Welcome to Guatemala!

Mike and I spent a day at the Valhalla Macadamia Farm, a privately owned enterprise, based on planting Macadamia trees for indigenous communities in poverty. 

Who knew that one Macadamia tree can absorb some 30 pounds of carbon dioxide a year; the trees do not require watering other than from rainfall; the nuts have a high content of essential nutrients such as Omega-3 fatty acids and protein; the oil produced from the nut has great anti-aging properties (I bought 15 gallons just to be on the safe side!); they can be ground into flour and used in cooking which is gluten free; and, on and on, it goes!

When the nuts are ripe they are allowed to fall naturally to the ground where once a week they are picked up by hand.

They are thrown into the above contraption which has a centre piece that looks just like a tyre wheel and which is, a tyre wheel! A small motor is attached which spins the tyre stripping the nuts of their outer shell!

The nuts relax in the sun, drying, for about a week before being hauled off to a local production facility where they are slowly baked in ovens for several days before being further processed.