Friday, February 21 Sarapiqui Chocolate and Rafting

 Friday, February 21

Birds, birds and more birds this morning, as Andrey fills us in on who's visiting the feeding area.

                                                                 not sure of this one

This masked guy is a kiskadee - quite common everywhere we've been.

scarlet rumped tanager

                                                            crimson-collared tanager

                                                   I think this is a different honeycreeper - not sure.

clay colored thrush

The fruits at breakfast continue to be just amazing.  Wonderful fresh pineapple, watermelon, sometimes cantaloupe, sometimes mango, and papaya.  Another kind of melon and star fruit have made appearances as well, and of course bananas.

We leave at 8:00 for a short ride to Costa Rica Best Chocolate and plantation, which also happens to be run by Popo (yesterday's lecturer).  Walking to the demonstration site, we spotted these little poison dart frogs.  The red one with blue legs is called the blue jeans frog and is just about 2".  The other, the green and black dart frog,  is a little larger.  They don't make their own venom, but collect it from insects that they eat.

The chocolate used in demonstrations and products is made from their own plantation's products and is also purchased from other neighboring Sarapiqui cacao small-scale producers. 

There are 6 types of cacao tree which produce cacao beans in pods and the darker the beans the better the flavor. A plantation needs at least 4 variations to blend.  Flowers are pollinated by flies and ants.     Cacao is  considered a super food due to its high concentration of antioxidants and rich mineral content, especially magnesium.

Chocolate should not be bitter at all Popo says, if made correctly using a fermentation process.  This is time consuming, though, so large manufacturers of chocolate often skip it. 

We look at the cacao  beans and taste them, then try roasted beans.  Then we move on to the good stuff!    Delicious warm, melty chocolate - yum.  Then we each make some hot chocolate, adding chili pepper, black pepper, cardamom or other spices to vary the taste.  It is great!

Greg gets to do some grinding of the beans!

Beth sampling the first hot chocolate.

We head back to the lodge for lunch, and get ready to go rafting.

At 1:45 those who are rafting board the bus - 13 of us.  We're given helmets and life jackets and safety instructions. 

 There are 3 rafts and each has a guide who sits in the rear and steers.  A couple of folks in kayaks will accompany us - just in case!  We sign a waiver and head out.   A few photos from my phone but they were taking (and selling, of course) the exciting pictures.

It is a pleasant ride, nothing too crazy, but enough to get wet and give a few thrills.  We stop for a pineapple snack break part way.  Those who have never rafted think it is fabulous, those who have thought it so-so.

Back to the lodge.  One of our travelers, Nancy, is a yoga instructor and offers a free, easy class but Greg and I skip it and instead do a self-guided nature walk through rainforest and along the river.

                                                                        star fruit tree.

                                                                           bananas.

centipede

At 7PM we meet Andrey for a quick look at some frogs in a nearby wet area.  Cute little buggers!

                                                                    Red-eyed leaf frog.

Then into dinner.  The usual choices, but wait - is this the night we had ice cream for dessert with chocolate cake crumbles?

Nice getting to know some of our fellow travelers.  All are travelers to a degree but Karen wins the prize for having attended 40 Road Scholar programs!