Canadian Cacao Adventures

We had hoped to be able to share some #cacaoceremonies on our drive back up the West Coast of the United States, however, it wasn’t until we returned to Canada that we hosted our first #ceremony outside of Mexico. A wonderful friend of ours who has a yurt invited us to host a ceremony on his property, which seemed like a sweet spot to host our first Canadian gathering.

We invited some friends and family members, and in the end there were 7 of us who shared that first #ceremony. Kristin and I learned a lot about ourselves in that first #Canadian #cacaoceremony and how important is is to be properly prepared, with more than enough time, and also what it means to be a solid facilitator. Some of the most challenging experiences we’ve had as facilitators has made us that much stronger and more resilient as we continue to walk this path into the unknown.

We had been approached by a good friend of ours to participate in a full-day event that was being held in a beautiful community near us that is right on the ocean's edge. We weren’t sure what it would be like, but it sounded exciting, so we agreed to host a #cacaoceremony for a large group there that day. We had never met the owners of the home that the event was being hosted in, however we had heard lovely things about them and the types of events they had hosted in the past.

When we arrived in the morning to get prepared we were told that there would be 38 guests for the #cacaoceremony! Wow! This was more than double the size of the largest group we’d ever facilitated for. Luckily for us we had the help of one of our biggest supporters and mentors, my mom, Cori. We had heard that the couple who was hosting the event loved #cacao and were huge advocates for its use as an addition to a vibrant lifestyle. We certainly knew some of the nutritional benefits of using #cacao as an everyday super-food dietary supplement, so it was exciting to meet other people who had similar knowledge.

I had ground 4 pounds of #keithscacao for the #ceremony that day and thankfully we had mom’s help with getting things prepared in the kitchen. The hosts were almost overly helpful in the kitchen arena. We later reflected on this situation with the understanding that she didn’t have a clue who we were or what we knew about #cacao or ceremonies, so they were committed to seeing that the #cacaoceremony would be loved and appreciated by all who attended.

The #cacaoceremony was a huge hit with the guests and afterword we had #Keithscacao for sale from the 150 pounds we had brought back with us in the trunk of our car from Guatemala. We must’ve sold 30 or 40 pounds that day and when all of the guests who were interested had bought some, the hosts told us that they would buy whatever we had left over!! Wow, this was beyond what we had imagined and truly blew our minds wide open to the possibility of these events being a integral part of our lives.

Kristin Allan, Tanner Ellingson, Keith's Cacao Canada, Keith's Cacao Source Canada, Cacao Connection, Cacao Canada, Cacao Ceremony Canada, Ceremonial Cacao canada, cacao canada, cacao BC, cacao alberta, cacao saskatchewan, cacao manitoba, cacao ontario, cacao quebec, cacao nova scotia, cacao new brunswick, cacao prince edward island, cacao newfoundland, ceremonial cacao vancouver, ceremonial cacao toronto, ceremonial cacao montreal, ceremonial cacao edmonton, ceremonial cacao calgary

Kristin Allan, Tanner Ellingson, Keith's Cacao Canada, Keith's Cacao Source Canada, Cacao Connection, Cacao Canada, Cacao Ceremony Canada, Ceremonial Cacao canada, cacao canada, cacao BC, cacao alberta, cacao saskatchewan, cacao manitoba, cacao ontario, cacao quebec, cacao nova scotia, cacao new brunswick, cacao prince edward island, cacao newfoundland, ceremonial cacao vancouver, ceremonial cacao toronto, ceremonial cacao montreal, ceremonial cacao edmonton, ceremonial cacao calgary

Kristin Allan, Tanner Ellingson, Keith's Cacao Canada, Keith's Cacao Source Canada, Cacao Connection, Cacao Canada, Cacao Ceremony Canada, Ceremonial Cacao canada, cacao canada, cacao BC, cacao alberta, cacao saskatchewan, cacao manitoba, cacao ontario, cacao quebec, cacao nova scotia, cacao new brunswick, cacao prince edward island, cacao newfoundland, ceremonial cacao vancouver, ceremonial cacao toronto, ceremonial cacao montreal, ceremonial cacao edmonton, ceremonial cacao calgary

Kristin Allan, Tanner Ellingson, Keith's Cacao Canada, Keith's Cacao Source Canada, Cacao Connection, Cacao Canada, Cacao Ceremony Canada, Ceremonial Cacao canada, cacao canada, cacao BC, cacao alberta, cacao saskatchewan, cacao manitoba, cacao ontario, cacao quebec, cacao nova scotia, cacao new brunswick, cacao prince edward island, cacao newfoundland, ceremonial cacao vancouver, ceremonial cacao toronto, ceremonial cacao montreal, ceremonial cacao edmonton, ceremonial cacao calgary

