4/23/15

Finca Esperanza

After switching drivers and a motor we headed off down the river in a boat filled with twenty five people. Even with three drivers the boat managed to stall every five minutes, so we wobbled our way up, zig zagging through the bends of the river. The bumpy ride up the river was only the beginning, we had to jump out into the dirty river-water to reach the shore, only to start our fifteen minute walk through the swamp-like terrain in ankle-deep mud. Our destination was Finca Ezsperanza, a banana/cacao plantation funded by MCC. We hiked up like army ants through the Colombian jungle eating freshly cut cacao fruit pulp, it tastes like mango, hearing the testimony of the farmer who traded the illicit life of planting cocaine plant for a cocoa plantation. We were attacked by mosquitos, bitten by ants, were knee deep in mud, and were sweating gallons but I can assure you that  it was the best experience we have had so far. The tropical rain washed away some of the stickiness of the day and we waited by the shore for our boat to pick us up. We waited there eating passion fruit and mandarines.

by: Vianey Barraza & Anahi De La Cruz