09/04/2026
Five years ago, this week, Kevin Narum, Kirk Narum and Cousin Connie Wallace ventured to Ecuador to join me, Janet Narum , in becoming sort of a "think-tank-property-searching-group" along with Miguel Perez and Rous Mery 🩷.
Often, a farm guest will ask how we ever made the decision to buy a coffee farm. Since this happened five years ago, here is the story with pictures that showed up today in a memory.
Milton Andramunio Izurieta was our driver as we looked at a beautiful property in Mindo, a popular beach/surfing hostel in Mompiche, and cute cabins near Nangulvi Hot Springs.
Kevin and Kirk were finding cool wildlife everywhere. Angelito/Miguel, a respected contractor, had excellent advice about the construction of the various buildings. Connie was interested in everything and was visiting intently with every person she met.
The whole experience was definitely an adventure for all of us! The Mompiche surfing hostel, The Mud House, was so beautiful and popular. We were leaning towards buying it. Mompiche is an amazing sandy little town and Kevin and Kirk kept eyeing the surrounding areas for creatures in the grass.
However, at the very end of our trip, our driver, Milton, suddenly thought of a coffee farm that was for sale. It was only about 40 minutes from the hot springs.
Off we went! That's when we met Oscar Rodriguez! He gave us a tour and we were mesmerized. I will never forget the first time I saw the lodge among the coffee trees. Kevin and Kirk were asking questions about critters in the area.
Miguel had good comments about the construction of the buildings and we were talking about adding more.
But it was time to go to the airport! Kevin, Kirk, and Connie flew back to the USA. We made the decision over the phone to make an offer on the coffee farm. I brought our realtor, MA Helena, and met with one of the owners, Ivan Suarez. Ivan was (and always will be) an expert in organic coffee growing! He is also a highly respected and INTERESTING Ecuadorian tour guide who speaks fluent English, French, and Spanish.
It might seem like a huge decision but it all seemed right. To this day, we are all so very thankful for this fun coffee farm experience. It truly is one of the most stunning places on the planet.
Who knew that the experience would later include pickleball, three more cabins, a house, a patio for entertainment, cinnamon rolls, retreats, viewpoints, many C**k of the Rock and Toucanet sightings, many nights when we were completely full, and a coffee that is so popular that we run out every year and start drinking Nescafe in order to save excellent coffee for our guests.
Ok.. sadly...
Kevin and Kirk have gone back to the USA where Kevin is growing frogs and helping teach a class for Western Carolina University this week. Kirk is loving guest services in Death Valley and all the hiking even though it gets really hot this time of year! The cool thing is that they still refer to Ecuador as home and constantly ask questions about everyone here. The farm is still for sale and I admit I absolutely dread the day that I can no longer walk among the trees and river with my dogs.
https://www.riolindocoffeefarm.com/about-us/
