From the Cacao Farm to Chocolate Bar & the Maya Museum

We were up early on Tuesday to catch the Chicken bus to the Maya centre with Hermalindo, the bartender at our restaurant.  He arranged our tours to the cacao farm and chocolate factory along with the Maya Museum.  When we arrived, one of the cacao farmers was there to walk us out to his farm.  We saw the cacao trees and the cacao pods growing on the main trunk of the trees instead of on the branches.  The farmer told us only 10% of the blossoms produce a fruit.  They try very hard to keep the trees pruned so that any diseased branches are cut off and to make it easier to reach the pods as harvesting is all done by hand.  Woodpeckers and squirrels cause the biggest damage to the pods.  Can't blame them...who doesn't like chocolate???  They harvest 8 - 10 times as the pods don't all ripen at the same time.  They crack the pods open right in the field and collect the seeds from inside the pods.  These seeds are then taken to a drying area, which is like a greenhouse, spread out and left to dry for 12 days.  During the 12 days they are turned or rolled daily so that the seeds are evenly dried.  Once the are dried they are shelled and the nibs are used to produce the chocolate.  The shells are also ground into fine powder to produce cocoa, hit chocolate, and tea.  We were able to see both the original or Mayan way (using the gring stone), and the more modern way (using a machine) to make the chocolate.  Basically the nibs are crushed into a liquid form (nibs contain 60%oil).  Now depending on the kind of chocolate you desire, milk or dark, is when the other ingredients are added. This process, done in the machine, takes about 20 hours, then the chocolate is ready to be put in molds and dried for about another 2 hours.  Then it is packaged and ready to be sold.  They are still a small operation but would like to expand getting larger equipment thus able to increase the chocolate making.  It was a very interesting tour.  We were given our samples we helped make,  we knew it wouldn't last long in the heat so we got busy and enjoyed them before it turned back into liquid.  Mmmmmmmm.

 

The Maya Center

 

Walking through an orange grove to get to the cacao farm.

Cacao tree

Cacao pod

Cacao farm

Who got here first...a woodpecker or squirrel?

Cacao seeds

Drying the cacao seeds.

Crushing the nibs into a liquid form.

Chocolate

Next we moved to the Maya Museum where they are trying to replicate an original Mayan home.  They had musical instruments, pots and cook ware, a typical bed for adults and children along with a cloth used to carry the baby or hang the baby in to sleep, a hammock, traps, a sugarcane press, different women's clothes on display and a typical stove used.  The fire was going in the stove and we were then shown how to make corn tortillas.  I tried my hand at making one and it is harder than it looks,  takes practise.  We enjoyed sampling them, very tasty indeed.

That was our morning...very interesting.  The Mayan people want to keep their culture alive but are finding is is being last as their young people are leaving the villages to find work and are not returning.

Maya Center

 



I'm trying my hand at making a corn tortilla.  I think I need a lot more practise.

But boy were they ever tasty.

 That's it for now as our time is up here in Belize and we are heading home tomorrow.  Signing off until our next adventure.

 

The Hokey Pokey Water Taxi & the Chicken Bus to Punta Gorda

Well Punta Gorda...glad we made the trip but wasn't quite what we thought.

PG as it is known by the locals, is the largest town in the fishing and agricultural area of the Toledo District.  In the Toledo District many of the natural wonders remain untouched.  Its mountains are home to the largest Maya population in Belize.

It was a long bumpy bus ride getting there.  We went on the express bus but found it stopped many times letting people on and off, so was it an express???  Coming home we were on the regular bus, not sure how many times it stopped either but I know it was a lot.  On our way there we ended up standing as the bus was full and there were no guarantees the next bus would have room either so off we went.  Coming home at least we had a seat and others were standing.

The Saturday market on Front Street showcased the local farmers produce and there were only a few booths with handicrafts from the Maya people.  The BBQ's were going so we had to stop for our last Saturday BBQ chicken on the street.  Once again that chicken was very tasty.

PG itself, is tiny but houses many different ethnic cultures.  Tourists are far and few between and poverty abounds, but wondering around for a few hours, sitting on the rocky shore and looking out at the beautiful blue sea made our visit well worth it.

We returned by 5:00 as we had a supper invitation from Hub & Joan (Manitbans) to help them eat up their fish and shrimp as they are leaving on Sunday.  We had a fresh green salad, rice and barracuda and shrimp with iced veggies in a curry sauce.  Mmmmmmmm, very tasty...and Joan sent the leftovers home with us.  It was a great evening of visiting, having a few drinks and of course the delicious meal.  We said our goodbyes and hopefully someday we'll meet again.

Shoreline at Punta Gorda

 

Chicken Bus

Market day in Punta Gorda

Chocolate Factory



 



 

Blue Creek Caving & Nim Li Punit Ruins

Thursday we travelled with a group of 11 people farther south into the Toledo District and the Maya Mountain area.  We thought we were heading to the Chocolate Factory and the Punta Gorda area however that tour didn't happen for us.  That's a whole other story we will laugh at, in time.
We travelled on a good road most of the way until we turned off to go to Blue Creek Village and the road became a bumpy dirt road.  The Blue Creek Village was quite an eye opener, it was very primitive.  The women were doing the laundry, dishes and even cleaning a fresh butchered chicken in the creek.  The small children were playing in the water near their mother while she washed the dishes and chicken.  Always interesting to see how the people live.
This is where our hike began to the water cave in the mountain.  The path was gentle at the beginning but got very challenging the further up we went.  Once again we found our
self climbing in and around a lot of rocks.  The opening to the cave was beautiful with a pool of water in front of the cave.  We got our life vests and headlamp on here and got into the water.  The water was deep enough in most places that you needed to swim but every once in awhile you had to walk as the water became shallow.  There were only a few stalactites and stalagmites and a couple of small waterfalls we climbed up.  Going into the cave we had to swim against the current but our return to the opening was faster.  It was another cool experience in a cave.  The return hike to the van was uneventful but knew what we had to do to get down the mountain.
Once down we loaded the van and drove a short distance to where we had our lunch at The Coleman' Cafe.  It was a buffet lunch of rice, rice & beans, stew beans, stew pork, stew beef, stew chicken, plantain, heart of Palm and fresh squeezed lime juice to drink.  Very tasty.  They also made their own ice cream so I had a coffee ice cream and Fred had a Fruity Lime.  They were both very yummy.
From here we went another short distance to Nim Li Punit Ruins.  The site is a late - Classic Maya center which may have had a trading relationship with Honduras.  This site is known for the impressive stelae (artifacts) with very detailed interpretations of the hieroglyphs.  Stela 14 in the visitors center, depicts a figure with a hat taller than he is this named Nim Li Punit (meaning large headdress).  We followed the path to a raised platform which could have functioned as an astronomical observatory.  Then to the ball court which was reconstructed with the original stones.  The Plaza of Stelea was an excellent view of the Toledo District over looking the valley.  Then we got to the tombs,  Tomb 1 was uncovered in 1986 and was said to have held 4 members of the Royal family, 37 ceramic vessels and several jade items.  This was one of many small Maya ruins in the area.
Another great day trip with new friends.

Lady doing laundry in the Blue Creek.

Ladies doing dishes in the Blue Creek.

Walking trail to the cave.

Cave entrance we went swimming in.

Nim Li Punit

Tourist trees...they turn brown and peel.

View from the top out to the valley below.