Venezuela '24 - Part 4: The small cocoa village in the jungle

From the harbor, we walk, accompanied by Andrés, an older, beaming man, and many other people who, with the help of wheelbarrows and manpower, carry our many pieces of luggage to Miguel and Peloma's house.

We walk through the small village, people look at us with interest, greet us warmly, and children come skipping out of the streets, calling out, "Senor David! Como estas?!" - "Mr. David! How are you?"

Many of the people living here remember the tall, blond man very well, appreciate him and look forward to what and who his visit will bring with him this time.

When we arrive at Miguel and Peloma's house, the smell of cocoa is already in the air.

After a warm welcome, we're immediately handed the beans from the latest harvest. They say the fermentation went great. They ask us to compare them with Andre's beans, which had a different number of hours of fermentation.

Wow – everyone here seems to be a cocoa expert and has an extremely well-trained palate for every subtlety in cocoa.

In the "backyard" of the house, we get to know the other creatures that live here. Chickens, roosters, donkeys, pigs, cats, puppies, and the heart of the house: Chocolate—a small, incredibly lovable dog with whom I'll be spending a lot of time cuddling.

As I leave the house to take a moment to absorb the impressions, I see Steve sitting outside. He's under huge, beautiful, and truly impressive trees. The nature and its pristine nature here are already hard to describe.

"Hola! David! Que bueno!!! Soy Jorman. Y eso es mi esposa Karina! Has probado alguna vez el cacao?"

No. Three of us had never tasted cocoa fruit fresh from the tree before. So we started right away. Jorman and his wife Karina took us on a tour of their land.

Not a field, as we might normally find here. No – their own private piece of jungle. We harvest the delicious yucca root, eat everything from chili to coriander, and even fruits we've never heard of, but which are more aromatic than many we could have imagined.

And most importantly: our first cacao fruit in Venezuela. There it is, hanging from the trunk of the tree. That alone is incredibly special. When Jorman opens it and offers us the white "kernels" inside, I begin to beam. Finally, a fresh cacao fruit again. So delicious, so fresh and fruity. A bit like a lychee or mangosteen.

We hike through the impressive jungle, following the locals who could walk blindly on any path that is invisible to us.

At the end of our little excursion we arrive at the river.

A popular place for villagers to meet, relax, cool off, or even for birthday parties and other gatherings. Here in the forest, by the river, it's considerably cooler than down in the hot village, where the sun dries the corn kernels and cocoa beans spread out on the street.

We're greeted with a soup made from freshly caught fish, freshly harvested yucca, and plantain. It tastes even better cooked over the fire.

What a welcome.

We walk back to the village and, tired, full of impressions and very happy, move into our little house, which has three rooms, a living room and a well-equipped kitchen just right for us.

And warmth. It also has warmth for us. So we won't freeze here in beautiful Macuro.

Tomorrow we're going to the cocoa forest for the first time.

If you want to know what this experience was like for us, look forward to part 5 of our trip to Venezuela. :)