Where do chocoholic environmental activists go on vacation?
Toledo.
Toledo, Belize that is. Specifically, the Cotton Tree Lodge, an off-the-grid resort that runs on solar power, banana plant compost, and the ingenuity of founders Chris Crowell and Jeff Pzena. Their goal? To share the beauty and mystique of Belize while respecting the environment and the native people.
Your meals, which include fresh tropical fruit from the lodge's organic orchard and vegetables from its organic garden, are included. You'll stay in a private riverfront cabana, where the songs of jungle birds and the distant roars of howler monkeys greet you every morning.
Rowr.
But here's the real reason to go: Chocolate Week.
Once a year, you can join Maya farmers as they harvest and prepare the cacao beans the traditional way. Pick the fruit from the trees, cut open the pods, and dry them as the Maya have done for thousands of years. Attend a chocolate-making workshop, learn about the history and politics of chocolate, and discuss fair trade with the Toledo Cacao Growers' Association.
And then? Yum, yum, and more yum.
The Cotton Tree Lodge's reforestation program includes the recent planting of 500 cacao trees, which is a win for everyone. And even with all the chocolate joy, you'll have plenty of time for exploring Maya ruins, trekking through caves, taking a tortilla making workshop, and jumping off a 15-foot waterfall.
Choc it up to delicious at
www.cottontreelodge.com.