Day 46. In less than a month we’re going to be in Sydney for a single day en route from New Zealand to Japan. Australia is very strict about prohibiting the import of most items of plant or animal origin into the country. We’re pretty sure this includes cocoa beans. We’ve been carrying a stash of cocoa beans with us all the way from Antigua, Guatemala (mainly in our hand luggage so they don’t get squished) so we could feed the raw beans to friends and family in the UK as a treat. We’ve had to change our plans so the cute beagles at immigration in Sydney don’t bark at our handbags.
Every morning before we brush our teeth, each of us is going to eat one cocoa bean. Raw cocoa beans are tremendously high in antioxidants and might just offset the copious amounts of fried plantain we’re getting through in Cartangena.
Medicinal cocoa beans
This evening we met up with our new found school friends, Alex and Billy, from Switzerland and USA. After a fish meal we went for a couple of Aguila beers outside Dondo Fidel. Inside Donde Fidel is where old men get drunk at the bar and intermittently stand to dance the rhumba for no more than 30 seconds at a time with passing belles. It is also mandatory at Donde Fidel to dance the rhumba while queuing for the toilets. We’re not sure if the men (or even the women) continue to dance once inside the toilet, but it’s very likely.