Changes in Latitude

Brazil’s best ambassador may be Paulo Coehlo, author of The Alchemist, Manual of the Warrior of Light, The Flowing River, and the most translated novel in the world. Does anyone know which title that would be? This beloved Brazilian said, “Everything that happens once can never happen again. But everything that happens twice will surely happen a third time”.

This seems especially true as we plan a reunion tour for a journey across Brazil, at the request of clients who met on our last excursion. What is so fascinating about Brazil that always takes us back?

1. First of all, Brazilians are among the warmest people on earth.
2. Brazil’s economy is 2^nd only to the USA’s in our hemisphere.
3. Cultural Contributions: Bossa Nova, Samba, Carnival.
4. The diversity of her nature is unrivaled.
5. Portuguese, the language of love.

And that is the short list!

So where does a journey in Brazil begin?  In Rio de Janeiro, of course. Rio is only half the size of Brazil’s biggest city. Why not stay in her sexiest neighborhood, Santa Teresa?  Then, get in the spirit of Que saudade! … by visiting Rua Montenegro, where Antonio Carlos Jobim first saw the Girl from Ipanema and penned the classic song of longing. Que saudade! describes intense longing.

Pele has as many fans as Paulo Coehlo.  The world’s foremost soccer hero is from Minas Gerais, our 2^nd destination, Brazil’s heartland, home of historic coffee plantations, mining villages, and romantic hideaways far from the beaches.  Here we visit the charming villages of Olimpio Noronha, Tiradentes, and Ouro Preto.

Nobody returns from Brazil without a bit of a tan, so our final journey is to beaches that are the favorites of Brazilians, found on the island of Floripa.  Here we enjoy carefree sun-soaked days walking beaches with stunning beauty, far from the chaos of Brazil’s major cities. This island embodies the spirit of Brazil, a perfect complement to its dynamic economy, a diverse culture united in warmth, sincerity, simpático.

Ngobe Bugle Girl in El Salto

Amistad International Park is in C. America’s Talamanca Mountains. Amistad is home to the largest virgin forest remaining in C. America. Amistad is a fitting name since it straddles the Costa Rica – Panama border and Amistad is Spanish for “friendship”. The park is home to stunning biodiversity with the following species counts: 600 bird species, 250 amphibians and reptiles 180 endemic plants, 115 fish, and 215 species of mammals including cats such as Jaguars, Ocelots, and Pumas.

Human habitation in Amistad dates back 12,000 years according to pre-ceramic sites discovered near Volcan Baru in Chiriqui, Panama. According to UNESCO, “such sites are extremely rare in C. America and represent some of C. America’s earliest human inhabitants”.  About early inhabitants on the Costa Rica side of the park, UNESCO notes that “skillfully created elaborate gold ornaments, jewelry, and huge symmetrical stone spheres are the most outstanding evidence of the cultural development of pre-Colombian man over the last 3,000 years”.

UNESCO speaks of the indigenous Teribe residing in Amistad. However, my visits to Amistad’s Rio Teribe in 2007 revealed a tribe calling itself the Naso, a monarchy governed by a King.  The Spanish likely called the tribe by the name of the river ‘Teribe’ which runs through the 7 Naso villages.  The Naso are small tribe of 3,500 people living in villages connected by footpaths. The river provides for the primary traffic route to the Caribbean coast.  Naso use rafts to trade fruit such as cacao in Bocas del Toro for the few items they do not produce in the rainforest themselves, such as machetes.  I had the pleasure of meeting a university professor who has recently launched an eco-lodge to help the Naso capitalize on adventure tourism opportunities. It is called Wekso.

There are much smaller tribes that live in or near Amistad, such as the Bribri, Boruca, and Cabesar. All the Talamanca peoples maintain their ancient folklore, customs, agricultural and hunter/gatherer traditions.   They also maintain their languages which are now supplemented with Spanish. By far the largest indigenous tribe is the Guaymi, which is a bit of a misnomer created by the Spanish who called many tribes Guaymi, such as the Ngobe and the tiny Bugle tribe. The Ngobe are the most populous indigenous tribe in the region with 200,000 members in Costa Rica and Panama. ‘Guaymi’ is based on the Buglere term for the Ngobe, which was ‘Guaymiri’, shortened by the Spanish.

