Making chocolate in southern Belize jungle

John and Carol George and Maurgo drove for an hour from Punta Gorda, along bumpy dirt roads to reach Cyrila's. Juan met us and offered to tour us through his sustainable Chocolate farm. The drive to his orchard must be traversed by canoe in the wet season.

Juan's wife made some crafts and I bought a head scarf for Naiomi and Kendra . After the tour in the jungle orchard, Cyrila served us chicken in a chocolate pepper sauce. It was delicious. The chickens ran free outdoors.
Juan's daughter is sitting to my right. She and her brother sat making origami and were friendly as we ate lunch together. Juan was proud that his son was growing tall like George, and he said a good healthy diet makes the difference. The Maya people have become short and heavyset , a dramatic change in shape from the past stature they enjoyed. They enjoyed cell phones, as did even the most remote Mayans.

These red chocolate pods were not quite ripe for us to pick. We did pick about 15 or so pods that were turning yellow and were ripe. We took them back to Juan's home where he instructed us step by step, how to make chocolate. Juan was using ancient Maya techniques to sustainably farm , inter planting vanilla, allspice and other plants in the mulched orchard. I spotted a jaguar footprint on the path. The mosquitoes were abundant.




We smacked the coco pods together very hard and twisted them open. Then we scooped out the gooey white seeds and stringy insides, which all tasted faintly like chocolate. The beans were then cleaned, fermented and roasted . We sat for ages cracking the outer shell off the chocolate bean before they looked like the dark beans on the plate below.

We took turns crushing the beans on an old family stone slab specifically designed to crush the pods. It took a lot of strength and a specific wrist movement and pressure to crack the seeds into powder. But still we were not finished. A handful of raw sugar was added and with more grinding, the power gave up its oils and flowed into a paste. We scooped up some paste, added hot water, and rewarded ourselves with hot chocolate before lunch!

Juan grew heritage chocolate trees amongst the more common varieties. The resilience of the older trees helped the overall health of the orchard. Bees, birds, snakes, jaguars, mosquitoes, flowers, shade trees, mulch, it was a diverse growing productive jungle. We drove through monoculture orange orchards to arrive at his place, and Juan told us of the struggles of monoculture production in the jungle. They did not thrive.

Juan told us a true story of the day he had some very demanding tourists visit him and insist that he tour them through the orchards. They were rude and critical and had no sensitivity to the other people that had prearranged to tour the sustainable farm that day. After lunch these 2 men admitted proudly to being Monsanto representatives and tipped him $100 for the tour. Juan is an educator and activist and had been partly responsible for raising awareness of Genetically modified corn that Monsanto had brought into Belize. Every kernel of corn was burned and destroyed as the farmers decided it was not of benefit to their farming practices to use GMO seed.

Juan and his family are totally committed to the sustainable methods of growing, and keeping an eye on all of the separate interacting lives on their land. Quantity of production was not their goal and they could not guarantee to fill orders and run their lives as producers of organic sustainable chocolate.

On to Placencia February 25 2012

The black beast of a rental mafiosa SUV was replaced by white spray painted SUV, nice looking from afar. Upon closer inspection I mentioned that there was no tailpipe, and the windows did not want to go up or down. A few minutes down the road found Carol and I with headaches and nausea, so we pulled over and tried calling Mike Evans of Dangriga Auto Rentals about our second rental from him. Well, he knew about the tailpipe and offered to pick the car up from Placencia the next day and fix it. So we suffered through the day,over 27 speed bumps into Placencia ( where the exhaust fumes were unbearable) and the car was returned to us with air fresheners to cover the fumes and more lame promises. We had paid for the month and are still waiting to see if we were properly reimbursed our$1200USD. We finally found good rentals out of the Placencia airport. A good deal is $80 -$100 USD daily.

Our Vacation Rental By Owner-"BeachfrontinBelize" - was greatly appreciated in its beauty and serenity, and gave us the opportunity to prepare our own food, and shop at local markets. The ocean was stirred up and it was windy and the surf was up, so we stayed out of the water. The front porch was a beautiful space to hang out, and George and John kept each other company when they braved the murky water.Weeds and plastic washed ashore daily

We rented both sides of the house, giving us separate bedrooms bathrooms and kitchens.

The front faces the ocean and the porch was delighful and breezy.

Gechkos found their way inside, but the screens kept out mosquitos.

The long pier to the bamboo covered deck became a favourite place for me to do yoga.

Our neighbours were also VRBO -Angels Landing- and they had a swimming pool. Turns out is was available for later in our holiday, so we booked it. Both are just north of Maya Beach at the north end of the Placencia penninsula. Quiet and private there and busy,hot and active in town.

Placencia is more geared up for tourists, with a strong local feel to it. The main street is a board walk of a cement sidewalk. More interesting was the activity on the road, with fresh markets, dry markets, restaurants and a great fresh gelato store that we visited frequently. It was time out from scuba diving as John had trouble hearing from taking in too much water, and the guys had just done 7 days of 2 -3 dives a day. Besides, it was rough and expensive to go on diving as the dive sites were an hour off shore.

