"Quiere El Chocolate El Hombre!"

The cocoa bean is grown all over the world along the Equator, but Bethany's (the Cocoa Tree's chocolatier) favorite place to get them from is Ecuador. We tried and tried to go on a tour of a cocoa plantation, but all of the ones we checked into were either ridiculously expensive or not giving tours at the time. We found out that there was a plant in Guayaquil where they convert the cocoa bean into blocks of chocolate, so we took a cab there. However, an armed guard met us at the gate and asked for our passports. After looking at our passports for about ten minutes (I don't know if they did an investigation or what), they declined our request to tour the plant.

So, all day, everywhere Brock went, he would ask, "Donde esta el chocolate?" or simply state, "Yo quiero chocolate!" or "Me gustan chocolate!" This means "Where is the chocolate? I want chocolate. I like chocolate." After he said these statements over and over again to one cab driver, the cabbie said, "Quiero el chocolate el hombre!" which means, "The man wants some chocolate!" In the end, we had to settle for some truffles and fondue at a mall close by. We were also able to bring home some tasty chocolate bars from Ecuador!

The closest we got to seeing a cocoa plantation was the mural on the wall of our hotel. Here is some pictures of it...









The chocolate shop in the mall


Kay, Trent, and Brock eating the fondue in the mall