There are paths that do not just cross landscapes but also the deepest corners of the soul. My name is Ricardo Mones Valverde, musician and ceremonialist, and I am about to embark on a pilgrimage that traverses the body, heart, and spirit. This journey is not just a physical one; it is an ancestral quest for healing that will take my father and me along the paths of our lineage, while at the same time, supporting the transformation of the Pueblo de Cacao.

The Camino Primitivo de Santiago, the oldest and most challenging route to Santiago de Compostela, awaits us. My father and I will start this journey together, walking paths that intertwine with our family history, where words are not always necessary to understand what our ancestors have passed down to us. Together, we will cross a very special place for our family: the village of Mones, a place that bears our surname and becomes a symbol of our connection to the past. Passing through this place is, in some way, a return to our roots, a closing of cycles, and a cleansing of the old imprints we no longer need to carry.

But the journey does not end there. After this shared part of the road, I will continue on my own, a path that will lead me not only to face the toughness of the terrain but also the silences and lessons that only a pilgrim can find when walking with intention. Every step I take on this Camino Primitivo will carry with it a purpose: to heal my lineage, reconnect with my roots, and contribute to a greater cause.

And that cause is the Pueblo de Cacao, in Quintana Roo, Mexico. A place where the land cries out for water, where the community has been struck by droughts, and where hope blooms in the form of cacao. This small village is beginning a magical transformation: leaving behind the monoculture of sugarcane and embracing the cultivation of cacao, a sacred plant that has the power to regenerate the land and restore balance to the lives of the families living there.

But the road will be difficult. There will be moments when the weariness weighs more than my legs can bear, and the solitude of the Camino will whisper to me to stop. Yet, whenever I feel like faltering, I will remember that this pilgrimage is not just for me, nor for my father. It is also for the Pueblo de Cacao, for the generations that will come after us, for the land that is renewed with every cacao plant sown. This is the force that drives me: knowing that my effort contributes to something much larger than myself.

Walking the Camino Primitivo is a meditation in motion, a rite of passage, a healing that begins with the personal and extends into the collective. And you, reading these words, can be part of this journey. Every donation, every gesture of support, will be one more step that we take together—not just for me, not just for my family, but for the regeneration of a community that is striving for a fairer and more sustainable future.

How You Can Help:

Beyond donations, there are many ways you can be part of this journey:

Share this campaign: Help me spread this message far and wide by sharing this story on your social networks or with people who feel they, too, can walk alongside us.

Logistical support: If you know anyone in Spain or Europe who can offer me a place to stay, a meal, or any form of support during the pilgrimage, it would be an invaluable gift. No path is walked alone, and human connections are essential in every journey.

Event organization: If you have contacts in holistic centers, yoga spaces, or places where I can share my medicinal music and devotional singing, it would be wonderful to connect with them. I am looking to organize events in cities like Barcelona and Madrid along the way.

Join the events: If you are in one of the cities I will pass through, I invite you to be part of the medicinal music events I will hold. These will be sacred spaces where we will share moments of healing and deep connection.

Financial Goal:

Transport: 700 Euros for flights and trains.

Food: 25-40 (315) euros per day during the Camino and the rest of the journey.

Equipment for the Camino: 400 euros for clothing, footwear, a backpack, and other essentials.

General expenses: 400 euros for unforeseen costs.

This journey is more than an adventure. It is an act of deep healing for me and my father, an opportunity to reconnect with our lineage in the village of Mones, and a commitment to the Pueblo de Cacao, which is being reborn through cacao, a plant that symbolizes both the regeneration of the earth and of life itself.

With your support, not only will you help make this pilgrimage possible, but you will also be contributing to the regeneration of a community that is betting on a more just and sustainable future. Every step I take on this Camino, I take for the past, for the present, and for the future. I walk for myself, for my father, for the Pueblo de Cacao, and for all of us.

Thank you for walking with me.