The Spanish found three distinct tribes which they called Guaymi. At that time each tribe was known by the name of its current chief and each spoke a different language. The chiefs were Nata, Parita, and Urraca. Urraca is famous for never having been conquered by the Spanish who tried too many times and grew to fear all “Guaymi” because they didn’t learn to distinguish the tribes.  Urraca forced Spanish Captian Diego de Albitez to sign a peace treaty in 1522. Urraca was later betrayed by his successor and captured by the Spanish, but he escaped and died a free man and legendary figure.

In 1997 the descendents of the blended ‘Guaymi’ tribes, calling themselves Ngobe-Bugle, joined forces to obtain a Comarca (autonomous lands) that comprises roughly 10% of Panama’s land area. Many Ngobe-Bugle live outside their Comarca near Amistad around the Chiriqui-Bocas del Toro-Costa Rica borders.  In Costa Rica and a few places in Panama they still use the name Guaymi.  I have the privilege of serving as an English tutor to a young Ngobe woman attending university in Chiriqui. Many of her tribe’s women speak very little Spanish and no English; the men speak Spanish for work and use their native tongues at home.  Women wear brightly colored traditional handmade dresses called naguas and men wear trousers and, often, shirts made from manta-sucia.

This is a warm and friendly culture, cohesive and unchanged by modern neighbors with whom they co-exist peacefully.  The dominant Hispanic culture tends to be a bit cynical regarding the indigenous, perhaps because they live apart from the mainstream culture.  The growing European and N. American expatriate cultures near Amistad tend to view the indigenous with fascination.  Many indigenous peoples migrate to pick coffee for half the year and live on the Comarca for the balance of the year. Others manage coffee farms or other fincas year round. If you drink coffee in this region, you are certainly benefiting from the efforts of its indigenous peoples.

Cacao was brought from the Amazon Basin to Central America by the Maya 2,600 years ago, according to analysis of residue in Maya pottery.  Aztec royalty drank cocoa all day and night to fuel stamina for attending to their many wives and concubines.

Cacao was introduced to Europe by the Spanish around 1585, the date of the first recorded commercial shipment of chocolate from Veracruz, Mexico to Seville. Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus named the tree ‘Theobroma’ which means “food of the gods”.  Cacao beans were historically used as a currency, serving in the place of small coins as recently as 1840 on Mexico’s Yucatán peninsula.

The largest producers of cacao in the Americas are Brazil, Ecuador & Venezuela with a combined market share of 10%.

The best quality cocoa beans are from the Criollo variety. Criollo cacao can be enjoyed directly from the pod and, properly fermented, maintains natural sweetness. When used commercially, the Criollo variety requires less sugar which is why 70% – 85% cacao dark chocolate bars are possible.  Gourmet chocolate represents roughly 4% of the world’s annual cacao production, a market of 160,000 short tons per year.

The main source for Criollo beans today is Venezuela’s Hacienda San José, www.cacaosanjose.com , with representatives in France, Switzerland and Spain. This hacienda has 200 hectares of Criollo cacao with an average density of 1,000 trees per hectare.

Criollo cacao is prevalent throughout C. America, with crop development occurring from Guatemala to Panama, where it thrives in rain-forested regions to an altitude of 2000′.

In Panama, cacao cultivated by indigenous growers produces a superior product preferred by chocolate aficionados over products produced by newcomers to this exotic crop, according to French Cacao Broker Mathilde Grand of Isla Colon’s Starfish Cafe.

Grand’s “Citizens Chocolate” markets tribal cocoa spheres, a hand-crafted organic product from a cooperative in Bocas del Toro on the Caribbean coast of Panama.  This region is home to the Ngobe-Buglé whose autonomous lands stretch between International Park Amistad to the coast of the Caribbean Bastimento Nature Reserve.   In the shade of their jungles, cacao is cared for and harvested using sustainable indigenous traditions.  After collecting the ripe pods, the seeds are removed, brought to fermentation then put out in the sun to dry for several days.  Once dried, the seeds are roasted over a fire, ground and rolled into spheres that are perfect for baking or melting into water, milk, and spices for a delicious drink.