Kristin Allan, Tanner Ellingson, Keith's Cacao Canada, Keith's Cacao Source Canada, Cacao Connection, Cacao Canada, Cacao Ceremony Canada, Ceremonial Cacao canada, cacao canada, cacao BC, cacao alberta, cacao saskatchewan, cacao manitoba, cacao ontario, cacao quebec, cacao nova scotia, cacao new brunswick, cacao prince edward island, cacao newfoundland, ceremonial cacao vancouver, ceremonial cacao toronto, ceremonial cacao montreal, ceremonial cacao edmonton, ceremonial cacao calgary

Kristin Allan, Tanner Ellingson, Keith's Cacao Canada, Keith's Cacao Source Canada, Cacao Connection, Cacao Canada, Cacao Ceremony Canada, Ceremonial Cacao canada, cacao canada, cacao BC, cacao alberta, cacao saskatchewan, cacao manitoba, cacao ontario, cacao quebec, cacao nova scotia, cacao new brunswick, cacao prince edward island, cacao newfoundland, ceremonial cacao vancouver, ceremonial cacao toronto, ceremonial cacao montreal, ceremonial cacao edmonton, ceremonial cacao calgary

Kristin Allan, Tanner Ellingson, Keith's Cacao Canada, Keith's Cacao Source Canada, Cacao Connection, Cacao Canada, Cacao Ceremony Canada, Ceremonial Cacao canada, cacao canada, cacao BC, cacao alberta, cacao saskatchewan, cacao manitoba, cacao ontario, cacao quebec, cacao nova scotia, cacao new brunswick, cacao prince edward island, cacao newfoundland, ceremonial cacao vancouver, ceremonial cacao toronto, ceremonial cacao montreal, ceremonial cacao edmonton, ceremonial cacao calgary

Kristin Allan, Tanner Ellingson, Keith's Cacao Canada, Keith's Cacao Source Canada, Cacao Connection, Cacao Canada, Cacao Ceremony Canada, Ceremonial Cacao canada, cacao canada, cacao BC, cacao alberta, cacao saskatchewan, cacao manitoba, cacao ontario, cacao quebec, cacao nova scotia, cacao new brunswick, cacao prince edward island, cacao newfoundland, ceremonial cacao vancouver, ceremonial cacao toronto, ceremonial cacao montreal, ceremonial cacao edmonton, ceremonial cacao calgary

Kristin Allan, Tanner Ellingson, Keith's Cacao Canada, Keith's Cacao Source Canada, Cacao Connection, Cacao Canada, Cacao Ceremony Canada, Ceremonial Cacao canada, cacao canada, cacao BC, cacao alberta, cacao saskatchewan, cacao manitoba, cacao ontario, cacao quebec, cacao nova scotia, cacao new brunswick, cacao prince edward island, cacao newfoundland, ceremonial cacao vancouver, ceremonial cacao toronto, ceremonial cacao montreal, ceremonial cacao edmonton, ceremonial cacao calgary

We made so many wonderful new friends that day and we still continue to meet people who attended that #cacaoceremony that we never met who’ve thanked us for doing it. We recently hosted a small and very intimate full day gathering at this same lovely home in Sooke, BC. The couple had decided to sell their beautiful home and we thought it would be nice to have one last gathering there to share a #cacaoceremony as well as to say our goodbyes to this most wonderful gathering space. A short time after we hosted the #cacaoceremony at their house this summer, the woman of the house passed on from this life. What an honor to have known her and to have been invited to share our #medicine in her home.

Kristin and I had agreed to take another road trip, this being late summer of 2015. After we came back to Canada for just 6 short weeks, we hit the open road, headed for Houston, Texas to spend some time with one of Kristin’s oldest friends who was expecting her first child. We put our suitcase back into the trunk of our trusty VW Jetta and headed back to the United States, not really fully understanding of the magnitude of the next leg of the journey we were embarking on.

