New World (neue Welt)

10/30/23

We slept really well and for a long time that night and woke up to the loud chirping of birds.

For breakfast there are waffles, eggs and melon. Everything was very tasty.

At 10:30 a.m. we want to do a Cocoa tour. We thought the meeting point would be here...but it's on the other side of the valley at Finca La Candlaria. So we set off, again through the beautiful nature here and with fantastic views.

Eugenio welcomes us and shows us cocoa plants and how cocoa is made.

25% of the harvest falls victim to woodpeckers and squirrels.

Eugenio shows us the process of making cocoa, from fermentation to roasting to grinding, and always lets us taste it.

At the end there is a cup of cocoa, a cocoa praline and a cocoa facial mask.

A really informative and exciting tour.

We continue to the Cascada Escondida waterfall. It's forever downhill on beaten paths.

In between we have to pay tolls. The waterfall is not very spectacular.

Since I don't want to walk back up the path, we continue towards Minca, where I would like to take a moto taxi back to the hostel. Jürgen chats me up again and says we could also take the street on foot. Not such a good idea, as when the rain starts we get wet to the bone and I climb the steep mountain cursing the whole time. It's rainy season here.

I have no idea how we're going to get all the wet things dry. The cell phone can no longer be charged due to water, the passports are wet and the shoes are worn out anyway.

It rained heavily for the rest of the afternoon, so we chilled out in a hammock and rocking chair on the porch. Unfortunately there is no sunset either.

But again delicious food and nice conversations