On Tuesday, Caitlin, Tori, Lauren G. and I went on a cave and waterfall excursion while everyone else went to learn how to play the drums. We were picked up and driven to the waterfall which ended up not being what we were expecting. It was very small and just had a little area to swim in but not very deep at all. I went on a rock to take a picture with my bathing suit cover up on and fell. It was very funny but then I did not have my dry coverup the rest of the trip. Thankfully Caitlin let me use hers and she wore her sarong. We took some pictures (all of which are on a camera) and left. Then we went to the cave and it was a lot better. We hiked a little ways and then entered the cave. It was a wet cave so we had a life jacket, headlamp and helmet to swim the whole way. There were 3 little waterfalls and then a big one at the end that we played around in some. Then we went back and there was a rope swing into this clear blue river so we all took a few jumps off of that and headed back to our hotel.
The next day we went to the chocolate farm. This started off at an archeological reserve where our guide showed us a bunch of Mayan structures. He also showed us a tree that makes natural rubber. If you hit it, this sap runs down the tree. When it hardes it feels like a piece of rubber.
Then we went to a the farm which was not like a farm I was picturing. It was basically just land with a bunch of trees on it. They showed us the cocoa pods that chocolate is made out of and we tasted the seed. It was really slimy but the slim tastied fruity. Then there is a seed that still does not look like a cocoa bean.
Cocoa pod that the beans are in.
We also tried a coffee bean that does not taste like coffee. They had spice leaves and fruits as well that they use to make their foods. After we finished, we headed over to have lunch and make chocolate of our own. For lunch I had chocolate chicken, veggie rice and some tomatoe slices. The chocolate chicken did not taste like chocolate. It just used the cocoa bean powder as part of the seasoning. We also had the chance to try hot chocolate and it was so bitter until you added sugar into it. Right before we finished the lunch portion, we all got to try some chocolate, They had ginger, orange, coconut, light milk, dark and spicy. I really only liked the light milk and the dark chocolate.
When we were finished, the guide brought out some cocoa beans that had been fermenting while we ate. They have to do this for 45 minutes. Then we all had to crack the shells off the beans.
Before
After
The guide then brought us over to the tool use to grind the beans. It is something that has been passed down in his family. He was of the Mayan descent. We all got a chance to grind the beans and make the chocolate 100% cocoa. Then he went into double time and melting the chocolate so we could change it from 100% cocoa which is very bitter to something sweeter. We split it up to be 75% cocoa but it was still too bitter and we added more sugar. After you add sugar, you always have to grind it up. Then we put it into a mold so we could try it, but I don't think anyone ever did because then he started to show us how they make chocolate now with modern technology.
They use a crock pot to ferment the beans. Then they use a device they made on their own to shell the beans. They use a blow dryer device to get all the shells out and then a normal chocolate melter to make the chocolate. Then they sell candy bars as well. We got the chance to look around the gift shop full of things made out of cocoa and then we drove back to relax till the next morning. The trip really showed me that the chocolate we eat in the US may taste good, but it's not made out of very much chocolate.
The next morning was another trip on the bus to meet back up with Heather and Dr. K and start our inland excursions. We left the hotel at 5:30 in the morning to get on the Belize City express bus so that it would not stop as much. We would get off in Belmopan. It was a lot nicer. We did not have to fight for seats. The bus was more of a run down charter bus with air condition and I slept pretty much the whole way. Once in Belmopan, we got off and went to a little food market and all got breakfast before trying to get on another bus to the zoo. That was a task. They only let 15 people on at a time and some of us were on the wrong side of the railing because they only opened one side of the gate. I ended up climbing under the pole and getting on the bus. We had told him we had 14 people that needed to get on which is very hard when the bus is pretty much already full but he let us. Some people had to sit 3 in a seat with random people so we could leave the station and head to the zoo.
We had a very long time at the zoo but did not need it. We walked around and saw lots of animals. We saw toucans, howler monkies, spider monkies, owls, tapir (related to the horse and rhino), jaguar, puma, quash, hawks, eagles and pretty parrots. I think that is it. My favorite was the jaguar and the toucan. The jaguar was born at the zoo so he could not be released back into the wild because he would not survive. You could pay to sit in a cage and him come around you and do flips and go above you in the cage and some people did that so I got to see too from farther away. The whole zoo is rescued animals or animals that were hurting people or are going extinct in Belize, so that was really cool.r
Tapir
Parrot
Jaguar
Tori and I at the zoo.
So after the zoo someone picked us up and we went to our hotel in San Ignacio. Everyone was really tired and the whole bus was asleep. We got dinner and just walked around the shops because Easter is like Christmas here so a lot of things were not going to be opened when we got back from our excursions.
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