04/12/18 We left our big bags at the hostel and packed light to reach Minca, a village in the mountain about 600m high. A 4×4 drove us there thanks to the local collective organisation. We explored Las Piedras, a little place along the river where we got bitten by sandflies. Later we took mototaxis to reach Pozo Azul, another river spot with a waterfall. Many more tourists there and many sandflies too. Nasty little things that bite you without notice. We walked back to Minca centre to have some nice lunch at the Lazy Cat, a popular restaurant with a view on the valley. A dog escorted us back down.
Then we were ready for a longer ride on mototaxis to get to our hostel in Mundo Nuevo. 40 min of steep bumpy rocky road, but the view from there was breathtaking. This is my favourite spot in Colombia so far. I burnt my leg on the moto exhaust but in a few hours the pain was gone and left a big blister. I should know to never get off on the right side… We thought of going for a quick hike before dark but the view was so nice that we sat on a bench at the punto mirador and watched the sunset. The hostel is in the middle of nature, no windows only screens in the bedrooms and the beds have mosquito nets. You can also choose to sleep in hammocks if you dare. The toilets don’t have windows either, instead an open wall to a great view too.
We had vegetarian dinner (dish of the day like everyone else) which was delicious and big. It even included dessert, a sort of tiramisu with speculoos and passion fruit flavor. We shared the table with 2 French girls and a Polish guy. The hostel was full of French people.
05/12/18 We woke up at 5.30 to join a bird watching tour. Our guide was incredible has he could spot birds really far, when we could only see them with the binoculars. We saw many birds; vultures, tucans, wood peckers, wood creepers, oro pendulas and colibris.
We had a light breakfast back at the hostel, just in time for the check-out then after a short hike we reached La Candelaria plantation where we had a cocoa farm tour.
Cocoa is easier than coffee to make and the tasting was delicious. The plantation does not use any pesticide so is subject to natural threads like squirrels, birds and fungus. They plant fruit trees like mango and guava around cocoa trees to attract the animals and protect the cocoa. The beans freshly picked taste sweet, similar to coffee beans but once roasted for a few minutes,you can smell and taste the cocoa flavour.
There are 3 types of cocoa trees, the sweetest (Criyoyo) grows in Colombia. You need altitude and tropical weather to grow cocoa. It takes 5 months to get a flower and some of them only will produce cocoa. The tree is self pollinated and produces yellow or orange fruits.
Cocoa is called the fruit of God by the Mayas as it has many good things for the body. Antioxydants, calcium, cafein and vitamins.
The plantation only produces 1000kg of seeds per year, enough for the local consumption only. They don’t export the cocoa.
The picked seeds are first fermented for 6 days (natural process with air) then they are dried in the sun for 3 days, away from the rain. They are washed in a machine before being roasted for about 20 minutes before they produce the famous aroma.
The peel is reused as compost but is also used for cocoa tea or mixed with the beans to produce chocolate and the end product from the plantation is sold as cocoa nibs or grind beans. Mix 1 nib with 2 cups of water to create cocoa tea. It is also common to mix it with honey or sugar to have a sweeter flavour, as the raw product is very bitter. A mixture of cocoa, coffee, honey and water is also used as a face mask to clean the skin.
The biggest producer is the Ivory Coast with 18% of the world’s production then Ghana and South America (Brazil, Ecuador, Colombia).
The biggest consumer is Switzerland with an average of 9kg per person per year, then France, Germany and Belgium.
Belgium has the biggest cocoa industry, with a production of 100 tonnes a day, Callebault being the biggest producer.
We walked about 40 min back down to Minca where we bought some arepas to takeaway. On the way, we crossed a 4×4 and a truck desperately trying to reach the top, but the climb is very steep. Brice I highly recommend you to come to Minca, I feel like you would love the untouched nature, the view and the hard way to get there ?.