Planting Cacao Seeds in Oaxaca

We said adios to the magical mountain town of San Cristobal de las Casas and slowly drove down toward the coastal town of Mazunte, the town we were supposed to do our Yoga Teacher Training at two months prior. The instructor had agreed to refund us our money as we had sent our friend, Felix, and another young man from Australia to fill our spaces. We approached sea level and could see a HUGE orchard in the distant lowlands ahead and we wondered what was being grown in such vast areas. When we realized it was mangoes we thought we'd died and gone to heaven! Neither of us knew that mangoes grew in so many different sizes, shapes colors and varieties. What a treat in the intense tropical heat! The man with the booth insisted on giving us samples of nearly every type of mango until we had belly aches. We bought ourselves a crate of about 50 Atulfo mangoes (You know, the normally pricey and delicious little yellow ones) for 50 pesos, or about $4. Amazing.

We stayed for one night in the small beach side town called Mazunte, Oaxaca, which is a surfing town with lots of international travelers and yoga schools. Apparently there had been a really big storm not long before our arrival and there were massive 45-foot tidal waves that had hit the coast there. We had no idea at the time but we were wondering why it seemed like the people around there were pretty haphazard with their boat parking locations! We had breakfast the next morning at a small second floor cafe on the beach, and we were watching this man sweeping what looked to us like the beach. We later learned about the wave and realized that the beach had come ashore!

Kristin and I had been contacted by a man whom my mom had met while she was volunteering at a healing retreat center in Puerto Escondido, Oaxaca, the previous winter. While we were all together in Guatemala, he had asked my mom if she would run his retreat center for six months and she said only if he would hire Kristin and I to be the Assistant Managers with her. He seemed to have no problem with that, however, after talking about it quite a bit we decided that being in Mexico for the summer months was not our preference. The man who owned the retreat center had then asked that Kristin and I stop in there on our drive north up the coast of Mexico and check in on the staff that he had left in charge of the place while he traveled home to Europe for a few months.

We had agreed to stay at the retreat center in Puerto Escondido for a week and let him know how things were going, which seemed a bit odd, as we realized after we had arrived that he hadn’t even let the staff know that we were coming. It became very clear to us that this was not due to a lack of communication on his part, rather that it was intentional...we were retreat spies. There were three lovely young folks running the retreat center, two of which were very happy and cheerful and one that was not very happy or easy to work with. We will call her Sally. Sally was not very good at communicating, which made it incredibly challenging for the three of them to run the center smoothly.

There were several paying guests staying and they quickly began to share with us, without any inquiry, how different their experience had been in comparison to what the promotional material had said it would be. Needless to say, the staff clued in to the fact that we were kind of “spying” on them for the owner which was a bit uncomfortable for us as we had never even met the man who had previously managed the retreat. Mom and our good friend Joanna had told us of their experience with him which was a year prior and it had sounded quite good, for the most part.

We facilitated daily morning group discussions where we used non-violent communication and a talking stick (where each person has a turn to speak their truth) to try and smooth out the situation with the core management team. It was a great exercise for us to facilitate and it did seem to help on some level to at least give everyone a chance to say how they were feeling, which was a lot more than was happening outside of those morning meetings. At times, we all need a chance to speak and be heard in order to get some clarity for ourselves in our life situations.

We decided that a group #cacaoceremony was the best option for us to try and help to support the group, particularly the management team, to open up and communicate clearly with each other. There were also a couple of guests staying who were not paying and there was some funny business happening between Sally and these guests that was strange for everyone. It was one of the most interesting #cacaoceremonies we had facilitated, as we had never had a particular focus for the group at any #ceremony up until that point, and it was fairly uncomfortable for some of the participants.

All things considered, we thought the #cacaoceremony was a huge success. The guests and management got to open up to each other about what had happened and was currently happening and share some very honest conversations. Needless to say, Sally hated the whole thing, even refusing to have her picture taken with the group afterwords! Oh boy, what a range of experiences we have been able to witness for ourselves and others through doing this work, and to think that this was just the beginning!

Tanner Ellingson, Kristin Allan, Cacao Connection, Cacao Canada, Cacao Ceremony Canada, Ceremonial Cacao canada, cacao canada, cacao BC, cacao alberta, cacao saskatchewan, cacao manitoba, cacao ontario, cacao quebec, cacao nova scotia, cacao new brunswick, cacao prince edward island, cacao newfoundland, ceremonial cacao vancouver, ceremonial cacao toronto, ceremonial cacao montreal, ceremonial cacao edmonton, ceremonial cacao calgary

Kristin Allan, Tanner Ellingson, Keith's Cacao Canada, Keith's Cacao Source Canada, Cacao Connection, Cacao Canada, Cacao Ceremony Canada, Ceremonial Cacao canada, cacao canada, cacao BC, cacao alberta, cacao saskatchewan, cacao manitoba, cacao ontario, cacao quebec, cacao nova scotia, cacao new brunswick, cacao prince edward island, cacao newfoundland, ceremonial cacao vancouver, ceremonial cacao toronto, ceremonial cacao montreal, ceremonial cacao edmonton, ceremonial cacao calgary

