We really enjoyed this trip. The morning was rainy, so we weren't going to be on the beach anyway, but the day cleared up enough that we genuinely enjoyed our walk through the rainforest with our expert guide, Xystus (pronounced like "Ecstasy" without the last syllable). He had so many interesting things to tell us, we got to suck on raw cacao pods (the slimy coating tastes like citrus!), we got to eat some flowers, and the coolest thing was getting to graft a cacao tree onto some scion stock! If you look through my photos, you'll see the plants in the greenhouse tagged with guests' names, and also one mature tree in the rainforest with the guest's name on a sign hanging off of it. So, you can come back in a few years and visit your own tree, assuming it makes it to adulthood!
On the 'bar' half of the "From Tree to Bar" experience, Marina walked us through making our own chocolate bars, starting with grinding cacao nibs by hand with a mortar and pestle. After the bar has set, you get to take it home. We unwrapped our bars when we arrived home, some four days after we made them...and they smell AMAZING. You will never have chocolate like this anywhere else!
The food was good, too, especially the 'Ice Cream of the Gods.' It *seems* disappointing when they hand you a small cup of vanilla ice cream, but this is vanilla infused with cacao, and it is, bar none, the best ice cream I have ever eaten, and that includes Berthillon's in Paris, home made fresh in our own home, dairy-made delights here in Pennsylvania farm country, or ANYTHING. Ice cream is now ruined for me because nothing will ever be as good as 'Ice Cream of the Gods'! Oh, and don't miss bringing home a bottle of their Velvetised Chocolate Cream Liqeuer. Delicious! (And a real shame they no longer sell and ship to the US!!!)
This is a pricey tour, but we felt it was well worth it; it gave us pretty much a whole day (from lunch to dinner) of education, entertainment, satiety, lovely memories, and just plain fun