Tungurahua Tea Room

Paradise. We have arrived.
Al and I just finished our first day of work at our new farm in Baños, we arrived last night. It is beyond what I imagined, like what I´ve been dreaming of creating someday come to life, in reality. We are on the edge of town, convenient but not in the midst. We have a room with two beds and some storage. The communal kitchen, shower, and bathroom are all outdoors. There are orange trees, vegetables, and lots of flowers. There is a path through the garden that comes to a spirit-circle around a fire pit for walking meditation. We´ve met Carol, she seems like a very interesting, kind, and wise woman. She doesn´t work with us though. Mario is the foreman more or less and speaks no english. He is a really cool guy too it seems.

We begin everyday by taking the four dogs on a hike for about an hour. There is a german shepherd Coco, two shepherd mixes Lady and Camilla, and a young St. Bernard Ali. They are really fun. And it is not just a walk, but a serious hike through the beautiful wilderness here. Today we followed a river that runs down from the volcano, crossing it several times. Then we jogged most of the way back. It was exhilirating and a great way to start the day. Then we return and have some tea and get to work. We alternate who cooks, and they begin at 11 so we all have lunch at noon. Then we have an hour for siesta or reading and then work until 3. It is much more chill than the other farm.
Today we cleared brush mostly. There are two other WWOOFers here, Sarah and Megan. This place has really good energy. I think I am going to get a lot out of this experience.


Volcanos here are gods and goddesses. Tungurahua is one of the very few goddesses, I feel this is appropriate for my experience here. She was married to Cotopaxi, and their child is Pinchincha (near Quito). She had an affair with Chimborazo (near Riobamba). Chimborazo and Cotopaxi battled so fiercly that they created the Ingas (I think is the name) some mountains around here. This is in contrast to the Virgen of the Santa Agua (Baños de Santa Agua), the Catholic image. Her miracles are portrayed on the Cathedral walls. So we got the Christian virgen and the pagan whore. Awesome.

I am very glad this farm is second. It would have been very difficult to go from this speed to the more intense work load in Yunguilla, where we worked a lot harder for more hours a day. It was nice to be isolated in Yunguilla, especially at that point in our trip. But now I am ready to be close to town, but still in the paradise of the farm.

chao!