Being a big fan of chocolate, when I was in Ecuador, the country whose postage stamps feature the national bean «arriba fino de aroma» I wanted to volunteer on a cacao farm. Northwest of Quito (the capital) is an area with a constantly humid climate known as «Bosque Nublado», which translates to «cloud forest». This region is home to the small tourist village of Mindo, famous for its hundreds of hummingbirds. Aside from these birds and the charm of the place, what attracted me most was the presence of 3 artisanal chocolate factories (yum 😋).
But no sooner had I arrived than I learned that 40km away, in Mashpi, a cacao farm/chocolate factory was hiring volunteers. Masphi is the kind of village you can’t find on Google Maps… trusting the locals’ explanations, I set out early one morning for a 3-hour journey: 1 hour by bus, 1 hour hitchhiking and then 1 hour walking. It’s 9am when I almost reach the Mashpi Chocolate farm. On the dirt road, a gap in the trees opens up to a magnificent landscape with a picturesque atmosphere…