The Tikul plantation from Belcolade
At the occasion of a recent trip to Mexico, we went to the plantation that Belcolade started in the Yucatan region.
This region is full of Maya pyramids and sites and it was hence logical to expect to find Maya ruins on the land of the plantation itself.
On top of one of the hills we found the remains of a Maya settlement.
The foundations of a wall
A very large “metate”
A hole in the ground, is the access to a Mayan food chamber
View from the top of the hill
Under the hill there is a Maya well dug in the stone
What has been realized on the land of the plantation in one year is amazing.
House of the guardian
Stable for the horses, they will bring the cocoa pods from the plantation
Entrance to the site
The planted cocoa trees are criollo and trinitario, but with a clear tendency towards criollo.
The beans are planted
The small trees
The cocoa trees are planted 3 meters from one another. Hence, there will be 1.000 trees per hectare.
We were fortunate to be able and to be allowed to participate to a ceremony to obtain the protection of the gods of the forest.
Altar with food offerings and the witch man
The ceremony with men under the altar imitating the frogs and those standing imitating thunder and lightning.
Only the men are allowed to participate to the ceremony.
Offerings to the gods of the forest
Blessing the cocoa trees
Eddy Van Belle from the Choco-Story museum in Bruges, with some of the spouses and children of the workers of the plantation, following the ceremony from a distance.