Papaya, Palo Santo, Pan de Yuca....I'm in Heaven

On the outskirts of Puerto Lopez, on a property that covers an entire block, resides the brick castle that houses the Fundacion de las Ballenas del Pacifico, I have a nice room shared with a nice fellow volunteer named Alison. This on Enma's land.

 Enma is the mother of Cristina, the biologist who, as far as I can tell, single-handedly runs this Ecuadorian arm of Hawaii's Pacific Whale Foundation.  Enma runs this property, though.  She manages all the renters, cares for this building, and tends this land with a constant smile and the sweetest way of shooing the dog out of the hallway you have ever seen.  She has a passion for plants and she is beyond kind and full of local knowledge.  Leave it to Enma to bring Alison and me warm chocolate soymilk directly from the local factory after I mentioned I like soymilk.  Leave it to Enma to bring out a bowl of soy cheese and raw honey when I told her how disappointed I was in the honey I just bought that tastes mysteriously like menthol.  Leave it to Enma to place a perfectly ripe papaya in the kitchen for me and Alison after I explained my favorite breakfast is simply a papaya with a spoon.  Leave it to Enma to make fresh pan de yuca just when I thought I had left behind this unbelievably delicious bread made from yucca flour and cheese when I left Colombia, the place I first discovered it. And leave it to Enma to show up with a grocery bag FULL of palo santo wood and the promise to get me the same for 5$ before I leave. Bless her heart and this land that has provided quite likely three of my most favorite things on the planet: papaya, palo santo, and pan de yuca.

Papaya

Arbol de Palo Santo

Pan de Yuca

***In case you don't know what Palo Santo is, it is a tree that has the most delicious, gorgeous scent.  I am more than a little obsessed with it, as Alison will attest.  As we hiked through forests of it today I was couldn't stop deeply inhaling as its scent wafted through the air! The tree grows in bosque seco, dry forest, along the coast in Ecuador.  The wood is collected once the branches have died and fallen to the ground and they can be burned like incense.  It was traditionally burned in churches and during ceremonies, and modernly it is used to keep mosquitos away and cleanse the air.  A delectable essential oil is also made from Palo Santo as well.  Here in Puerto Lopez there is a Palo Santo store and factory! I will be going on a tour of the factory this week.  If anyone wants me to bring Palo Santo products back for them, let me know asap ;)