Ilheus, Brazil
Ilheus was the first capital of Brazil, becoming economically great thanks to sugarcane first, and after that to cocoa. Natives succumbed to white man’s diseases easily so slavery became very strong here. What made the name of Ilheus important in later years was the production of cacao. Enormous estates were founded with money from this production and Brazil surged as one of the great world producers of this delicious product, which was exported to principally to Europe. In the past century different blights hit the plantations causing economical trouble for everybody. Today the production of this commodity is low, but every effort is made to obtain resistant strains of the plant.
Fazenda Primavera is one of the estates that has diversified, offering visitors views of different aspects of the cacao production; the plants of the cacao, the fruit, the delicious pulp surrounding the seeds, and the old methods of preparation of the product. We had a delicious lunch of local food, soft drinks of the cacao fruit pulp, and a Lambada dance performance. Many of us enjoyed the different tropical birds, including horneros next to their adobe nests, and the colourful-flowered trees and bushes. We also visited a research station for the endangered maned sloth, an inhabitant of the almost gone Atlantic Rainforest. While searching for sloths we stumbled upon a young barn owl sitting on a log, deep in sleep.
Ilheus was the first capital of Brazil, becoming economically great thanks to sugarcane first, and after that to cocoa. Natives succumbed to white man’s diseases easily so slavery became very strong here. What made the name of Ilheus important in later years was the production of cacao. Enormous estates were founded with money from this production and Brazil surged as one of the great world producers of this delicious product, which was exported to principally to Europe. In the past century different blights hit the plantations causing economical trouble for everybody. Today the production of this commodity is low, but every effort is made to obtain resistant strains of the plant.
Fazenda Primavera is one of the estates that has diversified, offering visitors views of different aspects of the cacao production; the plants of the cacao, the fruit, the delicious pulp surrounding the seeds, and the old methods of preparation of the product. We had a delicious lunch of local food, soft drinks of the cacao fruit pulp, and a Lambada dance performance. Many of us enjoyed the different tropical birds, including horneros next to their adobe nests, and the colourful-flowered trees and bushes. We also visited a research station for the endangered maned sloth, an inhabitant of the almost gone Atlantic Rainforest. While searching for sloths we stumbled upon a young barn owl sitting on a log, deep in sleep.
