Origins: Guatemalan Cacao Tour Application
Hello and thanks for your interest in Soul Lift Cacao's Guatemalan cacao tours!

To maximize the synergy of each group, we have potential participants fill out this application. Select applicants will be invited to a live phone call with tour host Nick Meador. Then the final stage will be registering for the tour.

ALL POTENTIAL PARTICIPANTS MUST FILL OUT THE APPLICATION SEPARATELY – including both people in a couple.

Our tours are a one-of-a-kind opportunity to experience the entire life cycle of cacao and learn more about Mayan culture first-hand.

If you have questions, please email hello@soulliftcacao.com!
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Full Legal Name (First Middle Last) *
Email Address *
Phone Number (with country and area code) *
Address of residence (number, street, city, zip code, country) *
Which tour(s) are you interested in?
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Required
Did someone refer you to this cacao tour? If so, what's their name?
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What's your age?
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How tall are you?
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NOTE: Those taller than 6' 2" might have trouble fitting into some vehicles, for example on a hill to a cacao farm.
In general are you early, on time, or late for appointments?
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Do you have access to international cell phone coverage?
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NOTE: This is HIGHLY recommended in order to help the group stay in communication during the tour. It's possible to get a local SIM card, however participants would be responsible for obtaining one on their own before the tour starts.
Which lodging type would you prefer? *
Payment can be all at once or in 2-3 manual installments. However please note that the ShopPay auto-installment feature is not available for the tour. Payments by credit card, Paypal, or Venmo have a 2.9% service fee added. There's no service fee added for payments by Zelle or wire transfer. The full tour balance will be due a week before the start of the tour.
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Please share a bit about yourself – your work, passions, hobbies, spiritual practice (if any). *
What calls you to join this tour? What do you hope to get out of it? *
What is your experience so far with ceremonial cacao, cacao circles, Mayan fire ceremonies, etc? What about your experience with other kinds of therapy, self-development, ceremonies, or transformational work?
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On a scale of 1 to 10 (with 10 being the most), how much do you know so far about Guatemalan or Mayan culture? *
How familiar are you about the history of colonization and imperialism that have impacted Guatemala and other countries? Please explain. (No prior knowledge is required.) *
Have you traveled in Guatemala or other "developing nations"? It can involve certain challenges like the possibility of intestinal parasites, slower/bumpy roads,  wavy boat taxi rides, lack of air conditioning, biting insects, etc. Especially the cacao farms can be more hot and humid than people from temperate climates are used to. While the tour guide(s) would do their utmost best to keep you safe and comfortable, do you accept the general nature of this type of travel as described above? Are you willing to sign a liability release stating that you're fully responsible for your health and well-being? Please also explain how you would resource yourself or seek assistance if you feel challenged while on the trip.
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Are you willing to sign a photo release saying that Soul Lift Cacao has permission to take photographs and videos of participants and to use them in the future for marketing and related purposes?
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NOTE: We won't take photo or video during sensitive moments that might occur, for example in ceremonies.
This tour is produced by Soul Lift Cacao and will share information about cacao production intended for personal enrichment and/or to inform your facilitation/teaching practice. On the tour, Nick Meador takes participants to meet his sourcing partners, which is a sensitive matter. Are you willing to sign an agreement stating that you don’t currently own or work for a cacao company (production, warehousing, shipping, or sales), that you won’t for at least two years from the date of the trip, and that Soul Lift Cacao would be involved in any professional collaborations you might want to explore with the groups we visit on the tour (also for two years)? Explain if necessary. *
Guatemala has fewer accessibility accommodations than the United States and other Western countries. It's possible that in some places we'll have to navigate stairways, narrow passageways, uneven terrain, etc. Are you living with chronic pain, illness, or a physical condition that could prevent you from navigating these things and/or walking for 1-2 hours a day? Are you willing to take medication for issues that might arise such as motion sickness or digestive distress?
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This tour is led by Nick Meador, who identifies as straight cis-male American of mixed European heritage. Because Nick is not of Guatemalan, Mayan, or indigenous Mesoamerican descent, he puts a lot of effort into making sure his work is ethical and responsible. However it could still be challenging for some to participate in a Guatemalan cacao tour led by someone who isn't Guatemalan. It wouldn't be possible for Nick to fully hold space for all emotional challenges that could come up, for example if people have heritage in Mesoamerica. While emotional healing could very well occur on the trip,  this is essentially a tour to learn about cacao, not a healing retreat. With all this in mind, do you think this is the right tour for you? Please explain. *
Going off the last question, although we do participate in Mayan ceremonies (which tend to be gentle experiences), it's important that potential participants understand that the main focus of this tour is on practical matters of ceremonial cacao cultivation and processing, and learning about Mayan indigenous culture. We stay in consensus reality, not venturing into mystical realms. With respect for everyone's individual path, this tour is not a good fit for people who regularly experience spontaneous altered or extreme states of consciousness, extra-sensory perception (e.g. hearing voices), vertigo, seizures, loss of selfhood, or those who are in a particularly intense period of their healing journey (i.e. a "spiritual emergency" or similar). Please describe a bit about your mental state going into this tour, whether you are currently taking or have ever been prescribed psychopharmaceutical drugs, and anything else that would be useful for the tour guide(s) to know. Not disclosing this type of health information could result in removal from a tour without a refund. *
To be approved, participants must be able to commit to staying on the tour from start to finish. That means also using the ground transportation provided on the tour. Are you okay with that?
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NOTE: If you think you'll want to start or end in a difference place than Guatemala City, mention it below so that Nick can talk to you about options. You can change your mind later. Also, no one is forced to stay on the tour, especially if unforeseen circumstances arrise (i.e., a family emergency).
Participants are asked to refrain from using recreational drugs, psychoactive plant medicines, and excessive alcohol on the tour; from using tobacco or hapé when around the group (unless tobacco is specifically offered in ceremony); and from doing anything else that would greatly interfere with their ability to be present for the group and for the cacao workers we'll be visiting. That would also mean going to bed at a reasonable time each night. Are you okay with these requirements?
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Anyone who repeatedly interferes with the experience of other participants or puts themselves or anyone else in danger will be subject to removal from the tour without a refund. *
Is there anything else you'd like us to know?
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