Bahia is the Amazon's geographical next-of-kin: the same climate, forest canopy, diverse floor. But there is no wild cacao; the tree was introduced, most likely by a Frenchman, Louis Frederick Warneaux, who, in 1746, sowed seeds near one of Bahia's large rivers.

Plant a tree today. Tomorrow, you will be glad you did.

The Rio de Contas, a wide, almost delta-like river, was startling, a sudden big sky and a feeling of openness, and very bright. It was noisy with birds. The rain forest houses most of the earth's plant and animal population. I hadn't anticipated it would be so loud.

The cacao content is a wrapper's most important datum, and the acceptable benchmark is seventy per cent. The figure is a measure of 'cocoa mass.'

Rachael Ray is probably the most watched kitchen personality in the history of American television.

Sales of gas-inefficient large SUVs are in a state of near-collapse this month, ... It seems likely that the shift in the sales mix away from large SUVs will persist and continue to damage Detroit's profit margins in the process.