Remember the film Chocolat, and how chocolate transformed a cold, inhibited French town into a loving, friendly community?

Chocolate has that power.

Prized by the Mayas, Aztecs and Inkas, and formerly kept only for royalty in Europe, chocolate was once considered so valuable that cacao beans were used for currency.

In Costa Rica, indigenous tribes used cacao beans for currency for thousands of years up until the 1930s. Costa Rica’s Bribri indigenous tribe reveres the cacao bean as sacred.

You can learn about cacao’s long history in Costa Rica and its importance in the Bribri indigenous culture on the Bribri Chocolate Tour near Puerto Viejo, on Costa Rica’s southern Caribbean Coast. The tour, easily booked through Le Caméléon Hotel, takes you to the fascinating Bribri Indigenous Reserve in the foothills of the Talamanca Mountains.

The Bribri are one of Costa Rica’s few remaining indigenous tribes that are alive and thriving. For generations, the Bribri have cultivated cacao trees and their precious fruit, using cacao seeds and chocolate for rituals, food and also medicinal remedies. On the tour, you will hear many stories about the tribe’s relationship with cacao.

Cacao originated in the Americas; growing and harvesting cacao was a major industry in Costa Rica before the introduction of coffee in the late 1700s. Unfortunately, fungus blight swept through Costa Rica’s cacao plantations in 1979, drastically reducing production by 95%. Cacao and organic chocolate production are now making a big comeback.

On the Bribri Chocolate Tour, you will visit the home of Doña Petronila, known as “the Chocolate House”, where the Bribri women will teach you about how they produce their organic chocolate using the tribe’s ancient methods. You’ll get to try things like fresh dried cacao beans and homemade chocolate. At the end, you can purchase selections like chocolate infused with nutmeg, cinnamon, spicy chili pepper, black pepper, mint, coffee, or vanilla, to take home and savor.

Puerto Viejo hotels
The place to stay when visiting Puerto Viejo, on the southern Caribbean Coast, is Hotel Le Caméléon. The vibrant Costa Rica boutique hotel fronts the dazzling, turquoise Caribbean Sea and golden sand of Playa Cocles – one of the area’s most beautiful beaches. Hip, modern and upscale, Le Caméléon features ultra-chic rooms, beautiful tropical architecture, and lush jungle gardens that create an ambience of intimate privacy. The elegant Le Numu Restaurant & Bar is one of the area’s top restaurants, and the newly remodeled La Sula Sea Lounge beach club is the place to hang out by the shore, meet friends for a cool drink or a light meal.

Article by Shannon Farley
Shannon Farley is a travel blog writer for Enchanting Costa Rica and Profimercadeo in San Jose, Costa Rica.