Situated between Martinique and St Vincent, St. Lucia abounds in natural beauty. The terrain is ruggedly beautiful in the southwest, centered around Soufriere. It’s a gorgeously scenic region of old sugar and cacao plantations, mountain-rimmed beaches most easily reached from the sea, and displays St. Lucia’s volcanic origins through the magnificent Pitons.
Part of St. Lucia’s agricultural crop includes the production of chocolate. You can see how chocolate is produced and even learn how to create your own bar of chocolate on this unique tour.
The tour is offered by the Boucan Hotel and restaurant, part of British cocoa grower Hotel Chocolat. Boucan is a lovely choice for lodging, set up in the hills. If you are staying here, your guide will meet you at the main reception building after your breakfast for the start of your tour. Otherwise your driver will pick you up from your hotel at an agreed upon time, depending on your selected tour time and distance from your hotel to Boucan.
The tour is offered in two parts and lasts a total of 2 ½ hours. Its starting times are 9 a.m. on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, and 1:00 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
Cocoa was once Saint Lucia’s most important export, with the number one export now bananas. Boucan’s owners have helped reinvigorate the cacao industry on the island through their Engaged Ethics Program that includes more than 170 cocoa growers, providing support and investment in their success.
You can experience the full chocolate experience courtesy of the hotel’s Tree to Bar Experience, offered as two distinct tours in which guides take you from cacao tree flower to grown pod to finished bar, ready to eat.
The Tree to Bean portion shows you how the cacao evolves to a mature pod (we were able to pick one on tour), then shows you the production process, and visits the seedling nursery, in which you can graft your own branch onto a cacao plant, and affix your name.
The Bean to Bar tour includes everyone’s favorite experience, making your own chocolate bar. You are given the raw ingredients, along with a warm mortar in which to melt them. Add a lot of elbow grease as you use the pestle to pound and stir, stir, stir until you have a smooth consistency, then pour into the bar-shaped plastic molds. If staying on site, the staff puts your creation on ice so that later in the day you can enjoy your hand-made treat.
If you selected the morning tour, consider lunch at Boucan’s fine restaurant with scenic deck, or for afternoon participants, a drink at its bar. Boucan’s restaurant uses chocolate infused recipes, integrating cocoa into the full dining experience, as befits its being a working cacao plantation. The restaurant even provides cocoa grinders next to the salt and pepper shakers.
For guests staying at other properties, your driver will be ready to escort you back after your chocolate adventure.
