Pacheco and the Three Amigos

Pacheco and the Three Amigos

February 28, 2019

Pacheco Farmhouse is an unexpected, renewed hippie chic guesthouse a off the beaten path. (It took about 6 hours worth of bus rides to get to Apuela in the Intag Valley.) As the owner Jimena says, the location pretty much keeps the assholes away. Seems so as this was the start of a great 24 hours of traveling adventures and connections. As soon as I got to the farmhouse I met Paul (attorney) and Norman (professor) who also recently arrived. We shared our similar stories of bus stop confusion, treks and help along the way to get to Pacheco, but we were all glad we made it. Pacheco delivered the atmosphere and comfort I hoped it would. Sitting adjacent to the wild Intag river, there was a group dining table and super comfy shabby chic living area (which teased us to all get together with the strong wifi signal). Turns out there were two other Austinites at Pacheco too, a retired couple who spend a good part of each year in Latin America. Dinner also included a couple from Ecuador and it felt like a mini-traveler’s family reunion.

The next day I planned to just relax, read and do some trip planning but after breakfast, Jimena suggested that Norman and I join Paul in a day trip/visit/hike at another property nearby – El Refugio de Cloud Forest. I had noticed the brochure for El Refugio and decided to tag along. I’m so glad I did because it turned into such a delightful day.

Our taxi arrived – my first camioneta! – a small pickup truck with a tarp over the back and wooden boards in the back to sit on – and it was so much fun! The driver Alex was great. He stopped along the way outside of Apuela so we could take pictures of the valley, to show us the face in the mountain and tell us about the pressure the local community is facing my increased mining in the area. Gold and mercury he said and the government wasn’t doing anything to stop illegal land entry. (This becomes a recurring topic of discussion along my visit to Intag Valley.)

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About 30 minutes later along a very winding road, we arrive at El Refugio de Intag Cloud Forest and meet with Peter the owner for a guided nature hike. All I can say is I hope the pictures do the walk some sort of justice. Stunning, lush, wild nature surrounded us on every step only enhanced by the excellent observations and education from Peter along the way.  The hike took about two hours and we made it back to the main house to meet with Alex for our ride back at 1230pm – however 1230pm arrived and no Alex. It gave us all a chance to visit and relax and eventually Alex arrived at 230pm.

             

                              
On the way back, Norman, Paul and I had Alex drop us in the middle of Apuela for lunch. I had a vegetarian plate for $2 and we got to know each other better through travel stories. Norman is from Germany and had been traveling for almost a year. Paul is from Canada and has been in Ecuador for almost a month. Both had amazing suggestions for me and shared the highlights of their adventures as well as their insights as well. They both LOVED Colombia. After lunch,  we decided to walk back from the restaurant (about 3 miles) rather than take a taxi and it was wonderful. Somewhere along the way Norman caught a leaf moving on the ground and got inquisitive. We all ended up standing there in the middle of the road watching this leaf ‘walk around’. I was sure it was an ant carrying the leaf but we turned it over and no ant, and as soon as we turned it over it stopped moving. The mystery of the leaf may never be solved but I hope the sight of the three gringos standing in the middle of the road brightened a few Ecuadorians day.


We made it back to Pacheco and Norman and I decided to take the walk down the road to the Nangulvi HotSprings. It is supposed to be a tourist attraction for the area but we were the only tourists there, along with a local woman and her young daughter. The hot springs were a bit confusing. There were a total of 6-7 pools, all of which seemed to be around the same warm temperature, and one that was very, very hot. While the pools and grounds were a bit worn, they were nestled between two hillsides and we spent almost an hour trying out the pools and looking for birds overhead. For the $3 admission it seemed pricey, but worth the experience.
We ended the evening with a pasta dinner and were joined by Jimena. She is a fabulously interesting woman. Born in Argentina, her wanderlust has led her to live in Warsaw, London, New York while working in advertising and now fulfilling her dream of opening a self-sustaining hotel that reduces her and her guests carbon footprint. It was an absolutely wonderful day.
Spanish lesson learned: Dos y media (230pm) and Doce y media (1230pm) can sound very similar.

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