We made it on time for the bus........the new street cars will be running in March and make a loop through the old city. I snapped a couple pics of the train which is running but only for certification of drivers.....this system is not new but was abandoned years ago and last year when I was here I observed workers who I thought were tearing up the tracks but the opposite.
After a breakfast in the mountains in a restaurant in near freezing temps we stop at a national park....
back on the road winding down the mountain...my friend Julia and I rode this way last year but in the opposite direction...in dense fog and rain....almost torrential at times...plus numbing cold.
clearing a rock slide...some of these boulders could topple a bus off the cliff...hundreds of feet to one's demise
As we neared the coast but still in the mountains the humidity increased ten fold and the vegetation went from sparse to jungle like with plants bearing leaves the size of palms.
the lower valley gave way to sugar cane, rice, banana, plantain and cocoa farming
The bus veered off the highway onto a pot hole mud track which led us to a Cocoa Plantation
This is the inside of a Cocoa pod which was opened by a chap swinging a machete while holding the pod in his hand...the seeds look disgusting but the fleshy part is a sweet delicacy....the seeds are extracted and laid out on cement or a tarp for drying....after which they will find their way to the roaster to become liquid chocolate
a bean to be dried and one dry
2 types of cocoa pods ...1 is yellow and one a red color.....apparently the yellow one is a higher grade of chocolate.
rice field
drying beans
a lunch was served at the farm....shrimp/plantain
first the seed is roasted until it cracks like pop corn...then you roll it in the palm of your hand removing the shell....the seed then goes to the old meat grinder for prep back to the frying pan where it will melt and brown sugarcane will be added to sweeten it and it is ready for tasting and a chocolate drink.
sugar
see any crocs
next stop is a small shop making panama hats and an assortment of weaved products.....here Vickie would make a hat purchase.......while Doug lamented not buying a hat at the large Cuenca Plant.
not the one
SOLD
the weavers
Montanita...arrived in the twilight....
dinner here
bars upon bars...V&D would step out after I went to sleep to sample the drinks and possibly dull their minds as my booking choice made them nervous to close their eyes in their room
pan handling
dinner
10 pm and still cutting hair
After a breakfast in the mountains in a restaurant in near freezing temps we stop at a national park....
back on the road winding down the mountain...my friend Julia and I rode this way last year but in the opposite direction...in dense fog and rain....almost torrential at times...plus numbing cold.
clearing a rock slide...some of these boulders could topple a bus off the cliff...hundreds of feet to one's demise
As we neared the coast but still in the mountains the humidity increased ten fold and the vegetation went from sparse to jungle like with plants bearing leaves the size of palms. 
the lower valley gave way to sugar cane, rice, banana, plantain and cocoa farming
The bus veered off the highway onto a pot hole mud track which led us to a Cocoa Plantation 
This is the inside of a Cocoa pod which was opened by a chap swinging a machete while holding the pod in his hand...the seeds look disgusting but the fleshy part is a sweet delicacy....the seeds are extracted and laid out on cement or a tarp for drying....after which they will find their way to the roaster to become liquid chocolate 
a bean to be dried and one dry
2 types of cocoa pods ...1 is yellow and one a red color.....apparently the yellow one is a higher grade of chocolate.
rice field
drying beans
a lunch was served at the farm....shrimp/plantain
first the seed is roasted until it cracks like pop corn...then you roll it in the palm of your hand removing the shell....the seed then goes to the old meat grinder for prep back to the frying pan where it will melt and brown sugarcane will be added to sweeten it and it is ready for tasting and a chocolate drink.
sugar
see any crocs
next stop is a small shop making panama hats and an assortment of weaved products.....here Vickie would make a hat purchase.......while Doug lamented not buying a hat at the large Cuenca Plant. 
not the one 
SOLD
the weavers
Montanita...arrived in the twilight....
dinner here
bars upon bars...V&D would step out after I went to sleep to sample the drinks and possibly dull their minds as my booking choice made them nervous to close their eyes in their room
pan handling
dinner
10 pm and still cutting hair
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