Nicaragua: A Test in Attachment and Other Such Adventures
Some trips are different. This was not a cycling trip, backpacking or hiking trip, nor was it a trip to visit family in our homeland. This was simply a trip to get out of our routine, get away from Vancouver in the gloomiest time of year and try to live in a new place for a few weeks. It was supposed to be about relaxing, getting some work done and other projects and enjoying the heat and the sun. What we didn’t expect would happen is that we’d get so emotionally attached to a few creatures, that every week we’d have to face another emotional obstacle. That we’d get so…
The Journey of Cherry on a Bike
We are once again in Granada, Nicaragua, where the idea of Cherry on a Bike first started. When you’re on a trip, especially a cycle tour, your mind often wanders. Although we tried to live in the moment as much as we could, thoughts about the future always came up. When we stopped in Granada where Gili’s aunt Peta and her husband Ben lived at that time, many of our conversations were on this topic. Since we both have a weakness for food, especially fruit, we first thought of a fruit drying business, with a baking component, my favourite hobby at the time. In a brainstorming session the name Cherry on a…
How to Make Chocolate Milk, From Scratch
I’m obsessed with chocolate. I guess lots of people say this, but I feel like I’m worse than others. Barely a day goes by without me digging in the cupboard for some dark chocolate, ideally Belgian and 72%. Since I also have a thing for making stuff from scratch, I was very interested to learn about making chocolate, and in particular, whether I could make chocolate at home. Two years ago while cycling through Central America, we took a chocolate making workshop in Nicaragua, and then another one in Guatemala. Then, in Belize, we cycled into a small Maya village named San Antonio, where a young kid climbed up a cocoa…
