This post features student writing.

Hola! Greetings from Lucy and Brooke. Quite the day we had today. We started off the day with a beautiful breakfast at the farmhouse on the river bed, then took a scenic walk to a hidden waterfall, where we got to jump in and swim in the brisk natural swimming pool. We then made our way to Pepe’s famous coffee plantation, whose driveway you must walk up to get the full experience. Pepe is known as the first Latino-American to summit the highest mountains in all seven continents—this includes hiking Mount Everest, solo, with no oxygen. WOW! He’s a pretty cool dude. He also hiked Cotopaxi, our next adventure, over 700 times, adding that it is by far his favorite mountain to climb.

Once we made it to his self-built house, he taught us the intricate steps of creating the perfect cup of coffee while showing us around his beautiful land in the mountains. Pepe then prepared a wonderful lunch consisting of chicken, potatoes, rice, and a fresh salad, followed by a new dessert no one had ever tried before. We, Lucy and Brooke, personally LOVED and DEVOURED the bananas covered in maple syrup. After relaxing in hammocks with a breathtaking view, Pepe opened our eyes to the “true coffee experience.” After saying our farewells to Pepe, we drove to a hot springs to soak our sore muscles in water heated by volcanoes. We then picked up our laundry and headed back to our host village again through the winding cloud forest roads to complete the day with a nice meal from the local cooks.

— Lucy & Brooke