Inland Adventures

My last post left off at our first full day in Punta Gorda. We have done so much since then! As I mentioned before, the teachers and students are enjoying a two-week Easter break from school. Our cohort has been taking advantage of this time by doing some cultural excursions on the mainland of Belize. We've learned how the Mayan people make chocolate, toured some ancient Mayan ruins, explored a cave that's sacred to the Mayan people, and ziplined in Guatemala! Now we're back in San Pedro for our final two weeks. I'll break our most recent adventures into a few posts so I can share some details from each one.

Happy to be back at Pedro's Inn, our home away from home

The second day in Punta Gorda we visited a Mayan archaeological site, followed by an organic chocolate farm, and ended our tour at the chocolate making facility. Our tour guide, Juan, operates IXCACAO Maya Belizean Chocolate with his wife, Abelina. During our time at the organic farm we saw (and sampled) cacao pods and coffee beans straight from the trees. At the chocolate making facility we were served pure hot chocolate (no milk or sugar) and lunch. It was, hands down, the best meal I've had in Belize. Next, we sampled 6 kinds of chocolate made by IXCACAO: dark, milk, spicy, orange, ginger, and coconut. All were delicous! Finally, Juan showed us the old-fashioned, Mayan way to make chocolate. We hand-peeled freshly roasted cocoa beans and then Juan modeled how to grind the beans using a heirloom Mayan grinding stone. The beans were turned into pure, melted chocolate in a matter of minutes! IXCACAO no longer uses the grinding stone for their regular production, so we were able to take a look at the ways they now peel, separate, and grind beans to make delicious Mayan chocolate bars.

Entrance to the first Mayan archaeological site we visited as a group

Coffee beans, still inside their sweet casings, straight off the tree!

Piles of empty cacao pods, ready for decomposition

Raw cocoa beans, inside the cacao pod

Chocolate chicken, chocolate curry pork, vegetable rice cooked with coconut milk, heart of palm, stew beans and white rice, plantains, and fresh cucumber

Freshly roasted cocoa beans, before we hand-shelled them

Grinding beans to make chocolate!

Adding sugar to make our chocolate sweet!

Yes, that's a hair dryer! This contraption is used to separate shells from cocoa beans

The next morning, we woke up early to say goodbye to Punta Gorda. Our next stop was the Belize Zoo. It was so neat to see exotic animals like tapirs, howler monkeys, spider monkeys, toucans, and jaguars up close. The zoo is set up so that the animals live in environments that are as close as possible to their natural environments and many of the animals there have been rescued.

Junior, the spotted jaguar

After leaving the zoo, we headed to our final inland destination, San Ignacio. We stayed at The Plaza Hotel, owned and operated by a little old couple. We walked through their living room and by their kitchen to get up to our rooms, which was very interesting. This was our home for four nights in San Ignacio. My next post will highlight the rest of our adventures inland!