We toured the jungle at Cockscomb Basin. Hiked a jungle trail to a mountain lookout, then down a steep drop to waterfall. I could not get my breath climbing up, stopped frequently and rested, but nothing seemed to help in the dense humidity. Carol waited with me as the guys decended and swam. A womens collective sold Maya crafts and children made crafts to support their schools. The Belizeans did not badger or beg, simply offered what they made. Prices were consistant throughout the country, with the Belize Airport having a slight discount.

We toured the GOSS chocolate outlet with asmall factory in Seine Bight, a local garafuna Belizean village between Maya Beach and Placencia. Delicious dark special chocolate made with heritage chocolate beans. Took a picture that LOLA drew of the jaguar, then visited her studio. She is the most prolific artist and has colour styalized painting featuring scenes and people and animals of Belize. I painted a card in her style and came home and made a larger acrylic painting of curvaceous Belizean woman on the beach.

Remembering Friends on Glovers

Having a week on a Caribbean atoll really gave me a chance to unwind and let the wind blow through my soul.The lapping of the ocean, day and night,was music to the back beat of the pounding surf on the back side of the island a few hundred meters away. Hearing schools of fish surfing the shore line and listening to the pulse of the overhead fan were the accompaniments. Wading barefoot through balmy turquoise water to our dining hall was my favourite commute. Meal time was a community event. Story telling of the days events expanded our separate experiences, and as the week passed, friendships formed.Embedded in the laid back memories of that week are images and conversations with Alan the artist, Calvin the caterer, Maurice the firefighter,Jayne who socialized puppies for people with disabilities, and Seth with his laughter and sadness and great eyesight and guiding abilities underwater. The atoll's isolation and the common interests and values that we all had to bring us to this spot helped to forge an instant community from strangers. And having our own kin there to share it with was icing on the cake. Thanks for the idea, Carol and John.

A week on Glover's Atoll February 18 -25,2012

This is the true ocean experience in Belize.

Crystal clear turquoise 80 degree salt water, full of fish and coral gardens.

turtles,reef sharks, moray eel, stingrays,blue angelfish, lion fish, blue striped grunt,snapper,jack,parrot fish,barracuda


Seth was our snorkel guide and Carol and I followed him around a different reef on each of the 11 snorkeling outings. Seth also caught fish for our dinner

Mora was George and Johns scuba diving guide, and they went outside the reef to dive deeper in the often rough ocean.

I jumped in one day when the seas were rough,right over top of where the guys were diving with a turtle.

Jina,Carol,George then John and Seth

The snorkelers headed out in the smaller open boat and the divers took the larger boat for all their gear.

George and John are getting a dive plan before leaving the dock at Isla Marasol with Mora.

Painting and yoga, laying in the hammock and drying clothes were common activities on the deck of our rustic cabana.

From the ocean or from our porch deck,our views were magnificent.

From Dangriga to Glovers Reef

A two Hour drive south brought us to the capitol of Bellmopan and the thriving outdoor market. Fortified by lunch and a cold drink, we continued south on the Hummingbird Highway towards the coast. Spectacular jungle scenery, hot and moist and huge trees, winding paved narrow roads with tons of pot holes and speed bumps to slow you down near the villages. So rich and abundant and fresh green, and clean Maya thatch roofed homes along the road. Dangriga awaited our arrival, dirty, busy and very basic rustic lodging on the stirred up weedy looking ocean.

We walked through the two main streets of town at night, glad to get back to our upstairs accommodation with the sounds of drinking and dogs below. Our rendezvous for our boat departure to Glover's was held up a few hours, so we toured and circled Dangriga many times in the air conditioned van before heading south to the boat launch and waiting again for the late flight arrivals to join us. The boat was a hour and a half bumpy journey to Isla Marisol on Glover's Atoll.

How sweet to disembark and see clear turquoise waters, palm trees and natural beauty. We were overjoyed at our tiny cabins over the ocean, the rusty screen door and the ceiling fans to move the hot air!

This will be our happy home for the coming week of Caribbean ocean adventure.

Breakfast overlooking the lagoon

Waking up to sounds of birds, and cows! We sat overlooking the lagoon and a herd of highly active cows came thundering by, splashing up the water in front of us. Dozens of birds fly about and some horses grazed the fields behind. Out came the water colours and I sketched and painted my first Belize scene before stretching out in the hammocks, definately inthe shade, cooled by the lagoon breezes. Crooked Tree Lodge and lagoon is a peaceful place with a small village nearby and some local eateries with home made rice, beans, beef and chicken and of course coleslaw. No signage, dirt roads, no hype about it. Friendly english speaking Belizeans, born and raised nearby.We discovered a pride in people's birth place, and invitations to visit their home village.

Here in Belize,February 15,2012

Feeling like a stanger in a strange land, we negotiate for our first car rental after flying all night from Vancouver, through San Fransisco, then Houston and finally Belize City International. Our car looks like we are Mafiaosa, big black shaded windows. Did I mention that the grill and front bumper were mysteriously missing? As we drove off I find out my window will not go down so we return and report that on the rental agreement. It is written up as a prostetic defect and "Mikes Rentals out of Dangriga" will deduct $100 for our inconvienience and replace the car on Feburary 25.

We amused ourselves at a road side food stand in Ladyville as we waited for John and Carol to land later in the afternoon. We headed north through flat coastal northern highway and found the turnoff to Crooked Tree just before dark. We were glad to unload and eat "in", and have a clean pleasant room to unwind and acclimatize from.