Costa Rica is well knows for its coffee and cacao farms. If you visit the country, especially in the higher altitude areas like La Fortuna or Monteverde, you will see lots of coffee and cacao tours on offer. They are definitely a great way to learn a bit of what makes Costa Rican coffee and chocolate famous.

If you are looking for a more personal experience (and love chocolate like we do) I recommend going for a chocolate making workshop in a local lodge. After doing some research, our family decided to stay 3 nights at Finca La Amistad Cacao Lodge in Bijagua. For us, it ticked many boxes:

• it is a family owned, local, working cacao farm;
• they make local food over an open fire (many reviewers raved about it and we could see why), It was a eye opening experience to see how much effort it takes to make food from scratch, morning and evening. Kids were mesmerised by the process and the food tasted amazing;
• they offer a comprehensive farm tour (free if you are staying on site) plus a chocolate making workshop and
• they are in a short driving distance from Tenorio Volcano National Park, the home of the Rio Celeste and one of the most popular National Parks in Costa Rica.

If you are an active family and wonder what other activities you can do from the Cacao Lodge, there is horse riding, tubing on Rio Celeste and other nature hikes on offer. In addition to the farm tour and the half day visit to Tenorio Volcano National Park we also went for tubing on Rio Celeste river with Onca Tours. The 6 years old loved it.

Have a look at our full adventure at the Cacao Lodge here:

If you have any questions about the accommodation or visiting Tenorio Volcano National Park with kids, drop us a comment on the channel.

Safe travels.

CGK