The Monkey from Seattle

Hola amigos! This is Rachel, once again, posting about one of my absolute favorite activities…

THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY!!!!! Yes, that’s right. We went to a chocolate factory on Thursday as the CCS fieldtrip of the week. It was absolutely amazing. Everything was great, except for the fact that there was no Willy Wonka and no Charlie Bucket (Well, unless you count me, because I was just Charlie in a production of Willy Wonka). We started out walking across a beautiful, but extremely long, extension bridge. The bridge took us across a huge stretch of forest, a river, and a creek. Surprisingly, it was the longest extension bridge in all of Costa Rica! A few of the other volunteers were extremely nervous, but everyone else loved it. After we reached the end of the bridge, which came all too soon in my opinion, we took a fifteen minute hike through the forest to get to the Cacao plantation itself. As a group, we emerged from the path surrounded by dense undergrowth and reached a large awning with wooden benches. After taking our seats, the orientation began. The guide talked about the history of Cacao, which I already knew because of a Fair Trade speech I had given, and then asked for two volunteers. I was immediately chosen by the rest of our group, and Curtis, who was a 6-foot tall volunteer, went up too. To my amazement, the guide handed me a Cacao pod. She said, “How do monkey eat the fruit of the cacao tree? They don’t use knives to cut it open. Open the pod like a monkey.” I took the pod and smashed it against a wooden stump. The pod opened perfectly. I was then dubbed the “Monkey” from Seattle, hence the name of the post. The guide then passed the pods around and had everyone take a fruit covered cacao bean. She told us to suck on the bean, but not to swallow it or throw it away. Then she collected the now spit covered beans, while Grevein, the CCS director, passed out more beans. I think I had about twenty altogether. The next step was kind of gross. For the fermenting process, bacteria are needed to help with fermenting. So, she poured our nasty sucked on cacao beans into the tray. Next was the drying rack. Cacao beans are left in the sun so they dry and don’t mold. She took us to the rack and fed us a bean. Most people thought it tasted disgusting, but I enjoyed it. The beans were then roasted and we ate a roasted bean too. These beans tasted more like chocolate, but I preferred the unroasted ones. Next we ground the beans in a mortar and pestle-ish thing. It was authentic to what the ancient people used to grind cacao. Everyone who wanted one got a turn. It was fun. Next, the guide made the “drink of the gods”. Andrew, the so-called strongest of the volunteer group, was called up to finish the grinding with a turn machine. He found it extremely difficult, and had to turn with two hands. It was funny, because the man who makes most of the chocolate then came and was able to turn it easily in one hand. It was hilarious. The tour guide then mixed the powdered beans with water and served it to our group. It was bitter, but good. Next, the spices were added. To my drink, I added everything which included vanilla, nutmeg, black pepper, and chili pepper. It was so spicy my throat felt like it was on fire. But the drink was delicious. Next, the real fun began. The guide mixed up melted dark chocolate and gave everyone a spoonful. Then another spoon full. Grevein kept having them give me more, and I even walked up to the guide a few times. When all the melted stuff was gone, they showed us how they molded it. After pouring the leftover chocolate in molds, they passed out preformed samples. Again, I had tons and Grevein even told them they forgot to give me any a few times. It was awesome. After looking at a cacao tree, we hiked back to the tourist center and bought lots of chocolate. Well, most people did. I only got two bars because other volunteers bought pretty much all of it. Oh well. I do wish I could have had more though. All in all, the tour was absolutely wonderful. I ate so much chocolate that day. It was great. Well, that’s the factory tour. Adios amigos!