Category Archives: Latin America

Culinary Travel, Cultural Travel, ecotourism, experiential travel, Latin America, Sustainable Travel

Jim Kane, Founder of Culture Xplorers, Joins Board of World Food Travel Association

Food is a natural bridge-builder and point of connection between cultures, says Jim Kane, founder of Culture Xplorers, a travel company whose signature is delving as deeply as possible into other cultures.
Food is a natural bridge-builder and point of connection between cultures, says Jim Kane, founder of Culture Xplorers, a travel company whose signature is delving as deeply as possible into other cultures.

Food is a natural bridge-builder and point of connection between cultures, says Jim Kane, founder of Culture Xplorers, a travel company whose signature is delving as deeply as possible into other cultures.

“There is an exciting movement afoot that is opening up new frontiers of food travel” Kane explained. “Around the world, visionary farmers, producers and chefs are changing the way we think about our relationship with food and with each other.”

“In a similar vein, there is a revolution taking place in the way food travel is being interpreted and experienced. The new frontier of food travel is physically active, intellectually engaged, emotionally connected and truly transformative. It leverages the power of food to affect positive social changes and fosters genuine bonds that endure long after the trip ends,” said Kane.

Kane recently accepted a two-year appointment to serve on the board of directors of the World Food Travel Association (WFTA).

“I am looking forward to the privilege of helping to solidify the Association’s position as the world’s leading authority on culinary tourism,” said Kane.

Founded in 2003 by Association Executive Director Erik Wolf, the WFTA’s mission is to grow and professionalize the food and drink tourism industry as the central hub that supports the creation of successful, profitable businesses and the protection and promotion of local culinary cultures world-wide.

“We’re excited to have Jim join our Board of Directors,” said Wolf. “Jim has a wide range of experience with other industry trade associations and an interesting view that he can bring to bear in his service with the World Food Travel Association.”

Kane happily shares what he sees as three developing trends in the future of food travel:

#1 Adventure Foraging: “Autumn is a great season for foraging in Cataluña, Spain, where you can easily travel from the Pyrenees to the coast in the same day. One of my favorite adventures here is to accompany a seasoned botanist — alongside plenty of local ‘boletaires’ (mushroom hunters) — on a quest for highly prized, seasonal wild mushrooms in the forested foothills of the Pyrenees. Then switch gears and kayak along the Catalan coast in search of edible seaweed and aromatic herbs.”

#2 Trekking & Terroir: “This form of connecting with the land and local producers is already in full bloom in many places around the world. One of my favorite recent experiences is shadowing a Basque shepherd on an engaging variation of his morning rounds. First we try our hand at milking one of the indigenous Latxa breed of sheep which produce the region’s famed Idiazabal cheese. We make and chill ‘cuajada’ (fresh cheese curd) and taste some of the farmhouse cheese washed down with a bottle of refreshing, txakoli (sparkling) wine. A 90-minute walk through rolling hills and pine-covered trails works back our appetite just in time for lunch! “

#3 Food for Social Change: “This is a budding movement which is particularly strong in Latin America. One of my favorite regional projects is the Pachacútec Culinary Institute (ICP) just north of Lima.  Peruvian super chef Gastón Acurio partnered with the Fundación Pachacútec to create a top notch culinary school along the coastal desert in Pachacútec. It recruits students from some of Lima’s poorest communities and costs a tenth the tuition of a private institute, offering life-changing opportunities to its graduates. As part of Culture Xplorers’ unique partnership with the ICP, we bring travelers for a cooking lesson side-by-side with the students, who then share this meal with the visitors.”

Culture Xplorers (http://www.culturexplorers.com/), a leader in sustainable travel, offers handcrafted journeys that deepen understanding and foster connection between travelers and local communities around the world.

Culture Xplorers trips are created from the ground up, built on three founding pillars: people, traditions and impact. Their travelers meet the people of the places they visit, engaging in the living traditions that make each destination unique, and in doing so, create a lasting, positive impact through tourism. Genuine connections with people and place are formed farm-to-fork and around the table, via participation in local celebrations and through authentic exchange with community leaders and members.

