A trip to the Green Acres Chocolate Farm is unlike any other chocolate tour, I love to take my guests to this mainland jewel which soon becomes clear as we pull up in the boat to this lush hillside rainforest and botanical wonderland.
Green Acres is set in a remote corner of the Bocas del Toro archipelago’s mainland overlooking Dolphin Bay where we often see Atlantic bottlenose dolphins on the peaceful ride in.
The farm is owned and run by the charismatic and passion-driven Gary Mitchell who bought the property in 2019 and has implemented his own wildlife conservation initiatives, unique botanical style and a delightful character that can’t help but make everyone quickly at ease and soon laughing and joking together like old friends while sharing in a love for nature. Before he came to Bocas del Toro, he already had an NGO dedicated to conservation, called Planet Rehab which has been Gary’s passion and life’s work which he brought with him to Bocas and has woven it beautifully with a chocolate farm, something he wasn’t expecting in the least and now he doesn’t know how it could be any other way.
With howler monkeys bellowing from the distant treetops, sloths hanging from the mangroves and toucans, trogons and black-chested jays flying between the mature fruiting trees of this protected forest, the tour is very much a tropical nature experience as Gary takes us meandering through his dazzling botanical refuge and explains about flora and fauna and our important connections to all this abundant life that grows around us.
As we walk along in the shade of giant fig, almendros and wild nutmeg trees towering above us, Gary explains how these cacao trees can grow and produce within the shade of the rainforest thus maintaining the cycling of nutrients through this rich, healthy ecosystem benefiting both the cacao and the rainforest trees alike. He goes on to explain the fascinating process of growing chocolate in the rainforest and how the insects, squirrels and monkeys play an important part in the life history of these trees that hold those precious, antioxidant-rich seeds that have made for a worldwide addiction.
Meanwhile anytime we see a sloth, toucan, howler monkey, frog or a really fun bird, we pause and take in the wonderful wildlife of such stunningly beautifuk, mature rainforest.
Be sure you bring binoculars or your guide brings a scope (I’d be happy to, message me for tour details!) if you’re to get some beautifully detailed, closeup looks of these creatures that make up this lowland tropical rainforest ecosystem.
Throughout the tour guests are also surprised by a diverse array of herpetofauna as well: golden-headed geckos, Talamanca Rocket frogs and the stunning green-and-black poison dart frogs that steal the show every time as they hop among the cacao pod compost. Gleaming the most outrageous shade of emerald green, marked in a smattering of black blotches such that each individual frog has its own unique “fingerprint” these mostly terrestrial frogs hop along, searching for ants, seemingly oblivious to the excitement they cause. To maintain their toxicity, poison dart frogs feed upon ants that give them their poison which they excrete from glands when they feel threatened.
Gary leads through his lush rainforest and down to the waterfront to a tiny processing shed. With a drying platform and fermentation shed on either side. The “chocolate factory” or Casita Cacao, is a very small scale operation and brilliantly macgyvered by original owner Dave Cerutti using household tools, PVC piping and small motors to process the dried cacao beans into nibs and then ground and melted into bars to be sold to tour groups like us who come visit the farm.
When Gary arrived to Green Acres in 2019, he already was well invested in his non-profit Planet Rehab, an organization dedicated to wildlife and environmental conservation and education. In just a few short years he has interwoven this chocolate farm experience as an opportunity to impart what he has learned about how humans can help care for and support our dwindling ecosystems. With initiatives like planting endangered native tree species essential to the healthy functioning rainforest ecosystems and working with the indigenous Ngöbe communities to help promote healthy lifestyles, Gary has made quite the impact in the Bocas del Toro community in a short time.
The sharpest eyes are Gary’s workers, especially Ocius a local Ngäbe, so be sure to keep close to him!
By the end of the half-day tour, we have tasted, enjoyed and appreciated the rainforest and the decadence of Bocas del Toro’s own gold: 100% cacao. Oh and maybe a delicious shot Green Acres’ famous chocolate rum as we cheers, “salud!”, to a beautiful day of learning and love for nature and its biodiverse bounty.
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