We woke up this morning in our thatched guest house in our mosquito netting. Breakfast for myself and Mikey was at Domingo’s house; a nice breakfast of eggs, beans and of course fresh tortillas, very yummy and filling. Next was our farm walk where we visited the local farms. 30 acres of land is rented from the government and worked by each farmer.
On our way to the fields the gentlemen with us
demonstrated how they split a palm leaf for thatch. Starting from the top it
seemed to split effortlessly. The best way to place a palm leaf on a roof for
thatching is with each of the leaf blades in a V shape. That way it will be
water tight. The rain will be funneled down the centre of the leaf to the
bottom. The other way around and the roof will leak. The leaf they use is from
the Cahun palm, which also has nuts that are high in oil and heart of palm, a
food source, can be harvested from this tree. So many plants were pointed out
with medicinal properties or unique abilities like being able to regrow from a
small part. We were able to sample sugar cane, and saw the Annato plant which
is used to turn things red. We were told they interplant fields with Makuna
beans to fertilize the soil. Different things are grown by each farmer but we
visited corn fields that were planted and managed by hand.
A long trek into the
jungle brought us to a cave that had been used by ancient Maya as a layover
spot. There was still a piece of ancient pottery in the cave. Our next stop was
a Cacao farm. The gentleman mentioned he has 7 different types of cacao plants.
There are about 300 female plants on his farm and 6 male trees to cross
pollinate with. A new cacao seedling will take about 5 years to start producing
fruit, but a sucker from an established root system will start producing after
one year. The cacao tree grows best in shade so there were other larger trees
around the farm to provide the shade. The cacao pods are harvested by hand over
about 7 months, as they ripen. The farmer mentioned he has been keeping records
and gets about 100 pounds of cacao from each of his trees. We returned to the
village from the fields for lunch. Holly and I had lunch at Deloris’ house, a
very tasty chicken and cabbage soup, with a bit of spice to it, and lots of
freshly made tortillas for us to use to sop up the juices. Our afternoon was
filled with crafts. The local ladies demonstrated how to make knotted
bracelets, basket weaving and carving of one of the local nuts Calabash.
They also displayed the craft items they had completed and we did a bit of
shopping. Tony, Holly and I had dinner at Maria's house, chicken and Jippy Japa heart. Another wonderful meal. All that's left to do is drift of to sleep in our mosquito nets.
by Michelle Stevens
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