the colors of ecuador

San Cristóbal, Galápagos Islands


Mindo

On walls and in the skies, the colors of this country catch my eyes.

the dogs of ecuador

Quito


Mindo


Isabela, Galápagos Islands

machete man in mindo

He's in his mid-80s and still uses a machete for about an hour a day. He calls it easy work.

mindo's magic

Chocolarte



Three weeks after the fact, our kids were still talking about our second stop - Mindo. Why? La gente. Mindo was a small enough place that the kids were able to engage with the community. One of them was sitting in the park one day when a small pair of hands covered her eyes. It was one of the girls from the playground. Familiar faces ducked out of shops and latched onto our kids' waists and necks. Religious processions passed us on the street as we ate dinner. We were welcome.

Our last night in Mindo, our kids peeled, roasted and ground cacao seed to make cocoa powder at a quaint shop called Chocolarte. This powder was mixed with water and heated to make a thin, rich fondue. We crowded around the gigantic bowl and dipped strawberries, bananas and fresh coconut into the sinful mix, family style.

mindo in mind

While in Mindo, a highlight was an afternoon of community service. While one group of students used machetes to clean up the town square, another group went to spruce up a playground. First we cleaned the grounds, which was full of liter and even the bones of dead animals. Then our students painted and repaired several swings. The kids on the playground slowly warmed to our kids. By the end, they were all covered in paint and helping our efforts. The day ended with piggy back ride races and giant hugs. Over at the town square a similarly beautiful story unfolded when citizens of Mindo saw our kids working and started coming out one by one with their machetes to help.

angel paz

Angel Paz told Cariño to jump onto the trunk of a tree. Cariño jumped. Cariño? Cariño who? A bird.

We woke up at 4:30 a.m. to go with Angel to see the Cock-of-the-Rock. The bright red feathers of the birds flashed through the leaves of the dense canopy. Dozens of camera shutters opened and closed. The forest and its inhabitants provided the rest of the soundtrack. The cameras pointed through the trees, zoomed to maximum length, at the birds. I watched, then pointed my camera at Angel. Why is it that I love photographing people so much more than animals? I can't say. Lucky for me, I don't often get assigned to photograph birds for the newspaper.

As for the birds, I can still see them in my mind. You'll have to imagine them, but I can show you Angel. Bird whisperer.

granadilla y ají

Two lovely discoveries from Ecuador - granadilla and ají. The fruit may look like caviar, but its taste is sweet and bursting with fruity flavor. Ají was everywhere, in bottles and bowls. I used ají like most Americans use ketchup. I never really liked ketchup, but ají? Now we're talking!