Nature, travel, pets, home renovation, and geekery
While in Boston for a few days, my friend Kristen said I need to get out the city and see Massachusetts’s northern shore. I think she was hunting lighthouses, but I was just looking for pretty views and classic New England. We found all of that visiting Gloucester and Rockport.
Stage Fort Park
Stage Fort Park
Gloucester Fisherman’s Memorial
Lobster pots
“Motif Number 1” on Bradley Wharf in Rockport
Rockport
Thacher Island Twin Lights
I’m in White River Junction, Vermont for a very short work trip. My waiter at dinner last night tells me if I have any free time, I need to make the 10 minute drive to see the Quechee Gorge. He was right. I didn’t have time to go hiking down to the bottom, which I would have loved to do. I only had time to walk along a little to see the dam. I do love to see dams and bridges.
Looking north from the Quiche Gorge Bridge
Looking south from the Quiche Gorge Bridge
Quiche Gorge Bridge
Dam in the Ottauquechee River
I went snorkeling today off the coast of Belize on part of its barrier reef. I have no true idea where I was, other than they said the boat ride was going to be about 14 miles. So that clears that up. Anyway, I saw several lobsters, a couple of rays, and a couple of nurse sharks. I was super excited by the rays and sharks. The coral was lovely, but somewhat sparse in that area. Also, there seemed to be a bit of what I can only assume was coral bleaching, which was rather depressing.
Nurse shark
Eagle ray
Coral
Ray
DCIM100GOPRO
DCIM100GOPRO
DCIM100GOPRO
Nurse shark
Coral
Coral
Coral
Coral
Coral
Seaweed?
I took a cruise up the Monkey River today. Getting there was an adventure into itself. An hour drive to Placencia, then at least a half hour boat ride to Monkey River Town, to finally then cruise up the Monkey River. The journey ended at a spot in the jungle which is completely overrun by mosquitoes, but there are also some howler monkeys. The howler monkeys are about as loud as you can imagine an animal that gets the name howler would be. The Monkey River flows through a grassy and mangrove area that is quite pretty. There were numerous birds just sitting along the edge waiting to be spotted. Our guide also spotted a crocodile on the way back that nicely ignored us.
Dramatic storm clouds on the boat ride to Monkey River. These would later drench us on the boat ride back.
Monkey River
Little blue heron
Yellow-crowned night heron
Bat
Focus tree strangling another tree
Howler monkey
Howler monkey
Howler monkey
Mushrooms growing on a tree
Palm forest
I took a tour of Che’il Mayan Chocolate, which included an organic cacao farm and a tiny factory where they make chocolate. I am not sure it qualifies as a factory, but they make do make a small amount of chocolate there as well as some chocolate products like nibs, cocoa powder, and cacao tea. The tour was fascinating, and the following is a brief synopsis. It all starts off with a cacao tree.
Cacao tree
The beginning of the deliciousness that is chocolate starts with a tiny, little flower.
Cacao flower
When the flower is fertilized, a giant fruit or seed pod forms. The flowers bloom for months, and hence seed pods form and grow at different times.
Unripe cacao fruit or seed pod
The seed pods ripen to a yellow or red color depending on the specific cacao tree species.
Ripe cacao fruit or seed pods
Inside the seed pods are cacao beans covered in a white pulp. We got to take a bean and suck the pulp. The pulp was quite tasty with sort of a creamy, light fruit taste.
Cacao seed pod with beans covered in white pulp
The beans have a dark brown interior.
Cacao seed pods with beans covered in pulp in upper half and seeds we sucked pulp off of in lower half
The beans are first fermented in a box for several days. They are then roasted over low heat. In the photo below, the light beans (on the traditional Mayan grinding stone) are the beans that have not been roasted. The dark ones in the middle front bowl have been roasted. Cocoa butter is in the white bowl, and the bowl right in front of it are the shells from de-shelled beans. The shells are removed from the beans before roasting. After roasting the beans, they are ground into nibs, which can be seen in the bowl to the left of the cocoa butter.
Cacao beans
The nibs are placed on the stone and crushed.
Crushing cacao nibs
Crushing cacao nibs
The grinding motion with the stone pulverizes the nibs, and the pressure causes heat, which starts to melt the oils in the nibs. We got to taste it at this point, and the chocolate is rather bitter.
Crushing cacao nibs with liquid starting to form
After quite a bit of grinding of the nibs, only liquid remains. Sugar and cocoa butter is added.