Kristin Allan, Tanner Ellingson, Keith's Cacao Canada, Keith's Cacao Source Canada, Cacao Connection, Cacao Canada, Cacao Ceremony Canada, Ceremonial Cacao canada, cacao canada, cacao BC, cacao alberta, cacao saskatchewan, cacao manitoba, cacao ontario, cacao quebec, cacao nova scotia, cacao new brunswick, cacao prince edward island, cacao newfoundland, ceremonial cacao vancouver, ceremonial cacao toronto, ceremonial cacao montreal, ceremonial cacao edmonton, ceremonial cacao calgary

Kristin Allan, Tanner Ellingson, Keith's Cacao Canada, Keith's Cacao Source Canada, Cacao Connection, Cacao Canada, Cacao Ceremony Canada, Ceremonial Cacao canada, cacao canada, cacao BC, cacao alberta, cacao saskatchewan, cacao manitoba, cacao ontario, cacao quebec, cacao nova scotia, cacao new brunswick, cacao prince edward island, cacao newfoundland, ceremonial cacao vancouver, ceremonial cacao toronto, ceremonial cacao montreal, ceremonial cacao edmonton, ceremonial cacao calgary

Kristin Allan, Tanner Ellingson, Keith's Cacao Canada, Keith's Cacao Source Canada, Cacao Connection, Cacao Canada, Cacao Ceremony Canada, Ceremonial Cacao canada, cacao canada, cacao BC, cacao alberta, cacao saskatchewan, cacao manitoba, cacao ontario, cacao quebec, cacao nova scotia, cacao new brunswick, cacao prince edward island, cacao newfoundland, ceremonial cacao vancouver, ceremonial cacao toronto, ceremonial cacao montreal, ceremonial cacao edmonton, ceremonial cacao calgary

Kristin Allan, Tanner Ellingson, Keith's Cacao Canada, Keith's Cacao Source Canada, Cacao Connection, Cacao Canada, Cacao Ceremony Canada, Ceremonial Cacao canada, cacao canada, cacao BC, cacao alberta, cacao saskatchewan, cacao manitoba, cacao ontario, cacao quebec, cacao nova scotia, cacao new brunswick, cacao prince edward island, cacao newfoundland, ceremonial cacao vancouver, ceremonial cacao toronto, ceremonial cacao montreal, ceremonial cacao edmonton, ceremonial cacao calgary

We attempted to have a Skype call with the owner later that week and let him know that things were not going very well with the staff, however the internet wasn’t working that day in rural Mexico, so I wound up writing him an epic email explaining our interpretation of the whole thing. It was not a sugar-coated email, it was straight-up, blunt and the honest truth about what was happening. He was more than partly responsible for the situation that had unfolded, which if he didn’t know beforehand, he surely did after reading my email. Over three years has passed since I wrote that email and I’ve never heard a single word from the owner, in fact I’m not sure that he ever even returned to the place once he left.

When we left the retreat center and headed northward we had made ourselves at least a few new friends, one of which we have seen several times in Mexico and is like a brother to us. What a world, full of #connections that are ready to be made if you just get yourself out there into it.

We headed north along the coast, stopping for a night in Acapulco, which was a little bit too much like Las Vegas for the two of us. We then found ourselves in Zihuatanejo, looking for somewhere decent for two overheated vegans to eat and eventually stumbled into a place we found online via the website www.happycow.net called Pura Vida. The place had no sign outside, and when we got out of the car to look through the gate to see if anyone was around, a Mexican man outside who spoke perfect English invited us to come on in. The owner, Patti, a wonderful American woman from Chicago, welcomed us and prepared us an absolutely amazing raw vegan lunch while I took our car down the street to get an oil change.

After lunch we expressed our need to find a hostel for the night and that’s when Patti offered us to stay with her for the night, as she had an extra bedroom and was happy to have us. Patti shared with us that she had a vision of operating a retreat center out of her home some day and we wondered if this was the foundation for a future collaboration being created. Then we started talking about cacao and it just so happened that she had cacao pods and beans, however they were dried out and had started to sprout which we had never seen. She was very intrigued about #ceremonialgradecacao as she had eaten cacao before, even mentioning that we could go see a cacao tree that someone had planted right down the street from her. We had never seen one at this point, so we were so excited.

