Our Cacao in bloom

We have about 25 cacao trees along our creeks here in Costa Rica. We have been playing around with the drying process and learning how to prune our trees lately. We have done a successful batch of nibs but still don't quite understand the tempering to chocolate process. Here are two images of the fruit on the tree and a collection of ripened fruit. Tomorrow we will post two more. I am in love with the look of the tree and the colors of the fruit.

HELP

People don't usually pick these strawberry dart frogs up but this lady didn't seem to mind. She says that she has somehow become immune to the sticky poisonous mucus that covers the frogs. You can also look up blue jean frog to find out more about these guys.

Here I am, rock you like a

Scorpion King? The bigger the scorpion the less punch they pack so this guy was not much of a threat to us due to his large size.

Green Vine Snake, 2 more

Only slightly venomous this snake is really only interested in feeding itself. It would only bite a human or larger animal if it felt in danger for its life.

A shoot with a Viper

We were lucky enough to stumble upon another viper on our farm. This guy endured many an hour in a 2 liter plastic coke bottle so that he could calm down and learn to love the camera. He was squirmy but Barry endured and got these wonderful shots. If you were wondering, all I had to do was hold the flash and not freak out. I got a "C-" for the assignment.