Adding sugar and cocoa butter
The mixture is ground more to mix everything. We got to taste the finished chocolate at this point again. It definitely was sweeter with the sugar, but to me, it still had a bitter after taste.
Finished dark chocolate blend
The liquid is then poured into forms and allowed to harden. These were put into a fridge to harden quickly.
Pouring chocolate into forms
The finished product. The mixture made was 70% cacao. It tasted a bit different from the dark chocolate I have had before. It also melted very quickly in my hands compared to store bought chocolate, which must have stabilizers or something. Interestingly, even though this was the same mixture as what I tasted before it was poured into the forms, after cooling and hardening, it had lost most if not all of the bitter after taste that I tasted with the liquid.
Finished chocolate bars
I visited Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary yesterday. I did not get to see any jaguars, which is the reason the sanctuary was created. However, thanks to the rain the day before, I did get to see some of their tracks, which made me happy. It appears to me the sanctuary actually belongs to leaf cutter ants though. They are everywhere. They have created ant highways across all the paths, and their mounds are everywhere. I am rather in awe of what these tiny insects can do in transforming their environment. Numerous places of the hiking paths have the weeds completely mowed clear by the ants, so they can walk unhindered. The sanctuary is quite pretty, and I admit, one of my favorite things about it was the moss and fungus growing on trees that I became quite obsessed with photographing.
South Stann Creek
Huge palms create tunnels with the paths
Shelf fungus on a fallen tree
Jaguar paw print
Moss growing on a living tree
Small wetland area
Leaf cutter ants, including a large soldier ant
Leaf cutter ants
Leaf cutter ant highway, the mound can be seen in the far right underneath the dead palm frond
Fern
This past weekend, I got to check an item off my bucket list when I got a tour of Freshkills, the former landfill that is being turned into a park. This is probably not an item on most people’s bucket list, but I have heard so much about the landfill that when I found out New York City Parks Department gives tours, I jumped to sign up. The vast majority of the landfill has been fully capped and vegetated. The mounds are dotted by the landfill gas collection system with gas wells popping up from the high grass at regular intervals. The wildlife has already moved in. There were butterflies flying everywhere in the grass, and birds were everywhere. We also saw a family of deer. The wetlands are lovely and evidently filled with wildlife. Also, the view from the top of the mounds is spectacular. It will be a while before the area will be completely converted to a park and open to the public, but the transformation already is incredible. As an environmental engineer, I am incredibly happy to see it and proud of my profession that did it.
View of the last mound that has not been fully vegetated
Amazing views with landfill gas well in foreground
Landfill gas well
Bad photo of a family of deer
Osprey family
View of Manhattan
Landfill gas wells popping up in grass
Wetlands in between mounds
I went on a ride on the Cheat Mountain Salamander train this morning. Most of the route was along the Shavers Fork of the Cheat River. We stopped along the way at High Falls of the Cheat. The train was vintage, and the car we rode in was lovely and vintage with classic fabric seats.
Wetlands
Shavers Fork of Cheat River
High Falls of the Cheat
Shavers Fork of Cheat River, taken at High Falls
Shavers Fork of Cheat River, end of train can be seen on right
Shavers Fork of Cheat River
Shavers Fork of Cheat River
Shavers Fork of Cheat River, in background are two fishermen and their dog
Shavers Fork of Cheat River
Wetlands
Cheat Mountain Salamander locomotive
I took a ride on the Durbin Rocket this afternoon. The Climax geared logging locomotive was built in 1910 and powers a vintage train, including an old postal car. The train is indeed a rocket, as it moves along at a whopping 8 miles per hour. At one point a butterfly passed us. The roundtrip route from Durbin, West Virginia, however is gorgeous as it follows the Greenbriar River in the Monongahela National Forest. The only problem is after seeing all the smoke the coal burning created, I feel the need to go plant an entire grove of trees.
The locomotive
A look inside the locomotive
Greenbriar River
An old telegraph pole
Greenbriar River
Locomotive and coal supply car
Coal fired steam engine blowing smoke
Irises by the Greenbriar River
Greenbriar River
Durbin Rocket traveling by a field
Refilling the locomotive with water on the return trip
Stream where train stops to refill water for engine
Greenbriar River
While in San Diego, I spent an entire day in Balboa Park and didn’t go inside one museum. I was too fascinated by the plants. There are beautiful tropical plants in the Botanical Building, but there are just as many beautiful plants outside. Colorful plants are everywhere, including the Desert Garden, which has many plants that I loved photographing while ever mindful not to get too close, or else ouch.
