These are the cocao farms you want to visit in Guatemala.

During my stay in Guatemala I visited two beautiful permaculture cacao farms. Of course you can choose to visit the more touristic and larger farms. I chose to visit the local farms. In this way you help the people who really need it a little bit more.

1. Cacao Farm Springs / Raices Maya Cacao

The first cacao farm I visited was cacao farm springs. Their own cacao brand is called Raices Maya Cacao and you can buy this cacao in San Marcos. There you will sometimes find a small stall in the narrow streets and you buy this directly from the farmer himself. In short, the most profit for the maker of the cacao. That is actually what we want most of course!

Cacao farm springs works together with Cacao Source. This brand is also located in San Marcos and gets their cacao beans from different farmers. They work exclusively with permaculture farmers. Their mission is fantastic. I booked a whole day trip with them. Did you know there is a village called chicacao? Guatemala is really the country of cacao! You will find a lot of cacao farms there.

This small cocoa farm is located in the middle of the jungle and the farmers and family who own this cocoa farm are incredibly passionate about their product. There are also all kinds of challenges, because big brands offer outrageous amounts for their cocoa. Not all farmers want to participate and that sometimes has major consequences.

2. Cacao Farm Julhalaw / Lanquin

Both cacao farms have their own particularities, but I really liked this tour, because we had to do everything with Google Translate and a bit of my broken Spanish. I had a full private tour for the equivalent of 12 euros. I got a tour of the harvesting, roasting, grinding and of course drinking it.

If you are in Lanquin, where Semuc Champey is located, I would definitely take a TukTuk to visit this cacao farm! Also, their cacao is incredibly powerful, maybe the most powerful cacao I have ever had. I can't wait to share this cacao with you on July 15th.

Are you in Guatemala and want to visit this cacao farm? You can message them via Google or Whatsapp!

Mythical stories

In fact, it is striking that even in a country like Guatemala there are many different stories about the origin of cocoa and whether or not cocoa ceremonies existed for New Age spirituality.

There is a story that the gods that the Mayans believe in brought cacao into the world, to let us come closer to our feelings. The followers of this story find it very good to see that more and more cacao ceremonies are given all over the world.

Other stories are that ceremonies like we hold, do not belong to the Mayan culture at all. Some inhabitants of Guatemala find the ceremonies mainly a result of a man from America who stabbed around Lake Atitlan years ago. They find the fire ceremonies that are held from the vision of the Mayan cosmovision and the Nawales that belong to it, belong only to the Mayan culture.

Love,

Anne-Floor