Written By Michaela, Latitudes Year ’22 Ecuador
Bienvenidos!
Un día en la vida a Rio Muchacho
For the last 8 weeks, I have been volunteering at Rio Muchacho- an organic farm and ecolodge located in a small valley north of Canoa, on the west coast of Ecuador. It’s pretty difficult to express how special this place is, if you’ve never had the pleasure to visit. It’s a daily occurrence for me to wake up awestruck by this bio diverse area with so many unique plants and animal species. Upon stepping foot onto this 24 acre property it’s impossible not to notice Dario, one of the Co-Founders (who is always sporting an all white outfit) lending a hand in any of his daily rituals (planting, weeding, harvesting,farming). He truly cares so much for this organic farm that he created, and is highly dedicated to expressing his passion to all visitors and volunteers that visit. When he first started Rio Muchacho, the land hardly had any trees due to the primary usage of the land for cattle. Through his years of permaculture work, he has been able to completely transform this piece of land and bring back so much wildlife and plant diversity as well as create a truly self sustainable farm.
Volunteers come from all over the world and I have spent much of my time with volunteers from Germany. Every day a different volunteer will wake up early before breakfast and help feed the animals and clean their areas. Living and working in a true “farm-to table” environment has been life changing.
Breakfast usually consists of a fruit salad, granola, and something that was baked over the fire. My favorite breakfast by far has been fresh baked bread that is rolled up with chocolate nestled inside. Yum!
Every morning after breakfast we harvest whatever is ready. Some days this could be passion fruit or limes and other days it could be eggplant or cucumbers. There are always plenty of okra and green beans to harvest daily. It is quite amazing just how much is grown here at Rio Muchacho and much of the diversity is attributed to the Humboldt current. Where Rio Muchacho is located, both dry climate and wetter climate plants are able to thrive.
The rest of the morning is spent doing other farm work which may be planting seeds, weeding, or preparing mulch beds.
For lunch we usually have soup, rice, beans, other local vegetarian dishes, and juice. The juice is always made fresh and my favorite has been the passion fruit juice.
After lunch we have time to rest and in the afternoon we do other various projects that usually include painting and organizing.
Everyday after our afternoon work, I try to go for a walk, run, or bike ride which is quite invigorating and the scenery here is beautiful. I usually end up at the yoga platform overlooking the river which is very relaxing and tranquil.
Dinner here is fairly quiet, but we are always able to watch the sunset from the kitchen.
What an amazing reward after a day of hard work!
After dinner, I journal, read, or play the guitar to relax. Things wind down here fairly early after sunset, but I am very appreciative to be able to get to bed early.
Weekends are usually spent in Canoa for me, along with the other volunteers. Canoa is the nearest town and has an amazing beach and a bunch of great restaurants. As much as I enjoy being at Rio Muchacho, it is nice to be able to spend an afternoon relaxing at the beach.
I have also been very involved with Ecotourism here at Rio Muchacho. Some days I spend with the visitors, whether that be giving a tour of the farm, walking to the giant tree or “mirador”, or making chocolate with them.
I have been fortunate enough to engage in Spanish lessons with Professor Belen and practice my Spanish everyday as everyone here at Rio Muchacho speaks mostly Spanish.
I was even able to visit my Professor’s hometown and explore the village of Sombreros of Panama of Picoazá. Yes, Panama Hats are made in Ecuador, not Panama! Who knew?!
I have to admit the adjustment to living on an organic farm with composting toilets, rustic housing, and little to no wifi was no easy task in the beginning. However I soon embraced my new way of life and the once in a lifetime opportunities that lay before me. I have learned invaluable lessons about sustainability and permaculture from Dario and the entire staff here that I plan to take back home with me. I couldn’t be more grateful for this experience and what it has taught me. Rio muchacho is such a special place to me and will always have a place in my heart❤️
I hope to return sometime soon.
Adiós por ahora.
Michaela