We explained our #cacaoceremony to her and she invited us to host one the next night at her place. We were a bit hesitant as it’s always best if you have some lead time to promote and let people know what is happening. We wound up hosting a #ceremony for her and one other local man who helped her around her property. This will go down as one of the times when we just needed to “show up” for who is right in front of us to do the work regardless of anything else. It was a lovely experience and I think we all got something pretty profound out of it.

The next day we packed up our car and said goodbye, promising to come and visit again if ever we were passing through on our travels. We got close this past year but decided to venture inland to drive through the much cooler mountains of central Mexico. Over the next few days we made our way up to the coast, staying in Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan and Hermosillo before we crossed the border back into the USA. We had a distinct feeling that the US border was not going to be nearly as laid back as coming into Mexico from Guatemala had been, so I found the smallest border crossing available and we headed there.

What ensued was pretty hilarious although reasonably stressful for us. For whatever reason we realized as we approached the US border crossing that we had a couple of mangoes that we hadn’t eaten so the first border official directed us to pull into an inspection stall. We used our “Go to Glow” visualization technique as we drove past a large and intimidating group of heavily-armed border guards with dogs on the way to the stall they directed us to. Two friendly and totally normal looking border guards approached our car and began to ask us questions.

They asked us, "what’s inside the boxes?" and we told them chocolate. “Sure smells like chocolate, that’s for sure!” they agreed. We also had a couple of cacao pods, one of which was empty, dried and hidden, and the other that was still fresh, which they took. They took one of the bars of #keithscacao that we had and did some quick testing on it. When they came back they had a whole stack of paperwork and they informed us that normally we would need to have a customs agent and pay duties and taxes but they were going to let us off with a "warning" this time. We wondered why the female border guard kept asking us from different angles if we were giving the chocolate away as gifts to our friends and family! She was trying to help us out, but we were a bit slow to pick up on it.

The last thing we remembered saying to them when we told them the chocolate we had was actually #cacao, which seemed like a term they had never heard before. They made fake guns with their fingers and thumbs, pointing them at each other while laughing and saying “CACAO!, CACAO!”. What a world this is.

Chocolate "Research" in Chiapas

We left the magic of Lake Atitlan behind and began our journey back to Canada by driving back across the border into Mexico. We were curious what the border officials might say about the boxes full of chocolate we were bringing back with us. Keith had assured us that there was nothing illegal about it and relayed to us a story of driving back to the USA with a huge heap of cacao in the back of his truck with no problems.

Keith teaches a “Go to Glow” meditation (listen above) at his #ceremonies and he shares that when you use this simple technique, in otherwise awkward or uncomfortable situations, the results can be quite incredible. We have used it a LOT ourselves while travelling and going through borders and inspection stations, even though we have nothing to hide, it’s amazing how seamless your travels can be when you are smiling from the inside out!

So when we approached the Mexican border we used our “Go to Glow” and when the border guard asked us to get out of the car and open the trunk we weren’t the least bit surprised when he proceeded to let his #chocolate lab doggie sniff all around inside the car. We smiled at each other as it was happening and laughed ourselves silly once we had pulled away from the border station.

We had arranged to meet our friends Bernardo and Natalia, the Chilean couple who encouraged us to host our first ceremony a few months prior in the Yucatan. This time we would meet them in a beautiful city in Chiapas, the southern most state in Mexico, called San Cristobal de las Casas. It was a full day's drive to get there and we had arranged to stay at a small local hostel called Casa Vegano Sol, House of Vegan Sun! It was dark when we arrived and the directions were a bit hard to understand, and the streets were far from the normal north-south, east-west of a typical Canadian or American city. I remember asking some local ladies if we were close at one point and they were like, "NO, you're on the wrong side of town!"

We did finally find the hostel and the lovely couple who ran it were so accommodating and friendly to us when we arrived. We told them about #cacaoceremonies and they insisted that we should host one that weekend in their garden in the back yard of the hostel. We have had so many people who encouraged us over the years and Gerardo and Blanca were definitely some of them. Gerardo went around town putting up a poster for our #cacaoceremony, he even made the poster in proper Espanol!

Kristin and I had heard a lot of great things about San Cristobal and we enjoyed our time walking the cobblestone streets so much in the week we stayed there. By the end of our time there we both agreed that it was the most beautiful city in Mexico that we'd been to so far. This may have been at least in part because of the incredible amount of #cacao-influenced stores and cafes that we found, not to mention the cacao museum that is there. We wandered through the #cacao museum, thoroughly enjoying the experience and learning as much as we could from each display.

