Chuao
Encyclopedia
Chuao is a small village located in the northern coastal range of the Aragua
state, in central Venezuela
, some 4 Km. SSE from the shore. The village, founded in the 16th century, is famous for its cacao plantations where some of the finest cocoa beans in the world grow in the wild. The village is surrounded by mountains and dense rainforest
s to the South and by the Caribbean Sea
to the North. There is no road access and so visitors must come by boat from Puerto Colombia, next to the town of Choroni Beach
along the coast to the West, or by foot, crossing the mountains and the luxurious cloud forest
from Turmero
, near Maracay
, the state capital, a 5 to 7-hour hike.
In the Chuao plantations there are currently pure Criollo
and hybrid varieties of cacao, which nowadays are hardly being harvested or exploited, mostly in a manual, anachronistic fashion. Unlike other regions of Venezuela where cacao is grown, harvested, and processed in an industrial scale and using modern technology, in Chuao the great abundance of cacao trees still grow in centuries-old plantations, now abandoned, bear fruits and beans which are mostly wasted, left to rot. In front of the town's church, there is a patio where cocoa beans used to be sun-dried, and next to the church there is a Cacao Museum depicting the manual process to obtain chocolate
used in the past.
Criollo beans from Chuao are of a very high quality, and are considered among Venezuela's finest, together with Carenero Superior, grown and exploited in the region of Barlovento
, and Porcelana beans from the southern shores of Lake Maracaibo
(another genetically pure variety of Criollo).
Aragua
* Aragua State, Venezuela* Aragua de Maturín* Aragua River* Aragua Municipality, Anzoátegui State, Venezuela* Aragua de Barcelona, Anzoátegui State, Venezuela* Aragua Fútbol Club* Aragua Glass Frog...
state, in central Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
, some 4 Km. SSE from the shore. The village, founded in the 16th century, is famous for its cacao plantations where some of the finest cocoa beans in the world grow in the wild. The village is surrounded by mountains and dense rainforest
Rainforest
Rainforests are forests characterized by high rainfall, with definitions based on a minimum normal annual rainfall of 1750-2000 mm...
s to the South and by the Caribbean Sea
Caribbean Sea
The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean located in the tropics of the Western hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico and Central America to the west and southwest, to the north by the Greater Antilles, and to the east by the Lesser Antilles....
to the North. There is no road access and so visitors must come by boat from Puerto Colombia, next to the town of Choroni Beach
Choroni Beach
Choroní Beach is a popular beach located in Aragua, Venezuela. Its proper name is Playa Grande, but because of its proximity to the colonial village of Choroní, it is often referred to as Choroní Beach....
along the coast to the West, or by foot, crossing the mountains and the luxurious cloud forest
Cloud forest
A cloud forest, also called a fog forest, is a generally tropical or subtropical evergreen montane moist forest characterized by a persistent, frequent or seasonal low-level cloud cover, usually at the canopy level. Cloud forests often exhibit an abundance of mosses covering the ground and...
from Turmero
Turmero
Turmero is a city in the state of Aragua in northern Venezuela. It is the capital of Santiago Mariño Municipality....
, near Maracay
Maracay
Maracay is a city in north-central Venezuela, near the Caribbean coast, and is the capital and most important city of the state of Aragua. Most of it falls under the jurisdiction of the Girardot Municipality. The population as per the 2001 census was 750,000...
, the state capital, a 5 to 7-hour hike.
In the Chuao plantations there are currently pure Criollo
Criollo
Criollo is a Spanish term that may refer to:-Groups of people and animals:* Criollo people, a caste in the Spanish race-based colonial caste system* Criollo horse, a South American horse breed...
and hybrid varieties of cacao, which nowadays are hardly being harvested or exploited, mostly in a manual, anachronistic fashion. Unlike other regions of Venezuela where cacao is grown, harvested, and processed in an industrial scale and using modern technology, in Chuao the great abundance of cacao trees still grow in centuries-old plantations, now abandoned, bear fruits and beans which are mostly wasted, left to rot. In front of the town's church, there is a patio where cocoa beans used to be sun-dried, and next to the church there is a Cacao Museum depicting the manual process to obtain chocolate
Chocolate
Chocolate is a raw or processed food produced from the seed of the tropical Theobroma cacao tree. Cacao has been cultivated for at least three millennia in Mexico, Central and South America. Its earliest documented use is around 1100 BC...
used in the past.
Criollo beans from Chuao are of a very high quality, and are considered among Venezuela's finest, together with Carenero Superior, grown and exploited in the region of Barlovento
Barlovento
Several places have the name Barlovento :*Barlovento, a municipality in the northern part of the island of La Palma in the Province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands...
, and Porcelana beans from the southern shores of Lake Maracaibo
Lake Maracaibo
Lake Maracaibo is a large brackish bay in Venezuela at . It is connected to the Gulf of Venezuela by Tablazo Strait at the northern end, and fed by numerous rivers, the largest being the Catatumbo. It is commonly considered a lake rather than a bay or lagoon, and at 13,210 km² it would be the...
(another genetically pure variety of Criollo).