September 10, 2006 4:00 PM

What a beautiful weekend! I spent the last two days with my host parents at their farm in the cloud forest, four hours from Otavalo (and west of Quito). Home to orchids, butterflies, vine-draped vegetation and mist, the cloud forest in Ecuador is a region of amazing biodiversity. Hector and Rosario are in the final stages of building a hostel for ecotourism to which they plan to devote their retirement. The accommodations are extremely simple, but comfortable. Bug spray is a must and still didn’t keep me from being eaten alive – maybe I should have taken those malaria pills after all. And the views are just unbelievable. The area is lush and green even now in the dry season (it did rain both days, not too dry to me). The mornings and late afternoons are characterized by a rolling mist that makes its way down the mountains, and in between the sun shines in a blue sky.

We arrived late Friday night, so I really couldn’t appreciate the beauty of the region through which we drove. Although I could appreciate the dirt road we traveled for 45 minutes as I bumped and jostled in the back of the 4x4. Saturday morning we all woke up early and enjoyed cups of coffee, and bowls of papaya and bananas – all grown on the farm. I was then treated to a tour of the area to include a few schools, villages, and an explanation of local flora and fauna – some of which I actually understood.

I also visited a produce co-operative run by a cousin of Hector’s (everyone seemed to be his cousin in this place, which I guess isn’t difficult when you have ten siblings) so the explanation and tour I received was pretty full-on. I learned about how the co-op works to set prices and create a more efficient way to bring goods to market while still being fair to the local growers. Aside from different kinds of beans and corn, the co-op also sells crafts made from loufa. Up until yesterday, I a) assumed that loufa was a sea vegetable, and b) that all it was good for was sloughing off dead skin in the shower. Well, how wrong I was. First of all, it’s actually the fruit of a plant that is native to this part of Ecuador and it can be used to make all sorts of things: sandals, lamp shades, dolls, and even manger scenes.

Also during the day Rosario and I went swimming in a very cold river with a bunch of local kids. Afterward we enjoyed lunch at a small restaurant, or sorts. It was actually more like someone added a few extra picnic tables to their dining room and everyday invited people to come in for the meal being cooked. The twelve people there all got the same thing, including a chicken soup in which one lucky guy at our table ended up with the chicken’s foot. I spent the afternoon lounging in a hammock, reading and dozing, and the evening playing cards with Rosario and Hector. It was awesome.

We left mid-morning today and the drive back was stunning. Had I been the one driving, we never would have gotten back. I would have had to pull over every five minutes to get out and take pictures. As it was I went home with over 200 pics from not even two days. We did make two stops through – the first to visit an archeological site dating back to before the Incas conquered (what is now) Ecuador, and a roadside restaurant that served the biggest empanadas I’ve ever seen.

So now I’m back in Otavalo feeling well-rested and ready for another week of my little angels at Muenala.