© Mathilde Grand

For more details, enter a comment below!

This post is comprised of excerpts from the article “Cacao: a crop ready for new investment?”, written for Alternative Latin Investor‘s next issue. Photos by Mathilde Grand ©

For a calendar with small things you can do every day to celebrate a more peaceful world, visit www.PeaceProject.com

On the dawn of 2010, we find a vastly different world then we left last New Year’s Eve.

The world is still upside down, as Roger Cohen observed last year, “the developed world now depends on the developing world, rather than the other way around”.

This blog noted last December how Brazil & Mexico are emerging as leaders on global issues such as climate change and economic growth.  One year ago, President Bush was busy subverting California’s restrictions on auto pollution by blocking the law from taking effect.  We were in a “Great Recession”.

This New Year’s Eve, the world is more united toward caring for Mother Earth.  President Obama ordered the EPA to allow states such as California to limit their pollution beyond federal regulations.   He negotiated an important compromise in Copenhagen between China and other major world economies to take action against dangerous emissions.

Economically, this year ends with several Latin American nations posting GDP gains while N. American and European economies contracted.  However, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended its downward spiral early in the year and has been climbing ever since.  The recession is officially over.  We end 2009 with a glimmer of hope and pride for 2010.

Congress is poised to pass the first meaningful health care reform in decades, banning insurance discrimination on the basis of medical history, helping tens of millions of families establish and maintain coverage.  In this regard, the USA is joining civilized nations late, and with a half-step, but it’s a move in a compassionate direction.  Meanwhile, quality health care in much of the developing world remains so affordable that health insurance is simply unnecessary.  Last New Year’s Eve my daughter had stitches in a Washington ER for over $1000; her father recently had the same procedure for a surprisingly similar wound in Panama for $34.  (She has a scar, her father does not.)

One of this year’s two big stories was Sonia Sotomayor, confirmed as first Hispanic justice on Supreme Court; and, Barack Obama, elected the first African American President of the USA.

President Obama recently began relaxing restrictions on travel to Cuba; his administration expedited visa requests for muscians performing in a concert promoting freedom there.  Cuban musician Carlos Varela sang for Congress, saying in DC, “Music is not going to move governments, but it might move people. And people can move governments.”

What do we hope for 2010?  Treehugger.com hopes Ford introduces an F75 Pickup, with half the horsepower of an F150, “because you really don’t need all that power in the suburbs”.  For my part, I hope we all take more time for one another in the New Year, online and off.  Please share your wishes for  2010 by commenting below, and may the New Year bring peace and sustainable prosperity for you all.

Living next door to Colombia, it is a bit surprising to hear of Zumba via Bisbee, Arizona. Then again, that is the magic of Bisbee.  The magic of this blog, hopefully, is fusion where South America meets North America.   So, a bit more about Zumba…

Zumba is Colombian slang for “move fast and have fun”.  It is also an innovative exercise program created by Beto Perez (forefront in photo) whom dance diva Shakira chose as one of her choreographers.  Research suggests Zumba has taken the world by storm via Miami, where two entrepreneurs helped Sr. Perez promote his dynamic dance program.

Zumba involves Latin American cumbia, salsa, merengue, flamenco and samba -inspired dance.  ”Throw in a bit of African dance influence and some shimmy and you’ve got it.  GREAT fun and what a workout!” – June Cabat

See for yourself on YouTube, where Zumba receives millions of hits.  An excellent solo performance comes from Cathya whose first Zumba post is a year old.  Click here for a recent demo from this Latina who grew up with the dance moves Beto Perez has been working with professionally for more than a decade.

Colombians specialize in fun.  At least one Colombian is bringing his nation’s native disco culture into the bright light of the  day … all across the world.  Sounds like fusion.  Bravo Beto!  Want to visit Colombia?  Click here for photos and a few ideas. Enjoy!