Countries where cultural exchanges are fostered are Peru, Guatemala, Argentina, Mexico, Spain, Portugal and Cuba. The Culture Xplorers Foundation was founded in 2007 to help foster the sustainability of local culture in at risk communities worldwide. Its positive impact partnerships focus on sustaining endangered traditions, strengthening education, fostering community-based travel and breaking the cycle of poverty through the support of comprehensive micro-loan and education programs.  See: http://www.cxfoundation.org/

For 2014-2015 season information, tours, availability and reservations contact Culture Xplorers at 215-870-3585 or email: [email protected].

 

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ecotourism, Latin America, Sustainable Travel

Ecotourism Company, Tropic, Explores Chocolate with New Program Giving Entree into Pacari

Tropic, an award-winning ecotourism company specializing in Quito, Ecuador, has a new program, “May We Introduce You” featuring visits to artisanal workshops in this UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The program, which is launching toward the end of 2014, features a 90-minute tasting tour at the new showroom of Ecuador’s award-winning indigenous chocolate company, Pacari, that made a clean sweep of the dark chocolate field in a 2013 international competition in London.

Pacari is the first single-origin, 100 percent organic chocolate made entirely in Ecuador. (The word Pacari means “nature” in Quechua, an indigenous language of the Andean region.)  The new tasting room scheduled to open at the end of the year is in Quito’s trendy, bohemian La Floresta neighborhood, home to top restaurants and boutique hotels.

A journey by story and video takes guests through the history of Ecuadorian cacao, followed by a tasting of the award-winning Pacari chocolate. The presentation also focuses on the agricultural side of chocolate cultivation and production and the communities that work with Pacari to bring the product to market.

The tastings will reveal the ingredients and secrets of 10 varieties of Pacari chocolates (four single origin chocolate bars, one special-edition chocolate bar and five dark chocolate bars). The complete tour with tastings is expected to be approximately 90 minutes.  Each guest on this tour receives a complimentary gift box of chocolate. The tour cost per person is $107 for groups of 2 to 4 (Current Special: $54 per person through September 2014). See: www.destinationecuador.com/chocolate-tasting.html)

When his schedule permits, Santiago Peralta, founder of Pacari, will lead the tours. He was recognized as the outstanding Chocolate Maker of 2013 by the Fine Chocolate Industry Association at the organization’s winter event in San Francisco.  With his wife, Carla Barboto, he has revolutionized the chocolate industry in both Ecuador and Latin America by creating a transparent model of tree-to-bar manufacturing based on innovation, ecological and social responsibility, and direct trade with certified organic farms throughout the country.

Pacari was also the main winner of the 2013 prestigious International Chocolate Awards World Final in London, winning six gold medals and a silver in the important category of Unflavored Dark Bars. The World Final took place within the framework of the Salon du Chocolat of London and Pacari bars competed against the 200 winning bars of three national rounds and two larger semi-final contests (European and Americas) that had taken place in the United States, England, Italy, Canada, and Israel during 2013.

Obsessed with purity of flavor, Peralta spends much of his time in the field sourcing cacaos from genetically diverse old farms that capture the full range of flavor and aroma of the best cacao regions of Ecuador, the largest producer of cacao in the world. Paying higher prices for quality-certified organic cacao, Peralta and his company benefit more than 3,000 farming families.

In addition to fighting to position their brand and chocolate on the international market, entrepreneurs Peralta and Barboto are promoting locally the benefits of cacao and chocolate.

On small farms, the cacao trees have been growing and intermingling for hundreds of years. The cross pollination of cacao which occurs in natural settings greatly reduces the possibility of a plague destroying the trees in Ecuador. Much like seed banks that exist for other crops, supporting family farms in Ecuador ensures that there is genetic material that can be used in the event that a disease does affect cacao in other countries.

In spring 2014 Tropic’s “May We Introduce You” campaign began guiding guests to La Mundial, a luxury custom boot company which now offers a factory tour in Quito. Please see http://www.destinationecuador.com/ecuador-custom-boot-tour.htm. This full day tour which also includes a tour of Quito’s Colonial Center and Middle of the World Monument with lunch runs $151 per person.

Established in 1994, Tropic is an award–winning ecotourism company specializing in responsible, community-based tourism in Ecuador. Programs combine life-changing, active-but-cultural ecotourism experiences focusing on nature, conservation, diversity and sustainability in three distinct areas:

For information and reservations contact: Tropic / Phone: +593-02-2234-594 / 202. 657.5072 (US) / 593. 2. 222. 5907 (EC) / US Toll-free: 1.888.207.8615 / Website: www.destinationecuador.com.

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