Roasting cacao seeds

On a cacao plantation in Barlovento, Venezuela, the plantation owner prepares to roast cacao seeds, pouring the dried seeds from a wooden bowl into a metal pot over an open fire. The seeds come from the cacao tree (Thebroma Cacao), which is native to tropical Central and South America. Roasting is one of the many steps that turns the cacao seeds into cocoa. The roasted seeds will later be peeled and ground.