Puerto Chiapas, Mexico. Excursion: Mayan Tree of Life & Chocolate Discovery

A guest having a go at making chocolate.  Grinding cocoa beans to a soft peanut butter texture, add sugar or vanilla, mix and then roll the soft mixture into logs and cut.  Allow to dry.  Yum!

Having not slept well the previous night I was in bed by 9pm last night and slept soundly until the alarm clock went off.  My brain and body called out for more sleeeeep but I had to force my legs and arms to get me out of bed and dressed, ready for breakfast.

An hour or so later I found myself on the pier with the tour group I was assigned to:  “Mayan Tree of Life and Chocolate Discovery”.  Although it was only 7:45am the heat was already starting to take hold.  Fortunately the bus had air-conditioning but waiting to board the bus left me in a bit of a ‘sweat’ – a sign of things to come!

After about a 45 minute journey we entered the town of Tuxtla Chico.  The narrow streets were difficult enough for a large bus to negotiate however we did get stuck at a corner.  A car was parked too close to a corner and our driver (Louis) couldn’t get the bus around both the corner and car without the taking the car along with us.  I don’t think the owner would be quite happy to find his car either carted away or a tangled metal mess a bit further down the road.  Our guide (Fabio) hopped off the bus and knocked on a few doors in search of the owner.  Success.  Not quite.  A small traffic jam started to build up in front of us.  2 motorbike taxis were headed straight for us.  The car (that had to move for us) needed to pull out in front of our bus into the street and we were already at a diagonal across the street waiting for the car to pull out.  A car and a bus were no match for the 2 motorbike taxis, their owners taking one look at us and hastily trying to find a space to squeeze into, off the road and out of our way.  The car pulled out, we completed the turn around the corner and voila!  Another bus transporting guests for the same tour arrived just as we got unstuck.  No doubt the drivers would be catching up with the news.

The 1½ hours or so spent in Tuxtla Chico went quickly, first with a visit to a beautiful Catholic church were Fabio explained about its history.  From there we walked around the building, through a marketplace in a narrow street and into the town square.  Fabio pointed out to us a cocoa tree and its seed pods – one of which was ripe and ready to pick but he didn’t.  A tour group was on the town square’s entertainment stage watching a chocolate making demonstration so we had a few minutes to kill until it was our turn.  We wandered around a few stalls in the town square.  Most of them had chocolate samples to taste and chocolate to buy, as well as clothing, herbs, fruit and jewellery.

Then the best bit came - our turn to see the chocolate making process.  A cocoa seed pod was opened so that we could see the seeds and taste the flesh inside the pod and around the seeds.  It was sweet and yummy.  A refreshing drink had been made from the flesh and we were all given a taste of it – very moresome!  The cocoa seeds/beans are dried and then cooked until the outer skin is crispy and bursts (we were given a cooked bean to smell and break up, and taste if we wanted to.  It wasn’t bad at all).  The beans are then put on a thick stone plate and crushed with a stone pestle that could resemble a rolling pin. (One of the guests had a go at crushing some beans and did a rather good job of it.)   As the crushing and grinding continues the beans’ natural oils start to emerge and eventually the mashed cocoa beans resemble the consistency of peanut butter.  Sugar and other ingredients are added, depending on the ‘recipe’:  almonds, vanilla or cinnamon, etc., or nothing (for natural chocolate).  The mixture is rolled and cut or shaped into rectangles and cut.  We had a taste of the newly finished product.  It was slightly crunchy but very nice.  We were also given a small cup of hot chocolate to try.  Milk was added to some newly made chocolate and stirred.  Once mixed together thoroughly it was absolutely delicious.

Once we left the entertainment stage a performance was put on for us by the local people.  The heat was getting to me and had to sit down soon after the performance began.  There were no seats left so I combined my chocolate purchases into one plastic bag, spread the spare bag on the floor and plonked my derriere on it.  I was quite comfortable despite the hard concrete, and quite in my ‘African spirited’ element however a few minutes later stall holder brought a chair for me to sit on.  Two drummers were dressed as leopards, a dancer was dressed as an eagle but later also blew into a conch and another wind instrument, and a dancer was dressed as a leopard.  Their headdresses were very well made, fitting over the entertainers heads but allowing for some movement if needed.  Later on ladies danced for us as a band played music for them at the back of the stage with the ‘leopards’ and ‘eagle’ joining in with their instruments.  During the last dance the ladies danced on the floor in front of the guests and one of them up to me, took my by the arm and got me up to join her.  Her colleagues then started gesturing and encouraging the other guests to also join in.  Afterwards, for my pains, I was presented with a small package of homemade chocolate for which I felt humbled and grateful.

After the performance we headed back to the bus and went on to our next destination – Izapa.  This is a Mayan archeological site.  The site is huge and we went only to one section of it.  All things on the site played a part of ancient Mayan beliefs and worship.  There were sculptures of stelae, and Stela 5 depicts the Tree of Life.  There were some mounds surrounding the site – pyramids.  There were no entrances to them and no funding to find out if there is anything inside them.  In the middle of the section we visited was a very large Ceiba tree.  This can be represented as the tree of life where, after death, worthy people were believed to journey to a paradise where there grew a Ceiba tree and under which they could seek eternal shade and comfort underneath.  Unfortunately Fabio’s discussion got quite technical and I therefore found it quite difficult to follow, as well as of the depictions of the carvings on the stones.  Once again the muggy heat got to me, I could feel sweat pouring off me including the feeling of losing control of my bladder (but that wasn’t so!).  I ended up sitting down on the grass every time the guide stopped to talk, seeking cool from the grass and any bit of shade I could close by but still being able to listen to what Fabio was saying.  I was so glad to get back into the cool bus when it was time to leave.

I felt a bit more human by the time we got back to the harbour but silently groaned when I saw the distance I would have to walk in the heat from the thatched roofed terminal building (near the aft end of the ship) to the gangway (towards the bridge/bow)– another dripping exercise.  In hindsight all the perspiring is doing me good – getting rid of toxins and excess liquid, possibly some waistline too….?!  😊

I endured more punishment by walking back to the terminal building after lunch to wander around some of the shops (being nosey as usual!).  There was also live entertainment in the central square of the building – singing, dancing and music.  Some guests relaxed on seats close by and watching the performances.  Parallel to the ship, near the bow end, there was a pavilion in the harbour grounds.  There guests could listen to live music, purchase drinks and food and swim in a rather nice looking pool.  I decided to give it a miss.  The cool air-conditioned ship beckoned me once again.  Resistance was futile….

An hour’s change in the clocks at 2am will give everyone an extra hour’s sleep in the morning.  Tomorrow is another day.

You can see my pictures on facebook via this link:  Mayan Tree of Life & Chocolate Discovery

Our next destination: Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala