After a walk through the center of the historic district, we drove west into the interior, visiting the Fazenda Primavera where a cacao plantation has been operated for seven generations by the same family. Here among the rows of cacao trees, we learned firsthand how most of the world's chocolate was produced from the 1880's to the 1960's, here in the Brazilian state of Bahia (after that the witch's broom fungus affected production of the fruits). We then enjoyed a traditional lunch at the fazenda, complete with a local dance show. Then it was off to CEPLAC, a government research station established to help extinguish the cacao blight and study the various aspects of the Atlantic rainforest ecosystem. Here we met Vera Lucia de Oliveira, a biologist who rehabilitates the nearly extinct collared sloth (they have been injured by poachers). Over 18 of these graceful creatures can be observed and safely handled at the Botanical Reserve. What a thrill it was to hold these wild animals who seem to genuinely enjoy the attention. This forest is like no other in all the world!
Here in the photo, Lindblad Expedition naturalists and native Brazilian Suzana Machado D'Oliveira holds one of the sloths as she translates from the Portuguese for our guests at the reserve.
