When a shaman wearing a loin cloth and feathered headdress welcomed us, we knew this was not going to be a typical museum visit.

It wasn’t. Our tour of Kakaw Chocolate Factory in Costa Maya, Mexico, was entertaining, informative and delicious. The three guides were excellent actors who seemed to delight in the characters they were playing – the shaman, Sister Rita the nun and Dr. Adamstein the mad scientist. Read more...

“Some people believe that,” says guide Alex Cab. “But neither one of those things is true.”

Nor is it true that Mayans no longer exist.

“I’m a Mayan,” Alex says. “You can’t say that the Mayans are all dead because I’m still here. I am of mixed blood but I am a Mayan. It is the Mayan culture, civilization and knowledge that has disappeared. That is gone.”