Don Olivo Chocolate Tour — Attraction in La Fortuna

This is not my first chocolate tour. NOTE: If you plan to pay with credit card there is a 13% charge. I assume this is for taxes. Many businesses prefer cash and in dollars vs colones.

Overall the tour was fun and the host seemed informed. The tour spends about half of the time discussing various fruits of the area like sugar cane, dragon fruit, banana, mango, papaya, pineapple, star fruit, orange and avacado. Samples were provided for many of these which was fun (the hostess serving the fruit to us looked put-out and seemed not to want to be there). The beginning of the tour was held at their office/kitchen. Early on there was a bit of a problem because the old man (owner?) and another gal decided to carry on a very loud conversation right next to our group so that we had a hard time hearing our guide. Neither the guide nor staff seemed to understand that everyone there paid a fair bit to be there and their behavior was not conducive to a good experience. The old man was also on his phone watching videos with the volume turned up for everyone to hear which was annoying.

We then moved through the grove/forest to look as some of the various cocoa trees and coffee plants. Some time was spent discussing coffee as well. The chocolate portion of the tour seemed to go pretty quickly (much more so than another tour we attended). One part of it where he ground the cocoa with a stone roller was done in a small open-air building in the grove. There were no lights. It was quite dark and hard to see. Some of us used our phone lights to help illuminate what he was doing.

At the end we were seated at a table and left to enjoy some chocolate paste and crackers as well as some hot cocoa and coffee. To me this tour was less a chocolate tour and more of an exploration of the various edibles of the region. I don't think I...

If you are expecting a fancy chocolate tour that is extremely polished, then this is not for you. If you want to go to a working farm with genuine people that actually do this for a living, then go, now.

Josue was extremely courteous and showed us around the farm; we also had some great conversations about his IT education in the process. His father continuously brought us fresh fruit from his trees. I mean it was more fruit I ate in one day then I have in probably a month. And it was delicious! Ever had the freshest banana that tasted like an apple? If it's in season, you'll get to try it. Even as we walked around, I would ask Josue about some plant and he not only explained it but, if it was in season and wouldn't hurt the tree, let me try it. I tried fresh peppercorns straight from the plant! I saw what a Dragonfruit cactus looks like; I didn't even know that Dragonfruit came from a cactus-looking plant.

You will eat the best fruit ever, see how chocolate is made, drink fresh pressed sugar cane, and drink orange juice straight from an orange! Again, if you want air conditioning and a polished factory tour, this is not for you. If you want to see a genuine, working farm with kind...

If you have children with you, this is the chocolate tour for you!! The man who did our tour loved kids and was constantly stopping to show them different things. Our children were engaged the entire time.

He started out showing us the various fruit they have growing on their plantation. I have never had pineapple that tasted so good in my life!! We were fascinated by the ice cream bean, and couldn't get enough of it. We saw fresh peppercorns, a vanilla orchid, avocados, peppers, and so many different flowers. The friendly guide has extensive knowledge about the plants.

The sugar cane tasting was great, we got to chew on a piece raw, then taste the juice after a piece was run through their juicer. The rum made from the sugarcane juice is not to be missed!

After this we started in on the cocoa, he takes you right through the entire process, you taste a bean right off the tree and he walks you through not only the way they process it but the history of chocolate as well.

At the end, we topped things off with the most amazing hot chocolate I've ever tasted. This was one of the best things we did the entire 3 weeks we spent in Costa Rica. They are passionate about what they do, worth...