Costa Rica's version of Hershey Park

I must begin this post with the disclaimer that I cannot be held accountable for any misrepresentation of facts from this tour... between swatting bugs away from me, searching for wildlife, and consuming far too much chocolate... bits of the presentation may have been distorted along the way :) 

We arrived at Tirimbina Nature Reserve after the Dole plantation and a quick lunch. The hike through the forest began as a sidewalk, then onto the longest suspension bridge in Costa Rica (800 ft) over the Sarapiqui River, then finally through primary forest on wooden planks and brick pathways. 

The presentation on chocolate was based on an attempt to recreate the indigenous ways in which cacao was grown and harvested and later processed into roasted cacao beans, ground into a powder, made into "the drink of the gods" (or hot chocolate...), into a chocolate syrup, and finally solid chocolates... each of which we got to try and they were pretty delicious!! 

Jamie about to crack open a cacao fruit using the table

At each step of the process they explained what new innovations or explorations by outsiders made the next product possible. He also preached about what REAL chocolate is and how dark chocolate is the best for you and you can eat a whole bunch and not get fat... sounds good to me!!!!