Kevin, Kirk, and Janet Narum purchased the Riolindo Coffee Farm in July 2021.

Kevin and Kirk, 37-year-old twins, were adopted from India as toddlers. They grew up in Walla Walla, Washington.

Kevin graduated from Whitworth College, majoring in biology and later specializing in reptile and wildlife biology. Most recently, he has been working for the Mississippi Nature Conservancy in Hattiesburg.

Kirk worked 11 years for the Oregon Department of Public Safety Standards Training where he became a landscaper, appreciating the lush outdoor environment every day.

Janet, their mother, worked for two Oregon community colleges, directing education programs at three prisons. In 2019, she retired and moved to Cotacachi, Ecuador.

On three different occasions, Kevin and Kirk joined Janet for vacation excursions around Ecuador.  They were impressed with the biodiversity and amazing creatures found in many locations.  In early 2021, Kevin and Kirk began looking for a good place to live, work, and explore, searching properties in Mindo, the Ecuadorian coast, and the beautiful Intag Valley. They liked the Intag area because of its birding/wildlife and its proximity to Cotacachi, the Otavalo Indigenous Market, and the Quito Airport. Then, they became intrigued with the Riolindo Coffee Farm near Cuellaje in the Intag Valley. They appreciated that it was a working organic coffee farm as well as a refuge for many birds, sub-tropical creatures, and tourists.

Janet returned to the coffee farm and met with Ivan Suarez, one of the previous owners.  Ivan’s powerful love for organic coffee farming was contagious, so Kevin, Kirk and Janet purchased the farm in July 2021.

After selling his house in Oregon, Kirk immediately moved to Ecuador in the summer of 2021. Kevin moved to Ecuador six months later. To ensure continuity, the Narums have continued to employ Ivan’s farm workers. Fausto, Alfredo, and Oscar Rodriguez know a great deal about how to produce the best possible Ecuadorian coffee and the Narum and Rodriguez families have been learning a great deal from one another.

Riolindo Coffee Farm was bought by the Narum family in August 2021 and we have been running it as a farm and guest house since May 2022.

The farm covers nearly 7 hectares including around 800 coffee plants, buildings, river front, waterfalls and pristine areas for hiking.

The roughly 800 coffee plants are cared for by the family and three farm worker brothers from the small community of Piñan located 18 km in a straight line north-west of the farm. Because of the long and strenuous hike they each take turns staying at the farm for two months at a time. The coffee plants, which grow in sand soil or loam produce three varieties of Arabica beans, Red Typica, Yellow Bourbon, and Gesha, which are sold in Cotacachi, exported, and of course served to our guests at the farm. Most of the beans are roasted in the town of Apuela. You can typically also purchase whole beans or ground Arabica red typica in medium or dark roast, ground yellow bourbon in medium roast, and ground gesha in medium roast.

We offer coffee tours where you as a guest will learn about coffee in general and you can also experience a hands-on approach to learning about the coffee, help with the picking and washing of coffee cherries and removing the cherry pulp.

Our Riolindo Coffee Farm is located In Cuellaje, four to five hours north of the Quito Airport by car.

BUS

We can give you directions for taking the bus to the north Quito bus station and then to Otavalo. The bus from Otavalo to Cuellaje brings you within a half-mile of our farm and the last we checked, it leaves at 1 p.m. and arrives at 4 p.m. and costs about $4.00.  The return bus leaves Cuellaje at 6 a.m. every day. It may be possible for us to meet you in Cuellaje and bring you to the farm. You can also catch a bus from Otavalo to Apuela for $3.50 and then take a taxi from Apuela to the farm for $12.00.  The buses to Apuela are more frequent.

TAXI
A taxi directly from the Quito Airport to Cotacachi is $60 and then to the coffee farm is an additional $70. If you arrive in Quito during the night, you may want to stay in a hotel near the airport or travel two hours to Cotacachi to spend the night, before continuing on to the coffee farm the next day.

Contact Freddy at WhatsApp 593 98 004 0538 or email him at . He speaks both English and Spanish.

VAN
A larger group may find the van more economical.  We can connect you with a van company that transports eight people from Quito to the farm for $180.  If you arrive during the night, you may want to stay at an airport hotel and take the van the next day.

Contact Milton at 593 99 763 4934 or email at   Milton speaks both English and Spanish.

We work closely with this taxi driver and this van company because they are very familiar with the Cuellaje area. They are both located in Cotacachi.

The easiest way to make a booking is by clicking on Rooms and Meals at the top of this page and then clicking the “Book now” button under the room option you prefer.

As much as we love pets ourselves, and especially dogs, we are regrettably not able to accept pets currently.