Gibson’s World

Chocolate is a really interesting food.  It most commonly comes in milk, dark, and white chocolate.  My favorite is milk, but other people may have different opinions.

Many people don’t know that chocolate comes from the seeds of cacao trees.   Cacao trees are native from tropical South America, but have been introduced to tropical places all over the world including Africa, Australia, and Asia.  Although cacao trees started out only in South America, Africa now produces about 2/3rds of all the cacao for the world.  The seeds from a cacao tree are like those of a cantalope except much bigger.

The history of chocolate is really interesting.  Both the Mayans and the Aztecs used chocolate.  Most people think of chocolate as something you eat, but the Mayans and Aztecs disagreed.  The Mayans and Aztecs made a cold, bitter drink made from chocolate and mixed with chiles, peppers, and other spicy foods.  Ugggg!  The Mayans consider it to be a gift from the gods, so only the royal people could drink it on special occasions.  The Aztec’s also used chocolate, but more often. 

Did you know that the Aztecs used cacao beans as money?  Probably not.  Aztecs think of Cacao trees the way we would think of a money tree.  One turkey would cost 100 cacao beans and one fresh avocado would cost three cacao beans.  Cacao beans might be valuable to people, but they definitely aren’t to horses, dogs, parrots, small rodents or cats.  If any of these animals eat chocolate or cacao seeds, they can suffer seizures, heart attacks, internal bleeding, and could eventually die from it.

During our stay in Bariloche, we went to the Fenoglio Chocolate Factory and learned a ton about chocolate.  So next time you eat chocolate, remember that without the cacao tree, chocolate would never exist.

Giant Anteaters are one of the most amazing creatures on earth.  These nearly-threatened animals inhabit the tropical Amazonian jungle but also like grasslands.  They are huge and can reach up to eight feet long including a four-foot long tail.  They are covered with long straw-like fur reaching up to 40 centimeters long on its tail!  Although they are eight feet long, they weigh only from 65 to 140 pounds.  Another amazing fact is that Giant Anteaters’ tongues can be up to two feet long!

Giant anteaters feed mainly on ants and termites and they are able to eat up to 30,000 of them each day.  Yum!!!  Giant Anteaters can eat so many insects so fast because they can stick out and pull back in their two-foot tongue up to 150 times a minute!  That is a lot more times than any person could ever do.  Giant Anteaters are one of the few mammals that don’t have any teeth, so they don’t have much of a choice food-wise.  They also have a good sense of smell (ten times better than humans) to help find ants and termites. 

Giant Anteaters are usually diurnal, but if they live near a human settlement, they are nocturnal to shy away from people.  Even though the Greek name for Giant Anteaters (myrmecophaga tridactyla) means three-fingered anteaters, Giant Anteaters really have five fingers.

The Giant Anteaters’ technique to fight off predators is really interesting.  They are capable of scaring off or even killing Pumas, Jaguars, and other large cats.  The Giant Anteater does this by standing up on its hind legs, supported by its tail, and swiping with sharp claws at the opponent.  That would be really interesting to watch!  They usually succeed, but sometimes the cats win and earn a feast. 

On this trip, so far we haven’t seen any Giant Anteaters.  I hope to see one of these amazing animals in Brazil.

Mauro works at the El Colibri Hotel, an hour outside of Cordoba, Argentina.  Cordoba is in the center of Argentina, and is in a region that is flat and good for farming.  At the inn, Mauro milks the cows, feeds the animals, and takes care of the farm.  For schoolwork, I had to interview him and learned a lot about him. 

Mauro has been working for El Colibri for four years.  His favorite animals are the horses, but he likes to play with all of the animals especially the dogs, cows, and horses.  He likes almost everything about his job and it is all easy for him because he grew up on a farm.   Luckily, he has never been hurt badly by any of the animals, but he has gotten a few scrapes.

While we were staying at El Colibri, Mauro gave us a Monk Parakeet to keep.  We built a house for it and put it in our windowsill.  Once people had seen the parakeet, everybody wanted it.  On the last day, we came back from breakfast and the parakeet was gone.  We searched for it but couldn’t find it and we haven’t figured out yet if it just escaped or if somebody wanted it so badly that they took it.  Mauro told me that it was hard to catch, so I guess he might not catch another for a while.  I learned a lot about Mauro during the interview and think that taking care of the farm might be a really interesting job to have.