Off to Bolivia: A Note from Volker Lehmann
I was copied on this note from Volker Lehmann last night in advance of leaving for a two-week return to Bolivia:
We will leave Santa Cruz next Sunday for a cacao growing area called Chapare, we stay on Monday visiting farmers and see our operation and leave on Tuesday early morning for La Paz. This way we covered already 2.500 km.
From the 17th - 19th of November we will have the II. International Congress on Fine Flavor Cacao at 3,500 m above sea level and I will watch closely how Clay will perform when he gives his speech, and I hope he will not catch the altitude sickness.
After that on Saturday afternoon we will drive down to Alto Beni to visit another site of our cacao production in Palos Blanco. Part of the driving will be on the “road of death” a spectacular scenic drive on a very small dirt road with a free drop of 700 meters if you mis-hit.
Then I plan to go with him to Rurrenabaque the Bolivian door to the Amazon and gateway for wild Beni cacao. Here we will meet with Mark Meador from Frontier Ventures Bolivia www.frontier-ventures.com teaming up for our local workshop. After that we all drive to Trinidad on dirt roads, crossing rivers, swamps and woodlands through the Beni plains. After a stop in Trinidad to regain strength, fuel repair of car and visit our new centre for wild cacao harvest we will be heading back to Santa Cruz finishing our round trip of about 4.000 km.
A very interesting article appeared in the September issue of Outside magazine and is available to read online. The story, by Rowan Jacobsen, follows a trip to expand wild cacao collection operations in the Bolivian Amazon. Highly entertaining with a "you are there" quality.
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