Churute

January 19, 2013

So this past weekend, we went on a day trip to Churute. It is about an hour away from where we live. Remember how I told you some communities live off the land? Well, Churute is like that. We started our tour at the Manglares Reserve. Walking a short distance (though the 'crab forest') we made it to the river. The tour guide told us to look for the different kinds of Mangroves that grow there (if you didn't know, a mangrove is a type of tree), and also for different species of birds.

While waiting to get started on the tour, these two fools decided to have a game of 'punch for punch'. They take turns punching each other, and who ever says they can't handle any more punches loses. Pretty fun game hey? Not!! Cody's arm was swollen and bruised afterward.... but you should see the other guy ; )

These are the mangrove trees. You can't really see all the wholes in the ground in this photo but there were a lot. Each one is a home to a crab. This area is common for catching crab but right now is a time when they can't be caught because they are breeding. Only 5% are females so takes a while for reproduction. Also, only 96 are allowed to be caught per person each day. That doesn't seem like a lot.. but wait until you hear how they catch them....

Caught and Released

How to catch a Mangrove crab:
1. Have long arms
2. Put on a glove
3. Find a hole in the ground
4. Stick you long arm as far into the hole as possible
5. If you feel the crab, yank it out.
6. If you don't feel the crab, use a big hook to fish it out.
7. Repeat steps 4 to 6 until you catch it.
8. Do this 96 times a day.



It was really hot out and we had to wear long sleeves because of the mosquitoes, so the breeze from the boat felt really nice. It was about 45 minutes of boating before we stopped at a part of the river where there is normally an incredible amount of birds. We were told that the birds are more common in this one particular area because the river switches currents and the fish get confused so they are easy prey!

Our Tour Guide

After the boat tour, we went to an area to see Howler monkeys. Most students didn't want to hike for long because of the mosquitoes and because they were hungry (Luckily, I had 5 layers of bug spray on, so I don't think I got bit even once), so once we saw them we went back to the bus. We saw a couple, but they were way high up in the trees. I certainly need to get a zoom lens for my next trip!

Lunch!! We get so much food here! But it was really good!

After lunch we visited a cocoa plantation! We were greeted with some really tasty chocolate treats before learning about how they made chocolate. The best thing was that we got to try everything!

The plant that hold the cocoa beans

So, I didn't actually devour the whole thing... but we did get to try the inside.  The beans come out in a pocket in a white, slimy but sweet tasting casing. The flavour was good, but the texture was hard to overcome.

The staff giving us a sample of the pure form of chocolate.
Many students thought it was really bitter, but I actually quite enjoyed it!

I don't know exactly what this drink was.. but it was something chocolaty.