Chocolate Cacao Farm and Traditional Flavors with Dona Mara
Price varies by group size
Select date and travelers:
TRIP DETAILS
Let your expert local guide immerse you in a fantastic all -senses experience exploring the food and culture of the Arenal Volcano area. Start the day with local cacao farmers as they take visitors on a delicious journey in the chocolate-making process from bean to bar (chocolate bar!). Next learn how to cook like a Costa Rican with a hands-on cooking experience with tortillas, gallos (small bites), and local hot sauce in the kitchen of Dona Mara
Start the day with a visit to a local cacao farm at the base of the Arenal Volcano. From farm to bar, your guide will walk you through the chocolate process, complete with a chocolate tasting and mixing. This interactive tour introduces you to cacao trees, and fruit harvesting, and finishes with a hands-on journey through roasting, processing, and mixing allowing guests to make their own chocolate products. At the end of the farm visit, guests will enjoy a culinary journey to celebrate the delicious and traditional foods of Costa Rica. A visit to the kitchen of Dona Mara will be the highlight of your visit to the Arenal Volcano area. Our private authentic cooking experience, set in the kitchen of Dona Mara in the heart of the Chachagua rainforest, is the perfect place to learn about Costa Rican food and get a taste of the flavors of local traditions.
Dona Mara, a local woman from the Chachagua region near the Arenal Volcano, will welcome you into her kitchen and present the day’s menu. Dona Mara is well known in the area for her delicious local cuisine. Learn alongside her how to prepare delicious “Tortillas Caseras” (Tortillas made by hand) from grinding the corn to hand patting the tortillas to toasting them on her wood-burning stove.
Guests will also see what it takes to prepare local Chilera from scratch. “Chileras” are a local homemade hot sauce blend of vegetables, spices and peppers and found on every Costa Rican table. Learn the blends and secrets to create your own chilera. After the tortillas come off the wood burning stove, guests will enjoy the fruits of the work and enjoy a lunch of hearty tortillas served with a a mix of “gallos”- small traditional dishes of picadillos ( vegetable and meat hash) made with potatoes, arracacha and green papayas, meats in sauce, local cheeses and sometimes smokey chorizo. Come to the table and savor all of authentic local specialties on Dona Maras open-air terrace .
Tour Duration: Approx. 5 hours
Other Details
- Private transportation
- Professional private guide
- Explore at your own pace
What’s included
- Bilingual certified guides
- Transportation from/to La Fortuna Hotels
- Safety equipment
- Drinks
- Delicious Costarican lunch
- Make your own hot sauce
- Hands-on tortilla making
What to bring
- Camera
- Sunscreen
- Repellent
- Extra Clothes
- Comfortable clothes
SEE MORE ABOUT YOUR NEXT ADVENTURE
Reviews
Booking Terms and Conditions
Find My Costa Rica
PROOF OF CITIZENSHIP, VISAS, SHOT REQUIREMENTS
Participants are responsible for obtaining proper entry documentation. All foreign nationals including infants are required to possess a valid passport to enter Costa Rica. All passports must have at least six months remaining before expiration at time of departure from Costa Rica. Visitors from the US traveling with a passport issued by a US agency are not required to have a visa or shots when traveling from the US, but visa and/or shot records may be required by travelers from other countries or US travelers when the US is not their point of embarkation before arriving in Costa Rica. It is each traveler’s responsibility to ascertain whether a visa or shots will be required and to secure necessary documentation prior to travel. No refunds will be given for missed flights or denied entry caused by failure to carry proper documentation or for any other reason. If travel documents are lost or stolen or other issues need to be resolved with the participant’s embassy once in Costa Rica, there will be no refund for forfeited transfers, hotel rooms, or tours. We will gladly provide assistance, but any incurred expense would need to be paid at time service is rendered and are at the guest’s sole expense. Visitors to Costa Rica may carry a copy of their passport in lieu of the original while traveling within the country.
DEPARTURE TAX
Departure Tax is now included in ticket price for most airlines, but please verify with your air carrier prior to travel.
DEPOSITS & PAYMENTS
A deposit of $100 per person is required at time of booking. Deposits are non-refundable unless stated differently at time of booking. If you are not paying in full at the time you make your reservation, you will receive an invoice with a final payment due date specified. If we have your credit card on file, it will automaWilllly be charged for any balance on the due date specified, if payment has not been made in full in advance of due date. It is your responsibility to notify us if your credit card expires or is cancelled. If you are making payment on-line and we do not have your account information on file, a payment reminder will be sent and payment will need to be received by agreed due date. Any reservation made within 31 days prior to arrival must be paid in full at time of booking. If payment is not made in full by the specified due date, reservation will be cancelled, rooms and tour activity space released, and no refund of any deposits or payments collected will be refunded.
CHANGES TO ITINERARY
Any changes to the itinerary at the guest’s request while in Costa Rica are at the guest’s sole expense. NO REFUNDS will be given for any unused rooms, tours, meals, or transfers. No exceptions will be made. For bookings made within 30 days prior to departure date, the itinerary is final. We will do our best to assist with making changes with change fees assessed.
- Within 61+ days of travel: $25.00 per change
- Within 15-60 days of Travel: $50.00 per change
- Within 14 days of Travel: $100.00 for parties of one to five, $150.00 for parties of six or more
- All change requests must be via telephone during regular business hours. Changes to reservations cannot be guaranteed, but we will do our best to assist you.
