The power of ethical food supply chains to unlock positive impact comes into sharp focus at Mashpi Lodge, a design-forward retreat with scores of species of hummingbirds. For me, it is the flower-garnished organic flavors of the forest that leave the sweetest taste. Obsessing about the end products on a plate in front of us has more gravitas when you know how the ingredients came to be, and the role they play in local culture and the economy.
“We wanted to grow all our own food when we opened in 2012, but the soil was too moist,” Luis Fernando Cárdenas Vera, the lodge’s executive chef, tells me. “But the chefs make the most of colorful herbs, such as mountain garlic and coriander-like chillagua, and we buy the rest from nearby growers.” The business is also supporting local farmers to rewild so as to create a much-needed wildlife corridor. Restoring a balance in nature while respecting the need for locals to earn money is dependent on hotels such as Mashpi bringing in international visitors.
Only 2% of Chocó Forest (which straddles Ecuador and Colombia) remains, so knowing that funds from stays at Masphi Lodge are helping tackle the loss of these lands to logging and mining is all the more nourishing. Carolina Proaño-Castro, who runs Fundación Futuro—the charity partly funded by Metropolitan Touring’s hospitality, including Mashpi—tells me how the delicious jams at breakfast, labelled La Guapa, play a big part. Fruits of the labor of the Association of Women Entrepreneurs of Guayabillas, La Guapa is a social enterprise kickstarted by the foundation’s community outreach. Its name, meaning pretty in Spanish, is also the portmanteau of two local towns, Guayabillas and Pacto.
Wiggling our way from Mashpi in a 4×4 through twisting forest lanes, we arrive at an unassuming two story home in the jungle. Downstairs, below the decking, a door opens to a lab-like kitchen. This pristine space is where the cooperative of women work their condiment-making magic. In a macho nation where it’s still mostly men in suits in charge, it is heartwarming to hear how this collective is a lifeline for women and single mothers. “Yo me siento muy emocionada porque estamos haciendo nuestro sueño realidad,” Lilia Lema, tells me (“I am very excited, because we are making our dreams come true”). Lilia proudly shows us jars of marmalades made from borojó, salak (snake fruit), arazá, and dried delights such as fruta chicle, the ‘chewing gum fruit’. Women— particularly those in rural areas—are most affected by economic crises and climate change, so those jams don’t only attest to the big flavors coming out of the Andean Chocó Biosphere Reserve. They’re a delicious reminder of the power of luxury travel to support nature and sustainable livelihoods in remote communities, thanks to the ripple effect of our adventuring.
