Rio Muchacho

Why go all the way to Ecuador to visit an organic farm? Don’t we have these in the UK? Well..yes, we do, but this one is very special. It’s quite unique, even for Ecuador. It is situated in transitional forest, neither rainforest or dry forest, but a mixture of the two with species of flora and fauna from each.

We spent four days at Rio Muchacho organic farm and loved almost every minute of it. It wasn’t the easiest of trips and challenged us all in different ways. We stayed in a wooden cabana which was sufficient and functional, but very damp due to the humidity. We also shared our lodgings with many creatures that we had to learn to live with rather than try evict, after all, we were guests in their house! Within 24 hours all of our clothes and bedding were damp and foisty, uncomfortable but not unlivable. We had the same accommodation as everyone else there, saw that they just got on with it…and did the same. I have to admit though, we have never smelled so bad in our entire lives. We wore damp clothes (that grew mould in the short time we were there), showered in brown water pumped from the river (hygienically clean, but definitely not clear) and were coated head to toe in mud and sweat everyday. The heat and humidity was quite overwhelming. The winning factor was that we looked and smelled just like everyone else there! It was as we expected it to be in that respect, but the reality of living it is a little harder after a few days of being constantly wet. But…we didn’t let that get us down.

We had so many adventures on the farm, expected and unexpected. The girls showed a keen interest in the dry composting toilet and were interested in the biology of composting their own poop to help grow other things (of course, being children, poo then made it into every further conversation). The animals were a big hit and the girls enjoyed helping to care for them. None of the animals at the farm are bred for meat, they are all used for their manure, even the guinea pigs.

We all found it really fascinating to learn about the different systems in place at the farm and how they supported other organic practices. Pig manure is biodigested to create methane for cooking, river water for irrigation an washing, solar panels for heating water for showers (in theory but not practice!), environmental school funded by the farm to educate the community’s children….the list goes on.

The food on the farm was delicious. It was all home cooked organic vegetarian meals made from farm produce harvested that day. We helped to harvest and also to cook. We made chocolate right from the cocoa bean, roasted coffee, made yuca cake, milked a cow and made fesh cheese and also tonga (a traditional Ecuadorian packed lunch wrapped in a banana leaf. Fishing for river shrimp was fun and Melody discovered that they were tasty too! The food was even more delicious knowing that we had helped to make it ourselves.

We took lots of long walks through the forests, spotting many beautiful birds, butterflies and lizards, even seeing a sloth and it’s tiny baby in a tree. A days horseriding through the forests and trails left us (extremely) saddle sore but in awe of the surroundings. Our guide rode a donkey and it was hilarious watching him trying to control the stubborn creature.

Naomi lost control of her horse, which ran off in another direction with her clinging to it’s back. It was one of those moments, when as parents, we probably should have been really concerned but we just laughed heartily as the poor guide on a donkey had to charge off after her. Naomi was assigned a mule after that episode for failure to control her animal. Again, all we could do was laugh (poor Naomi)!

Crafting or artesania was another fun activity. We made cups from the large fruit/seed of a tree called mate (pronounced ma-tay) and all used these to eat and drink from every day. We also made rings and other trinkets. Melody made mumble a new piece of his own too.

One of the freakiest things to get around was the size of the bugs…no mini beasts in Ecuador, organic living helps them grow big. As parents we had to do lots of justifying as to why we just couldn’t squish the big spiders etc. Telling the girls about their place in the eco system wasn’t enough at first. But…after the 1st 24hrs they embraced them. Everytime Mel took a shower a little frog would come and hop on her feet. After initially being unimpressed, they formed a bond. She named him Freddy and was sad to leave him behind. Spiders were also an issue. We named the one in the shower Frank and the two biggest in the toilet Bert and Ernie. Somehow they seemed so much less scarier when they had names!

All in all, we were sometimes out of our comfort zones, but isn’t that when you learn and appreciate the most? We had a fabulous time and all learnt such a lot about getting back to nature and maintaining the world we have by simply not disturbing the natural balance. Don’t get me wrong, leaving and having a hot shower, putting on clean and dry clothes and sleeping in a dry bed is blissful, but we still had a great time.

We still have photo uploading issues so we made a small video montage for you again. Hope you’re not getting fed up of them!

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