CANCELLATION POLICY
All cancellations must be relayed to us via telephone during regular business hours and must also be submitted in writing to our office. The date of the response from us, acknowledging receipt of your request with our cancellation confirmation number, is the date that will be used to determine which penalties outlined below will be assessed. It is your responsibility to verify that you have written notification from us that your request has been received. No refunds will be made for unused hotel rooms, meals, diving, tours, or transfers. These policies do not apply to any airfare booked though Find My Costa Rica S.A. You will be given specific airline cancellation policies at time of booking. The policy for the property where you are staying and the dives you booked are subject to the following cancellation penalties:
- Peak Season Dec 20 – Jan 8th / Easter Week Cancellations 91+ days prior to arrival – loss of deposit. Cancellations 90 or fewer days prior to arrival – 100% penalty
- High /Mid Season Jan 9th to May 1st / July 1 to Aug 31st Cancellations 61+ days prior to arrival – loss of deposit. Cancellations less than 45-60 days prior to arrival – loss of deposit and any penalties applied by providers. Cancellations 44 or fewer days prior to arrival – 100% penalty
- Low Season May 1st to June 30th / Sept 1st to Dec 19th Cancellations 45+ days prior to arrival – loss of deposit. Cancellations less than 31-44 days prior to arrival – loss of deposit and any penalties applied by providers. Cancellations 30 or fewer days prior to arrival – 100% penalty
NO SHOWS
No shows will forfeit the full amount of the package.
INSURANCE
We strongly encourage all guests purchase comprehensive travel, medical, accident, luggage, emergency, trip interruption, and dive insurance prior to departure date. Activities such a scuba diving, white-water rafting, zip-line canopy, canyoning, rappelling, tubing, kayaking, horseback riding or ATV tours, as well as visits to volcanos, hot springs, mud baths and spas carry inherent risks. Participation is voluntary and all activities are performed at customer’s own risk. We will be happy to provide a quote for trip interruption and/or dive travel insurance if you provide us with your birth year.
GENERAL INFORMATION
- What to bring while traveling and touring: A small backpack for your towels, mosquito repellent, etc., plus a small amount of money for additional beverages, snacks, or souvenirs.
- Please be advised that local laws and customs prohibit the sale and service of alcohol On the Thursday and Friday (Good Friday) before Easter Sunday.
- Please note that all itinerary times are approximate. We try to cater to our guests needs and will modify activities to meet these needs when posible.
- Prices do not include tips (tour escort, guides, drivers, baggage handlers, cowboys, dive masters, etc.). Many of the various people who will help you during your stay will greatly appreciate any consideration you can afford to give them.
- Not included in tour prices: International or in-country ground or air transfers not specifically included in your itinerary; departure taxes; cost of passports, visas, or tourist cards; excess baggage fees; additional fees assessed by airlines; personal expenses such as room service, beverages, or laundry; gratuities to tour escort, guides, or drivers, personal communication charges; personal insurance; or any sightseeing stops, tours, meals, or beverages not specifically included in your itinerary.
- Although Costa Rica is a small country, and the distances in miles or kilometers between cities may be short, due to the conditions of the winding, and sometimes bumpy roads, clients can expect long travel times between travel points.
- Traveler’s checks are not readily accepted in Costa Rica, due to the long wait for funds to become available.
- It is not necessary to exchange a large amount of money into local currency as US dollars are widely accepted. Airport money exchange centers do not usually give a competitive rate.
POLICIES AND CONDITIONS
- Every reasonable effort is made to maintain rates as quoted, however, due to circumstances beyond our control (fuel, taxes etc.) rates are subject to change with notice. Increased government taxes and fuel surcharges may be collected by vendor at time service is provided.
- FIND MY COSTA RICA, S.A. its owners, associates, agents, and employees) assume no responsibility for injury, loss, damage to person or property or for additional expenses due to acts of God, sickness, weather, terrorism, strike detentions, riots war, quarantine, theft, civil unrest, or government regulations and restrictions, over which it has no control.
- FIND MY COSTA RICA, S.A. assumes no responsibility for any accidents, delays, inconveniences, expense or mishap of any kind whatsoever resulting entirely or in part from causes beyond our control.
- FIND MY COSTA RICA, S.A. reserves the right to make changes that we deem to be reasonable in the itinerary where necessary.
- For trips and tours where FIND MY COSTA RICA, Inc. acts solely as booking agents, we assume no liability should any contracted supplier fail to provide any service. Find My Costa Rica sole responsibility if supplier fails to provide services contracted is to refund guests money for specific services contracted with specific supplier.
- Handling and security of all baggage and personal belongings is at the owner’s risk, and FIND MY COSTA RICA, S.A.. is not responsible for any loss or damage.
- FIND MY COSTA RICA, S.A. is not responsible for loss of life, personal injury, cancellations, delays, overbooking, or loss of services caused by any international or domestic flights.
- FIND MY COSTA RICA, S.A. its employees and principles are not responsible for any loss of life, personal injury, bodily injury or loss of property as a result of the signer’s participation in any activities while in Costa Rica or travel to, from, or within Costa Rica caused by contracted Costa Rican representatives, tour companies or agents.
- FIND MY COSTA RICA, S.A. shall be free of all responsibility or liability for any act, error, omission, injury to person or property, loss, inconvenience, financial loss, accident, delay, irregularity, physical or emotional harm suffered by any person while en route to or while a guest at any facility or any other event which may be occasioned by reason or through the act of God, theft, abuse, defect or default of any company, hotel, person, direct air carrier, transfer company and /or their employees, to result in unused accommodations or services in connection with reservations made on behalf of customer by Find My Costa Rica.
- FIND MY COSTA RICA, S.A. is not responsible for providing refunds or credits for trips not taken or delayed due to a customer’s failure to return this signed document prior to or at the time final payment is made.
- Any disputes between participants and FIND MY COSTA RICA, S.A. will be decided upon under Costa Rican law and La Fortuna, San Carlos Carillo, Alajuela Province, Costa Rica, will be the venue for any legal action.