Kristin Allan, Tanner Ellingson, Keith's Cacao Canada, Keith's Cacao Source Canada, Cacao Connection, Cacao Canada, Cacao Ceremony Canada, Ceremonial Cacao canada, cacao canada, cacao BC, cacao alberta, cacao saskatchewan, cacao manitoba, cacao ontario, cacao quebec, cacao nova scotia, cacao new brunswick, cacao prince edward island, cacao newfoundland, ceremonial cacao vancouver, ceremonial cacao toronto, ceremonial cacao montreal, ceremonial cacao edmonton, ceremonial cacao calgary

Kristin Allan, Tanner Ellingson, Keith's Cacao Canada, Keith's Cacao Source Canada, Cacao Connection, Cacao Canada, Cacao Ceremony Canada, Ceremonial Cacao canada, cacao canada, cacao BC, cacao alberta, cacao saskatchewan, cacao manitoba, cacao ontario, cacao quebec, cacao nova scotia, cacao new brunswick, cacao prince edward island, cacao newfoundland, ceremonial cacao vancouver, ceremonial cacao toronto, ceremonial cacao montreal, ceremonial cacao edmonton, ceremonial cacao calgary

Kristin Allan, Tanner Ellingson, Keith's Cacao Canada, Keith's Cacao Source Canada, Cacao Connection, Cacao Canada, Cacao Ceremony Canada, Ceremonial Cacao canada, cacao canada, cacao BC, cacao alberta, cacao saskatchewan, cacao manitoba, cacao ontario, cacao quebec, cacao nova scotia, cacao new brunswick, cacao prince edward island, cacao newfoundland, ceremonial cacao vancouver, ceremonial cacao toronto, ceremonial cacao montreal, ceremonial cacao edmonton, ceremonial cacao calgary

Kristin Allan, Tanner Ellingson, Keith's Cacao Canada, Keith's Cacao Source Canada, Cacao Connection, Cacao Canada, Cacao Ceremony Canada, Ceremonial Cacao canada, cacao canada, cacao BC, cacao alberta, cacao saskatchewan, cacao manitoba, cacao ontario, cacao quebec, cacao nova scotia, cacao new brunswick, cacao prince edward island, cacao newfoundland, ceremonial cacao vancouver, ceremonial cacao toronto, ceremonial cacao montreal, ceremonial cacao edmonton, ceremonial cacao calgary

Kristin Allan, Tanner Ellingson, Keith's Cacao Canada, Keith's Cacao Source Canada, Cacao Connection, Cacao Canada, Cacao Ceremony Canada, Ceremonial Cacao canada, cacao canada, cacao BC, cacao alberta, cacao saskatchewan, cacao manitoba, cacao ontario, cacao quebec, cacao nova scotia, cacao new brunswick, cacao prince edward island, cacao newfoundland, ceremonial cacao vancouver, ceremonial cacao toronto, ceremonial cacao montreal, ceremonial cacao edmonton, ceremonial cacao calgary

Kristin Allan, Tanner Ellingson, Keith's Cacao Canada, Keith's Cacao Source Canada, Cacao Connection, Cacao Canada, Cacao Ceremony Canada, Ceremonial Cacao canada, cacao canada, cacao BC, cacao alberta, cacao saskatchewan, cacao manitoba, cacao ontario, cacao quebec, cacao nova scotia, cacao new brunswick, cacao prince edward island, cacao newfoundland, ceremonial cacao vancouver, ceremonial cacao toronto, ceremonial cacao montreal, ceremonial cacao edmonton, ceremonial cacao calgary

Kristin Allan, Tanner Ellingson, Keith's Cacao Canada, Keith's Cacao Source Canada, Cacao Connection, Cacao Canada, Cacao Ceremony Canada, Ceremonial Cacao canada, cacao canada, cacao BC, cacao alberta, cacao saskatchewan, cacao manitoba, cacao ontario, cacao quebec, cacao nova scotia, cacao new brunswick, cacao prince edward island, cacao newfoundland, ceremonial cacao vancouver, ceremonial cacao toronto, ceremonial cacao montreal, ceremonial cacao edmonton, ceremonial cacao calgary

