It was another chocolate day. Our group has a fine appreciation for dark chocolate, and didn’t mind at all when when we suggested we visit another cacao farm and family operation. Eladio, his wife, Virginia, and their large family have an extensive farm and were very hospitable to us.

Their farm has some beautiful plants. I loved the pattern of these leaves. In fact, I walked by, then quickly backed up, because they had caught my peripheral vision.

There was also a purple version of this particular flower

There were so many people who passed us with bags of crops they had gathered, girls balancing them on their heads, men with tump lines to help take the load off their backs.

I asked permission to photograph this elderly gentleman. He had such a wonderful, weathered face.

He was also just the touch I wanted for the road winding down the hill.

Back at Eladio and Virginia’s house, there were children, piglets, chickens, and dogs running about. The elder girls were helping their mother prepare a delicious lunch for us that we ate inside, having all taken off our shoes, so we wouldn’t dirty the floor with the mud from our tour of the cacao farm.

We headed back outside to the shelter of a thatched, open-air building to see a demonstration of their method of chocolate making, taking turns helping out.

One of the youngest children eyed us warily. No wonder! We all had these big black things in our hands!

Virginia and one of her daughters showed us how they roasted the cacao beans. Here, Virginia is turning them by hand on a metal disk over the wood fire, testing them, never burning herself in the process.

It was fascinating to see the way another family made their chocolate compared to the demonstration we saw early in the week.

You may not hear from us tomorrow, as we are headed up into the mountains, and being our last day, we will have our group critique, not giving me much time for a blog, but one never knows …

Workshop Updates

New England Fall Foliage is just about full, so if you’re interested, write us first. … and make your reservations quickly. The B&Bs are already sold out, but The Days Inn still has room and is convenient. Others are staying there, too.

Meanwhile, for those who are contemplating joining us for the first time, we have Early-Bird specials for our new participants. Check the PayPal page for the cut-off dates for those.

We also have gift certificates available for those who want to help someone else get to one of our workshops. One was just given as a surprise 50th birthday present.

Non-photographing spouses and SOs are always welcome to join us. The 2009 season saw a number of them, and thus far for 2010, about a dozen and a half of our participants are bringing guests, some returnees. We go to some great locations that they enjoy, even though they aren’t photographers themselves.

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