Day of the Dead

If you’d like to participate in Dia de los Muertos ceremonies, there are several villages in Mexico with colorful celebrations worth attending. Most are in the Central Pacfic Coast states of Guerrero, Michoacan & Jalisco.

This festival honors the lives of dear departed ones with rich cultural traditions.  Planes full of tourists attend annually. This year, airfares to the best festival destinations are between $200 and $400 rountrip from the U.S.

“Dia de los Muertos” is a holiday celebrated primarily in Mexico but also in Hispanic and African communities worldwide. Families honor memories of their departed with music, costumes, festively decorated sugar skulls, and altars to the dead with many candles. Families visit graves to leave the favorite foods and drinks of their departed. Loved ones are celebrated with stories, feasts, dancing, iconic skeletons, and always with good humor.

These ceremonies date back thousands of years and began as a celebration of death as a voyage to a higher plane by the pre-Hispanic Olmecs & Zapotecs. The Aztecs celebrated for an entire month, honoring their goddess of death. The modern celebration occurs on the 1st and 2nd of November, fusing the pre-Hispanic celebration with two Catholic holidays – All Saint’s Day & All Souls’ Day. In Brazil it’s a public holiday and Spain holds parades and festivals.

Send a note for recommendations on the best festivals.  Even you don’t attend, remember the ancestors who influenced your life!

View from atop Volcán Barú

Volcan Baru is Central America’s most spectacular peak.  The Baru Volcano is at the heart of Parque Nacional Volcan Baru.  It is halfway between Belize and Bogota and adjacent to International Park Amistad, an UNESCO World Heritage Site.  From its summit one can view the Pacific Ocean, southern Costa Rica, the Caribbean Sea, and a good portion of Panama’s northern highlands.  Dawn atop Volcan Baru is a photographer’s dream.

The whistles of the quetzal – so splendid it was worshipped by the Maya as a sacred bird – entertain the few hikers brave enough to ascend 6,100’ over eight miles to the volcano’s 11,400’ summit.  Many of Panama’s 50 species of raptors can be seen soaring for prey, as can hummingbirds – the main pollinators of the numerous and exotic species of Heliconias.  Five species of cats make their home in this cloud forest; pumas are most numerous.  One species in short supply is mankind.

The shortest ascent is via El Salto, the author’s home, at 5,000 feet.  Allow 5.5 hours in thin air, and plan to leave around midnight to navigate a crude path in the dark.  To enjoy vistas too magnificent for words, hikers must reach the summit before clouds and fog form mid-morning.  Hikers enjoy breakfast at the summit and descend in periodic or constant rains for well-deserved feasting and resting before posting photos on the Internet bragging of their accomplishment.

Insider’s tip from Dave at Hostal Boquete:  make sure your camera is fully charged. The journey is 10-hours walking plus 1.5 hours drive from Boquete to the trailhead and back to the pueblo.  Essentials: flashlight, quality footwear, warm clothes, gloves, rain gear, 2.5 liters of water, food, and sun block.

Coffee is integral to the culture of highland Central America.  Boquete, Chiriqui, near the Costa Rican border, is the Napa Valley of coffee, with over 20 local labels, tasting rooms, and finca tours.  Coffee aficionados from www.UniqueCoffee.com will be travelling to Boquete in Feburary.  In the meantime, notes from Roaster Seth Appell’s most recent visit to C. America are worth sharing…

“In a noble social experiment, the country of Costa Rica shunned the expense of a national army, investing instead in the building of schools and hospitals, providing low-cost education and healthcare for the general population. Rather than following the colonial model of large tracts of farmland owned by the wealthy minority, agricultural centers were built upon a cooperative model, providing coffee plants, education and materials at cost or free for anyone with even the smallest amount of arable land.

Spend a day with the members of CoopePalmares, and you quickly begin to understand the wealth and freedom of this country that values its families, heritage, and the skills necessary to produce truly fine coffee.