Kristin Allan, Tanner Ellingson, Keith's Cacao Canada, Keith's Cacao Source Canada, Cacao Connection, Cacao Canada, Cacao Ceremony Canada, Ceremonial Cacao canada, cacao canada, cacao BC, cacao alberta, cacao saskatchewan, cacao manitoba, cacao ontario, cacao quebec, cacao nova scotia, cacao new brunswick, cacao prince edward island, cacao newfoundland, ceremonial cacao vancouver, ceremonial cacao toronto, ceremonial cacao montreal, ceremonial cacao edmonton, ceremonial cacao calgary

Kristin Allan, Tanner Ellingson, Keith's Cacao Canada, Keith's Cacao Source Canada, Cacao Connection, Cacao Canada, Cacao Ceremony Canada, Ceremonial Cacao canada, cacao canada, cacao BC, cacao alberta, cacao saskatchewan, cacao manitoba, cacao ontario, cacao quebec, cacao nova scotia, cacao new brunswick, cacao prince edward island, cacao newfoundland, ceremonial cacao vancouver, ceremonial cacao toronto, ceremonial cacao montreal, ceremonial cacao edmonton, ceremonial cacao calgary

Kristin Allan, Tanner Ellingson, Keith's Cacao Canada, Keith's Cacao Source Canada, Cacao Connection, Cacao Canada, Cacao Ceremony Canada, Ceremonial Cacao canada, cacao canada, cacao BC, cacao alberta, cacao saskatchewan, cacao manitoba, cacao ontario, cacao quebec, cacao nova scotia, cacao new brunswick, cacao prince edward island, cacao newfoundland, ceremonial cacao vancouver, ceremonial cacao toronto, ceremonial cacao montreal, ceremonial cacao edmonton, ceremonial cacao calgary

Kristin Allan, Tanner Ellingson, Keith's Cacao Canada, Keith's Cacao Source Canada, Cacao Connection, Cacao Canada, Cacao Ceremony Canada, Ceremonial Cacao canada, cacao canada, cacao BC, cacao alberta, cacao saskatchewan, cacao manitoba, cacao ontario, cacao quebec, cacao nova scotia, cacao new brunswick, cacao prince edward island, cacao newfoundland, ceremonial cacao vancouver, ceremonial cacao toronto, ceremonial cacao montreal, ceremonial cacao edmonton, ceremonial cacao calgary

Kristin Allan, Tanner Ellingson, Keith's Cacao Canada, Keith's Cacao Source Canada, Cacao Connection, Cacao Canada, Cacao Ceremony Canada, Ceremonial Cacao canada, cacao canada, cacao BC, cacao alberta, cacao saskatchewan, cacao manitoba, cacao ontario, cacao quebec, cacao nova scotia, cacao new brunswick, cacao prince edward island, cacao newfoundland, ceremonial cacao vancouver, ceremonial cacao toronto, ceremonial cacao montreal, ceremonial cacao edmonton, ceremonial cacao calgary

Kristin Allan, Tanner Ellingson, Keith's Cacao Canada, Keith's Cacao Source Canada, Cacao Connection, Cacao Canada, Cacao Ceremony Canada, Ceremonial Cacao canada, cacao canada, cacao BC, cacao alberta, cacao saskatchewan, cacao manitoba, cacao ontario, cacao quebec, cacao nova scotia, cacao new brunswick, cacao prince edward island, cacao newfoundland, ceremonial cacao vancouver, ceremonial cacao toronto, ceremonial cacao montreal, ceremonial cacao edmonton, ceremonial cacao calgary

Kristin Allan, Tanner Ellingson, Keith's Cacao Canada, Keith's Cacao Source Canada, Cacao Connection, Cacao Canada, Cacao Ceremony Canada, Ceremonial Cacao canada, cacao canada, cacao BC, cacao alberta, cacao saskatchewan, cacao manitoba, cacao ontario, cacao quebec, cacao nova scotia, cacao new brunswick, cacao prince edward island, cacao newfoundland, ceremonial cacao vancouver, ceremonial cacao toronto, ceremonial cacao montreal, ceremonial cacao edmonton, ceremonial cacao calgary

Kristin Allan, Tanner Ellingson, Keith's Cacao Canada, Keith's Cacao Source Canada, Cacao Connection, Cacao Canada, Cacao Ceremony Canada, Ceremonial Cacao canada, cacao canada, cacao BC, cacao alberta, cacao saskatchewan, cacao manitoba, cacao ontario, cacao quebec, cacao nova scotia, cacao new brunswick, cacao prince edward island, cacao newfoundland, ceremonial cacao vancouver, ceremonial cacao toronto, ceremonial cacao montreal, ceremonial cacao edmonton, ceremonial cacao calgary

