San Cristobal Chocolate Farm and Hike

The tour begins from Isla Colon and it takes to get there about 10 minutes by boat. First we arrive to the San Cristobal Town which is another island that takes the name of the person considered the man that discovered America, Cristobal Colon. But why this two islands from Bocas Del Toro take the name of this person. Because in his 4th travel working fro the Spanish Crown, coming all the way from Europe crossing the Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, he found this beautiful Islands. First he and his men found Isla Colon. When they arrived to the island the wind blew so hard that the sailors said That sounds like the mouth of a Dragon, so that beach area was called in Spanish Boca Del Drago. Then they discovered the other islands. San Cristóbal Island looks like has not changed too much with the time.

When we arrive to the dock is new and we asked to one of the local women that receive us that everything that we see has been done in the last three years by the government. A little school, a clinic and one pavemented road that is the main and only one used only for walking because there are no roads for cars on this island. The only Island that can have cars is Isla Colon, so everything is centralized to that Island. That is why the people from San Cristobal try to be more independent and that is why they live more from their lands than other communities. When we arrive to the Chocolate Farm they explain that this farm is managed by a group of local women that want to promote the tourism, teaching also to the new local generations how to live from the land and at the same time showing their culture to visitors from all over the world.

First we do a hike around the property. For local people is a common trail to walk but we have to say that there are some uphill and downhill that people without good physical condition or with some kind of mobility handicap would be better to skip the hike and go directly to the area where the community receive us because there is a lot to see and learn there too. But coming back to the trail, there we have the opportunity to learn how they produce the plants, fruits and vegetables that they consume and then they offer to the visitors as a traditional lunch.

We observe the different types of cacao trees that we have at Bocas Del Toro and that of course will produce a different kind of chocolate after the whole process. Precisely, when we return to the community that is what are we going to see. We are going to discover how is the traditional way to produce chocolate from a Cacao fruit. And the best of all is that we are active participants because we are involved in the process too. The chocolate comes from the Cacao seeds and not the fruit itself. The fruit could be sweet or bitter depending on the variety of Cacao, but the chocolate always comes from the toasted seeds. At the end of the process everybody can enjoy self made chocolate for their first time in their lives. While we were busy making chocolate, other part of the women were cooking our lunch.

They offer Chicken and rice with lentils and a salad from the garden or only vegetarian menu. After the delicious lunch and the chocolates, we are ready to come back to the dock where is our boat and captain waiting for us to return to Isla Colon with nice experiences and memories.