Cacao and Coca

So, cacao is the plant used to produce chocolate.  When we visited San Jose del Guaviare, we visited the farm of Wilmer Ramirez Riaño, who is literally one of the people who wrote the book on birds of the state. Wilmer grows cacao.  I posted this on facebook, but I thought it might be interesting to preserve it here too.

Cacao pod broken open to show the seeds.

Cacao pod growing directly from the trunk of a tree

Cacao flower

Wilmer kindly harvested a cacao pod for us so that we could try the seeds.  The white fleshy covering of the seeds was sweet/tart and delicious eaten raw (although it tastes nothing like chocolate).  Normally the seeds are fermented before being roasted and processed to become chocolate, but I crunched one of the seeds (because why not?) and discovered that it had a solid texture and dark taste that I could almost imagine was chocolatey.

Coca is another Colombian crop. Coca leaves are traditionally chewed by the indigenous people of the region to help with altitude sickness, and for a little boost similar to drinking a cup of coffee. But of course, coca leaves are also refined to create cocaine.

Coca was extensively grown in the Guaviare region during the years of the troubles, both by groups aligned with FARC / ELN, and by right-wing paramilitary groups. Local farmers were caught in the middle, pressured to grow coca even if they didn't support either side. In fact the father of our local guide, Wilmer, had to abandon his farm outside of San Jose del Guaviare when he refused to grow coca and rumours started circulating that he supported the other side of the conflict.  His life and the lives of his family were at risk. (After a year as displaced people near Bogota, they returned and sold that farm. Wilmer's father later bought land elsewhere.)

Wilmer's in the blue-grey shirt at the centre of the photo.

Other farmers made different choices in difficult circumstances. On our first day of birding in Guaviare, we visited an 'eco-finca', whose owner farms part of his land and preserves forested areas in the rest. He now hosts 200 visitors monthly (often in large groups) for birding, retreats, and environmental education programs.

Harvey's not sure about the peacock. The farmer had a number of exotic birds and beasts in his farmyard.

Many farmers like him grew coca during the troubles -- the money was good, and like Wilmer's father, you could get in trouble if you refused.  Of course, complying could bring trouble too. US-sponsored helicopters sometimes showed up to dump defoiliant all over your fields -- followed by a helicopter gunship shooting everyone who fled.  The assumption was that anyone associated with a coca field was FARC.  (Funny how only armed guerrillas don't want to bathe in Roundup, or might feel threatened by a helicopter spraying bullets and toxins).

As numerous Colombians pointed out to us, cocaine use is rare in Colombia. Without demand from the US (and other Northern countries), there would be no drug trade here.