Gary gives a great tour. We saw a lot of various plants and trees while learning about the ecology of Panama and some history and challenges from large scale fruit production. Along the way we also saw a few sloths and black and green poison dart frogs. We could hear howler monkeys but never saw them. We also learned about cacao and chocolate production and got to sample raw cacao seeds and pure chocolate, along with some chocolate drinks. Would highly recommend!
So, from Bocas Town, you take a water taxi for about 25 minutes and you arrive at this small, thatched-roof dock in the middle of nowhere. You get off your boat, and you're greeted by the owner, Gary, who is a life-long environmental activist. Gary owns 30 acres of jungle on the mainland of Bocas del Toro province and uses it for a bunch of stuff, which includes growing chocolate commercially but also a lot of other things. This tour is Gary walking you around his property for about 3 hours (don't believe the listed time of 2 hours) showing you the various plants and animals that live there and telling you about his various projects. One of those projects is making chocolate, and you do get to see and taste cacao fruits and see how chocolate is made, but his other projects include raising endangered Almendro trees for reforestation projects and working with local native tribes to encourage the growing of native plants for food. We saw so much wildlife on the tour: at least four sloths, wild poison dart frogs, a bullet ant, and several birds. One group of people on our tour brought big binoculars with them and saw a bunch of exotic birds.
Gary provides a great tour of the farm! Super fun and informative. Really knowledgeable and keeps guests involved.
What a beautiful slice of heaven! Gary gave an amazing tour and keeps the group very much engaged. Not only does he know a lot about the plants, animals and vegetation in the area, is he extremely passionate about reforestation and in turn, providing safe habitats for endangered species. On top of all that, we learned how chocolate was made from the cocoa trees in his back yard! The chocolate was incredible but the experience was unmatched! Thanks for everything Gary!
