Bean-to-Bar Chocolate with Moho Chocolate in Belize (Photo courtesy of Moho Chocolate)
Rhonda Kave of Roni-Sue’s Chocolates is hosting a chocolate trip to Belize! Tree-to-bar chocolate, jungle lodges, farm expeditions and a good amount of hammock time. And did I mention chocolate? I love the jungle, and you know I love chocolate. So what could be better than this:
WHEN: March 14 – 21, 2015
WHERE: Cotton Tree Lodge, an eco-lodge in the rainforest along the Moho River
WHAT: Some details about this week in paradise:
Day 1 – Arrival: We fly into Belize City and head straight to MOHO Chocolate Factory at Fort St. Tourism Village where Roni-Sue is a partner. We’ll get a private tour, watch the staff make bean to bar chocolate and sample the full line of our dark and milk chocolate bars! Once fortified with delicious chocolate we’ll return to the airport for a short flight to Punta Gorda –we’ll settle into the lodge, meet everyone, and get a chance to mingle over cocktails and dinner.
Day 2 – Farms! Walk through Eladio’s farm, see his agrofarm in action and taste the many delightful plants he grows. Have lunch with his family and learn how to make a traditional Mayan cacao drink.
Day 3 – Fermentation and Fun Learn about Maya Mountain Cacao and how they work with the cacao farmers in Belize. Spend the afternoon going to a national park or maybe get in some “hang time” in your hammock!
Day 4 – Traditional Chocolate Making and Tortilla Making Learn how to make chocolate using a Metate and learn to make old school style tortillas in a local Mayan home.
Day 5 – Hummingbird Hershey – Now that you’ve learned about farms, fermentation and chocolate making its time to go deeper. We’ll spend a few hours driving to a 400 acre farm established many years ago by Hershey’s to see what a larger scale farm/plantation looks like.
Day 6 – Various forms of fun in the sun—free day It’s your day to do whatever you’d like to do, rake beans at Maya Mountain? Join Roni-Sue for a medicinal herb walk? Snorkeling in the beautiful Belizean water? A horseback ride or buggy ride? Join in cooking a communal meal, made with fresh produce from our trip to the PG Farmer’s Market?
Day 7 – Trip to Belcampo—more farms! On our last full day we’ll head to Belcampo where we’ll get a tour of their gardens, cacao plants, and their chocolate making facility.
Day 8– Saturday, March 21st—return home or continue to explore beautiful Belize and beyond! Maybe stick around PG for a few hours with Roni-Sue and Sharon to enjoy the annual Farmers’ Meeting—a not-to-be-missed party & our MOHO partner Jeff’s “favorite thing to do in Belize”! Nothin’ better than that!
Prices (excluding airfare) start at $1,300 per person for seven days— through $2,600 for deluxe cabana as a single. Also includes:
ground transport
lodging
meals
farm tours
most other activities
QUESTIONS? CALL 212-677-1216 or email Info@CottonTreeLodge.com
Cacao Pods: This is how chocolate is born (photo courtesy of Moho Chocolate)
Cotton Tree Lodge in Belize – Looks splendid, right? (Photo courtesy of Cotton Tree Lodge)
Visit the cacao farms in the jungles of Belize with Moho Chocolate (photo courtesy of Moho Chocolate)
Harvesting the caco beans in Belize (Photo courtesy of Moho Chocolate)
Eat These! Chocolate delights from Moho Chocolates (Photo courtesy of Moho Chocolate)