Well the good news is that Ned successfully gave birth to a melanger and safely delivered it to Henry. (Reference previous blog photo of Ned looking rather pregnant with his 25 lb. bundle of chocolate joy.) The bad news is that Henry's jars of peanut butter and nutella, lovingly packed by his mom with a promise by us to hand deliver it to Henry, did not make the TSA cut. Sorry Henry.
The drive over the Andes Mountains at 6ish on Tues. morning was spectacular. We drove into the clouds and went from an arid desert landscape to a lush tropical environment. This picture was taken as we left Quito. In the distance is a snow-covered active volcano.
It was jaw dropping beautiful to see the steep and narrow mountains with many, many waterfalls pouring from them and houses perched on the edges of cliffs.
The main roads in Ecuador are in great shape. The current president has put a lot of money into the infrastructure. Despite this, the harsh rains of the last season washed out many parts of the mountain roads. It made for some interesting transitions zipping along pristine asphalt to creeping along bumpy gravel roads. It was also one of the windiest road we've ever been on, like Highway One on steroids.
When we finally reached Tena it was a joy to see Henry waiting for us. (Note Henry's t-shirt! Nevada City Highway 49). This part of Ecuador, referred to as the Oriente, is wedged between the Andes Mountain Range on the Western side and the Amazon jungle on the East. It's one of the most remote parts of Ecuador. The population here is 80% Kichwan.
We had a long breakfast chat with Henry that lasted until about 1 pm! It was so enlightening to get the background on Henry's project and experience with the Peace Corp over the last 18 months.
We finally boarded a bus and headed for the village of Arosemena Tola. Henry gave us a tour of the "Centro de Acopio de Cacao Tsatsayacu" chocolate making facility. This is an association made up of 140 familes that grow cacao.
Thru several grants from the Europian Union and the National Government a physical plant was constructed. Tsatsayacu will now buy cacoa from the families, ferment it, dry it and make it into chocolate liquor (unsweetened chocolate). Tsatsayacu is already selling their chocolate liquor to several customers, mainly local bakers and caterers. They still have quite a few challenges...
such as getting certified, but, it's quite impressive to see what Henry and the association have accomplished in this time frame.
We spent the afternoon doing some experiments with the melanger. I think that Henry and David, the director, were impressed with the capabilities of this machine. In just two hours the liquor sample we tested was much smoother than the smoothest liquor they are able to produce on their present mill. Tomorrow we plan to view their whole process from bean roasting to liquor milling, and make an additional chocolate sample or two for later in the week.
Tonight we had a delicious dinner at a local restaurant and brainstormed about other projects we're hoping to work on with Henry.
Henry put us up at a small charming hostel. Ned and I have a little bungalow complete with our own bathroom! There's a creek running past and lots of yummy fruit hanging from nearby trees. As I write this we're listening to all the sounds of the Amazon. Two days on the road and we're exhausted, but I know we'll be dreaming of chocolate and waterfalls and tropical forests.
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