In the center of every coffee field is a home. Each proud farmer we met was born in the center of his own two or three acre coffee field. A man can tend two or three acres of coffee trees with his own hands. For 365 days a year, a farmer cultivates his tree’s, cleans the soil of weeds, and prepares for a harvest that returns a meager third of his income. 250 coffee trees produces that two sacks, or 300 pounds of coffee. And yet with this he sends his children to college. At harvest time the entire country returns to its roots. Children come home from school, and families reunite to harvest coffee across the country.

It is a fact that during my entire stay, I never met a man working at any job whose family was not involved in the coffee back home. It’s a simple fact of life that coffee provides only a portion of the income necessary for a good life, and indeed Costa Rica is a country with a comfortable middle-class. The spirit of “Pura Vida”, the pure life, is the spirit of the Costa Rican people.”

Coffee pickers from the indigenous Ngöbe are beginning to return from Costa Rica to their native Panama.  They have been helping with the larger cooperative’s harvests.  It is encouraging to realize how Panama respects its indigenous peoples.  The atlas reveals that Panama’s population is comprised of 8.4% indigenous peoples.  This atlas has a page for each tribe’s land area (Comarca).  Quick arithmetic reveals that Panama has reserved 20% of its land for its first Americans.  Panama’s Comarca’s are not marginal lands; but prime property.  This is tangible respect.

I recently had the joy of meeting Dra. Maria Ruiz of Boquete’s Casa Ruiz.  We discussed coffee and philosophy.  I was mesmerized by Dra. Ruiz’s perspective on the subject of creating peace within a community.  “Peace results when people respect (and feel respected by) their neighbors”.   Respect is a reoccurring theme this week.

This theme reminds me of a recent journey to meet the people of Latin America’s last kingdom, the Naso.  The Naso Comarca is on Panama’s Rio Teribe, where villagers live in harmony with the land, off the grid, growing almost everything they need to thrive gracefully in concert with Mother Earth, including coffee and cacao for chocolate.  The Naso raft down river to trade surplus crops for grains and other incidentals.  My children couldn’t believe how happy the Naso children are without electronic diversions.

Unlike the Naso, many Ngöbe live outside of their Comarcas.  Like Costa Rica, entire families are involved in harvest coffee.  Unlike Costa Rica, many farms are too large to be owner tended, and the Ngöbe people tend the crops year round, living on the fincas.  Others follow harvests and return to their Comarca for the balance of the year.  The return of the harvesters is an exciting time in Boquete and, for several months each year, the entire pueblo revolves around coffee, festivals, and the holidays.

For information on an upscale tour of this area and some of its finer cafes, fincas, and many rainforest adventures, check out our Coffee Culture Tour link.

Those interested in the Americas will relish Charles’s Mann’s analysis of modern anthropology and archaeology, “1491: New Revelations of the Americas before Columbus”. This fascinating book collates evidence from contemporary peer-reviewed scientific journals, exposing myriad mistakes found in textbooks circulated in the last 200 years.

The value of this analysis is its proof positive that Europeans did not bring civilization to the Americas. Colonial settlers did not bring large-scale agriculture or forest management to a ‘primitive people’. Paris wasn’t a glimmer in anyone’s eye as great cities celebrated centennial anniversaries in the Americas … advanced agricultural societies with pyramids, plumbing, a vibrant written history, calendars and astronomical charts more advanced than any from Europe in the 16th Century. Columbus was a follower, tardy by thousands of years.

As a result of centuries of ethnocentric historical inaccuracies, few citizens of the Americas comprehend the amazing history of their own hemisphere. Those interested in this important story, in discerning facts from myths, will appreciate Mann’s impartial presentation. What happened to the advanced civilizations of Mesoamerica that enabled their accomplishments to be lost to contrived versions of the history of their region?

Begin to discover the answers with ‘1491’ and stay tuned for future revelations from archeologists and anthropologists working Latin America. ‘1491’s ecological revelations are salient to today’s debates about sustainability and climate change. This book reads like an epic adventure. Mann’s revelations are fostering debates worldwide, especially on college campuses in Latin American countries – the main source of new evidence regarding myths about what Columbus ‘discovered’.

Charles Mann in Oaxaca

Thanks to Uncle Bob for the gift of this book…