Dressed in camouflage and armed with a machete, Narcisio looks every bit a guerrilla. But this is tranquil Belize and Narcisio is a farmer. He uses his machete to chop down the fruits before opening them with a stick to avoid damaging the delicate seeds.
'Theobromine,' he says. 'Food of the gods and packed with 40 times more antioxidants than blueberries.' He is talking about cacao.
We are sitting in a jungle where his trees nestle beneath the canopy and Montezuma oropendola birds flit about, for a bean-to-chocolate experience. 'Did you know the Mayans were drinking chocolate in 1,800 BC,' Narcisio asks. Later, I go to the Maya Centre, where their descendants still grind cacao nibs by hand on stone rollers.
They make the most delicious (80 per cent) chocolate I have ever tasted. Belize is a compact, politically stable country of an impressive cultural richness and biodiversity. Most places are accessible by car and road signs warn of numerous exotic animals crossing, such as tapirs, jaguars, reptiles and armadillos.
Teresa Levonian Cole travels to Belize in Central America. Above, Tobacco Caye, an island off the country's coast Its popularity as a holiday destination is on the rise - helped by the fact that the former British Honduras still has English as its official language. A 2022 visit by the then Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.
.. Teresa Levonian Cole.
