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The La Iguana Chocolate Story
Read more: The La Iguana Chocolate StoryHaving recently taken part in the Women of Cacao summit last month and meeting many inspiring women and families working with cacao in the Americas, I am reminded of a wonderful time I spent in Costa Rica back in 2018 meeting the remarkable Vicki and her (now husband) Jorge. Faced with their fair share of…
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“If Someone Can Do It, We Can Do It” — Cata Chocolate, Costa Rica
Read more: “If Someone Can Do It, We Can Do It” — Cata Chocolate, Costa RicaLeaving the unrest of Nicaragua behind us our next stop was Costa Rica, and I was beyond excited for more chocolate stops. First up was family owned and run Cata Chocolate in Playas del Coco on the Pacific coast, where the main road runs down to the water and the shop sits just upstairs. It…
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Take me (back) to Nica, for pinolillo, lapchickens, and a volcano in a lake!
Read more: Take me (back) to Nica, for pinolillo, lapchickens, and a volcano in a lake!It’s March 2018 and we’re leaving the deceptively challenging surf breaks of El Salvador and the flamboyant, overly inquisitive macaws of Honduras behind us, and continued on our merry way south. For the next couple of weeks we would base ourselves in Nicaragua; a country that had stolen my heart back in 2016, when I…
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Happy 101st Birthday Zozobra! Old Man Gloom, and the Fire Spirit of Santa Fe
Read more: Happy 101st Birthday Zozobra! Old Man Gloom, and the Fire Spirit of Santa Fe[NOTE: This is a re-share of a 2007 post on Zozobra. Many readers will be well aware of Burning Man, its location, the challenging terrain, and all that it stands for. But how many of you know much about its inspiration and origin? Read on to discover one of those lesser-known festivals directly credited with…
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Fly to El Salvador
Read more: Fly to El SalvadorAfter our Honduran Interlude, we made it to Central America’s smallest and most densely populated country, and the only country in the world named directly after Jesus Christ – ‘El Salvador’ translates to ‘The Saviour’ in English. We didn’t actually fly into El Salvador though, contrary to the title of this blog post, we just…
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A Honduran Interlude
Read more: A Honduran InterludeDuring our sojourn through the Americas; leaving the kak’ik (turkey stew), Atol de Elote (corn and cacao drink), picbil shawls and active volcano hikes behind us in Guatemala; we dipped in to Honduras, for the ancient Mayan site of Copán Ruinas, beautiful ruby red macaw parrots, ‘pupusas’, and yes, a little bit of chocolate!.
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Cacao in the Guatemalan Heartlands
Read more: Cacao in the Guatemalan HeartlandsIt was both a pleasure and a privilege to meet with Emily Stone, a pioneer in the cocoa industry and founder of American-based cocoa bean brokers Uncommon Cacao. During our travels through Guatemala, we were lucky enough to join Emily and her team at Cacao Verapaz – one of the majority-farmer-owned subsidiaries of Uncommon Cacao…
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Take Me To Tikal
Read more: Take Me To TikalFlores is in an interesting pocket of Guatemala, part of the Mayan heartland of Central America. A little island in the middle of Lake Peten Itza and once cut off from the mainland, it is now only accessible by tuk tuk across a narrow bridge. It is believed Isla de Flores (Flores Island) itself withstood…
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Into the Caves; San Ignacio, Belize
Read more: Into the Caves; San Ignacio, BelizeWith 4 days in the Cayes now behind us, we headed inland. I’d heard of a great chocolate shop in San Ignacio, directly on our way to Flores in Guatemala, it would be silly not to go. We also knew there were some great deep caves in the jungle and much less touristy ruins (compared…
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Four Days in the Cayes
Read more: Four Days in the CayesAfter the magic of Mexico, meeting the lovely chocolate makers of Cozumel island and finally getting my PADI Open Water cert it was time to head south, and dip into the Caribbean English-speaking enclave of Central America known as Belize, for four days in the Cayes, spending most of our time on Caye Caulker. Welcome…