Mornings...icky icky mornings...I have to say getting two children out of bed for a 7:30am bus tour is not the brilliant idea that it sounds like when you hear about if for the first time. Dragging their heels from a warm almost comfy bed, the minions ate breakfast and settled into the back of the bus.
For 1.75 hours, we drove through the Parque Nacional Braullo Carilllo and wended our way through the cloud forest, down to the rain forest. Fortunately for us, there was little in the way of rain. Brilliant blue skies hazed by clouds and that was the worst of it. The first stop was a rest stop, and then we found ourselves deposited at a chocolate or cacao plantation called Teraminda. This place was amazing. It has Costa Rica's longest suspension bridge for a start, with lush rainforest and a tour that explains the preservation work being done. Here are research projects everywhere. Hummingbirds darted through the forest, but good luck getting a photo. We saw leafy ants and bullet ants.
On completing the short hike, we were treated to a presentation on how chocolate was made and came to be. From seeds from the cacao fruit which tasted like a strange grape, to crushing the beans to drinking hot chocolate and tasting the process at every step of the way, this was a sugar high and sensory overload. I loved it. We sampled everyone. And the girls literally were dripping in chocolate samples. Best yet, was seeing wildlife wander by. From there, we continued our hike and then were fed a delicious lunch as part of the tour.
Stocked up on chocolate, our next stop was Puerto Viejo for a boat tour. From chugging on the water in the boat, we saw howler monkeys, birds like egrets and the elusive white faced monkey. The howlers showed their vocals off and we also were treated to a crocodile appearance. It would seem that our guide is a photographer and sells his CDs for $20.00. We will have to see as his camera is definitely better than mine. There were even long nosed bats!
We drove home, tired and hungry after another session of San Jose rush hour. Heading out bravely in the car, gps found us a decent grocery store so that tomorrow, we can cook our own food. I the meantime, we found Sel et Pepe, an Italian restaurant with really great pasta, freshly made. Stuffed and tired, I think we can say life is decent!
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| The Chocolate Tour - roasting beans |
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| Flavors for hot chocolate |
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| Coffee bean |
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| 7 days of fermenting |
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| Grinding |
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| paste |
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| Cooking stove |
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| Howler Monkey |
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