Sunday, March 15 - Sunrise in Puerta Plata, the DR - last post from our learning tour to Haiti and the DR

Beautiful sunrise this morning, great way to remember our time in Puerta Plata:

 

Saturday, March 14 - Haiti and DR Learning Tour Wrap Up

Today we are enjoying a nice relaxing day at our resort in Puerta Plata. Lounging by the pool, walking on the beach, swimming in the Caribbean and just enjoying the warm sea breezes that keep the coconut palms waving to us.

We enjoyed a great learning tour to Haiti and the DR. Some highlights:

The colorful houses in Port-au-Prince.

Meeting Gisele Fleurant of CAH, one of the pioneers of fair trade in Haiti, and still going strong.

Rachel and Patrick of MCC and singing on the bus in Haiti.

Meeting with stone carvers in Leogane - one of the veteran carvers, Eduard Boncy, a carver for 49 years.

Colorful and constant traffic in Port-au-Prince.

Gisele with her cut-metal artisan friend J. Rony in Croix des Bouquet.

Charlie with his prize paper mache long horn steer.

Medard, one of the first cut-metal artisans to work with Gisele and CAH - more than 30 years experience.

Jean and Medard with the beautiful piece Jean purchased.

Visit to Jacmel and the Fleur de Experience shop of Isidor Jocelyn.

Connor's tiger mask bought from Isidor in Jacmel.

Artist and painter, Plasimoad Gerald in Jacmel.

Painted wooden serving tray by Plasimoad.

Lunch and Sunday afternoon at a seaside hotel in Jacmel.

Sharing refreshing green coconut in Jacmel.

Talented aritsans at Caribbean Craft making products for Ten Thousand Villages, Tom's Shoes, Anthropologie, West Elm and Pottery Barn.

Visiting Caribbean Craft with Jude, Sales Manager.

Kitchen cooks, Vernada Pierre and Otilia Pierre, at TIMKATEC.

Elementary school girls at TIMKATEC.

TIMKATEC, helping to build a brighter future for Dora and Josie.

Beautiful flora of Haiti and the DR - hibiscus.

Stained glass window in the old town Santo Domingo cathedral.

Visiting the old fort in Santo Domingo.

Brightly shining sunlight just before a rainstorm that chased us inside.

Drying out and filling up at the Zoro restuarant in old town Santo Domingo.

Celebrating Kevin's birthday at Zoro.

CONACADO cacao bean drying tent in Hato Mayor. 

Ripe cacao beans at Meijia's farm ready to be broken open.

Bananas on Meijia's farm.

Enjoying life in the cacao forest on Meijia's farm near Hato Mayor.

Amipola tree, bright orange flowers, on the hillside near Hato Mayor.

Relaxing and enjoying the good life at our resort in Puerta Plata.

But, above all, getting to know the talented crafts artisans of Haiti and cacao farmers of the Dominican Republic:

Gisele Fleurant of CAH and her friend, talented cut-metal artisan, J. Rony.

Lynn Meijia, 4th generation cacao farmer, one of 10 founding farmers and former president of CONACADO - now 10,000 farmers strong. His personal commitment and ethics summed up in this quote from him:
"We are here on earth not to serve ourselves, but to serve others."

Needless to say, we all want to return to Haiti and DR someday to enjoy the beauty and the culture and to visit our new found friends again.

March 13 - Santo Domingo to CONACADO in San Francisco de Macoris and on to Puerta Plata

Today was Friday the 13th and everything went just fine - we even survived the drive from Santo Domingo to Puerta Plata without hitting anyone or anything!

We piled ourselves and our luggage into our van this morning and headed out west of Santo Domingo and then turned north to go to San Francisco de Macoris where CONACADO has a cacao processing plant. The drive took about 4 hours.

Highway 1, 4 lane divided highway leaving Santo Domingo and headed north toward Puerta Plata.

Another view from highway 1 heading north.

Rice fields near San Francisco de Macoris, where CONACADO has a cacao processing plant.

Rice fields and mountains on the way to the CONACADO processing plant.

We were met at the CONACADO plant by a man named Jaime who, together with the plant manager, gave us a tour of the facility. We were not allowed to take pictures inside the plant.

CONACADO takes good care of their property - nice plants next to the parking lot.

Receiving area of the CONACADO processing plant. Fermented and dried cacao beans are delivered by truck on the ramp to the right. The beans are then loaded into the hoppers and sorted into different sizes by a shaker screen before entering the plant for further processing.

Products processed and sold by CONACADO: fermented and dried beans, cacao nibs, cacao liquor (most good quality chocolate is made from cacao liquor), cocoa butter, cocoa cake and cocoa powder. Equal Exchange in the USA buys cocoa powder from CONACADO and processes that into chocolate in the USA.

Various certifications earned and used by CONACADO: organic, environmentally friendly, kosher and fair trade - from all over the world.

In this plant CONACADO can process fermented and dried cacao beans into cocoa powder and cake, cocoa liquor, cocoa butter and cocoa nibs. So, more value can be added to the cacao beans that are harvested in the DR. They have capacity for 10,000 metric tons, which is 62% of their total annual crop of about 16,000 metric tons. Equal Exchange in the USA purchases cocoa powder from CONACADO. Before CONACADO had this plant, EE purchased dried cacao beans and contracted with a firm in the USA to process them further.

CONACADO is hoping to expand production capacity so they can process all of their bean production rather than sending it elsewhere to be processed into powder and liquor. Maybe someday they will also be able to process it into final products like chocolate bars and cocoa powder for drinks.

After visiting the plant, we enjoyed a great lunch in a local restaurant and then drove on to Puerta Plata. After another 3 hours on the road we arrived at our hotel. The hotel is right on the beach with a large fresh water pool. Nice place to wind down for a day after 9 eventful days of visiting artisans and farmers in Haiti and the DR.  

When you walk into our resort you get this view - not too shabby!

View across the pool towards the mountains behind Puerta Plata.

View from the beach just beyond the pool and a row of coconut palms. If you go for a swim, next stop north is the Turks and Caicos Islands, about 150 miles. A strong swimmer could make it in a few days, provided you avoid the sharks and barracuda along the way.  Even though the water is very warm and buoyant, we stayed within sight of the beach and decided to fly home.

 Tomorrow, Saturday, we have a free day at our resort and then on Sunday most of us fly home.