the other side, I couldn't even see them anymore. As the last one left standing on the platform, my nerves had built up and I was secretly happy when the guide offered to travel across with me. I attached my caliper to his and braced myself for the ride, but before taking off he asked me (in Spanglish) something about doing an “activity.” Already feeling a little embarrassed by my obvious lack of Spanish, I shrugged my shoulders and agreed. “OK, MARIPOSA!” he demanded and within a millisecond I was flying across the forest doing the “butterfly,” a move that had me spread eagle, upside-down. And screaming my head off. Perhaps crying a little bit.

Having accomplished the most action-packed zip lining pose on my first run, the rest of the 13 lines were a cinch. Sometimes I went solo, sometimes we doubled up, and sometimes the guides pulled the lines up and down to make us bounce across the forest. OK, that last part was kind of terrifying, but I did manage to relax enough to actually take in the views of the forest from above. By the end I was sad our zip lining adventure was over, and I think I may have been married off to one of Sassy Mom’s sons. Looks like it's time to brush up on my Spanish for real.