Kristin Allan, Tanner Ellingson, Keith's Cacao Canada, Keith's Cacao Source Canada, Cacao Connection, Cacao Canada, Cacao Ceremony Canada, Ceremonial Cacao canada, cacao canada, cacao BC, cacao alberta, cacao saskatchewan, cacao manitoba, cacao ontario, cacao quebec, cacao nova scotia, cacao new brunswick, cacao prince edward island, cacao newfoundland, ceremonial cacao vancouver, ceremonial cacao toronto, ceremonial cacao montreal, ceremonial cacao edmonton, ceremonial cacao calgary

Kristin Allan, Tanner Ellingson, Keith's Cacao Canada, Keith's Cacao Source Canada, Cacao Connection, Cacao Canada, Cacao Ceremony Canada, Ceremonial Cacao canada, cacao canada, cacao BC, cacao alberta, cacao saskatchewan, cacao manitoba, cacao ontario, cacao quebec, cacao nova scotia, cacao new brunswick, cacao prince edward island, cacao newfoundland, ceremonial cacao vancouver, ceremonial cacao toronto, ceremonial cacao montreal, ceremonial cacao edmonton, ceremonial cacao calgary

Kristin Allan, Tanner Ellingson, Keith's Cacao Canada, Keith's Cacao Source Canada, Cacao Connection, Cacao Canada, Cacao Ceremony Canada, Ceremonial Cacao canada, cacao canada, cacao BC, cacao alberta, cacao saskatchewan, cacao manitoba, cacao ontario, cacao quebec, cacao nova scotia, cacao new brunswick, cacao prince edward island, cacao newfoundland, ceremonial cacao vancouver, ceremonial cacao toronto, ceremonial cacao montreal, ceremonial cacao edmonton, ceremonial cacao calgary

Kristin Allan, Tanner Ellingson, Keith's Cacao Canada, Keith's Cacao Source Canada, Cacao Connection, Cacao Canada, Cacao Ceremony Canada, Ceremonial Cacao canada, cacao canada, cacao BC, cacao alberta, cacao saskatchewan, cacao manitoba, cacao ontario, cacao quebec, cacao nova scotia, cacao new brunswick, cacao prince edward island, cacao newfoundland, ceremonial cacao vancouver, ceremonial cacao toronto, ceremonial cacao montreal, ceremonial cacao edmonton, ceremonial cacao calgary

Kristin Allan, Tanner Ellingson, Keith's Cacao Canada, Keith's Cacao Source Canada, Cacao Connection, Cacao Canada, Cacao Ceremony Canada, Ceremonial Cacao canada, cacao canada, cacao BC, cacao alberta, cacao saskatchewan, cacao manitoba, cacao ontario, cacao quebec, cacao nova scotia, cacao new brunswick, cacao prince edward island, cacao newfoundland, ceremonial cacao vancouver, ceremonial cacao toronto, ceremonial cacao montreal, ceremonial cacao edmonton, ceremonial cacao calgary

Kristin Allan, Tanner Ellingson, Keith's Cacao Canada, Keith's Cacao Source Canada, Cacao Connection, Cacao Canada, Cacao Ceremony Canada, Ceremonial Cacao canada, cacao canada, cacao BC, cacao alberta, cacao saskatchewan, cacao manitoba, cacao ontario, cacao quebec, cacao nova scotia, cacao new brunswick, cacao prince edward island, cacao newfoundland, ceremonial cacao vancouver, ceremonial cacao toronto, ceremonial cacao montreal, ceremonial cacao edmonton, ceremonial cacao calgary

When we gathered to host the #cacao #ceremony at Casa Vegano Sol, we felt a bit uncomfortable that our Spanish wasn't good enough to host in both languages, luckily sweet Natalia had agreed to translate for us if there were people who didn't speak English. It was a lovely #ceremony and we sang together at the end with a couple of the ladies sharing songs in Spanish that were so beautiful. Gerardo and Blanca even brought their little boy, Omatli, down to sit with us toward the end of the #ceremony and it was sweet to watch him play with our rattles and join in the sacred space we had created together.

When we left San Cristobal we vowed to return at some point to stay for much longer. Gerardo and Blanca had offered to rent us a room for the month and it was SO hard to say no. Unfortunately, we had to continue making our way back home to Vancouver Island to move some things we had stored with a friend before we had left on our trip in December of 2014. We said goodbye to our Chilean amigos, Bernardo and Natalia, and wished them well on their cycling trip through Mexico. Little did we know that the next time we would see them would be back in Canada!