The Tabasco Chocolate Tour is to an area with centuries if not millenia of experience with cacao and chocolate. This is the area that Hernando Cortez traveled and fought through on his way to meet Montezuma in the early 1500′s.

Fee for the trip, excluding airfare and alcoholic beverages is $2,130 single occupancy. The tour will run with five participants, but can have up to eight.  A nonrefundable deposit of $1,000 is due with sign-up.  Once 5 have signed up, I will confirm the tour and the balance of $1130 will be due.  
The van and the driver are being provided by the Secretait of Tourism of the State of Tabasco.  If you have any additional question or want to sign-up, you may call me (Steve DeVries) at 970.215.4848 or e-mail me at steve@devrieschocolate.

Tour Schedule

11/23 Friday  
Arrive in Villahermosa (VSA) by international flight. Take taxi to the Best Western Madan and check-in for the night

Cacep Drying Patio

11/24 Saturday
  Tour of Cacep Chocolate factory, from Roasting to Conching. Also tour tour of “greenhouse” and surrounding cacao plantation’
Tour of large cooperative Fermentation and Drying Facilities
Travel to Comalcalco and check into the Hotel Copacabana.

11/25 Sunday
  Tour of factory for Chocolate Brondo in Paraiso. Watch process from Roasting to Conching, Tour their cacao plantation and others on the area.
Return to Comalcalco and Hotel Copacabana

Finca Cholula –

Señor Riverol with grinders

11/26 Monday
  Tour of Finca Cholula, including their artesanal chocolate production, their small chocolate factory machinery production and surrounding cacao plantation.
- Tour the Zona Arqueologica nearby. The only Maya site with the pyramids built of fired brick, not quarried stone.
- Return to Comalcalco and tour Hacienda La Luz and Museo Wolter. Continue stay at Hotel Copacabana

Cacao Cooperative Fermentation Boxes

11/27 Tuesday
  Tour other cacao plantations and the fermenting and drying cooperative
- Travel to Villahermosa and check in to Best Western Madan. Attend the Tabasco Chocolate Festival at 1:30 for round table discussion and later talks. They run to 8:00, but anyone can return to the hotel earlier.
- The 2nd Tabasco Chocolate Festival is an international event with professional translators. Here is a machine translation to English by Alta Vista’s Babelfish http://tinyurl.com/Festival-in-English . Being a machine translation its a little rough but intelligible.
11/28 Wednesday
Morning tours of the Mercado Central and Maya museum/park La Venta. Attend Festival starting at 12:00 to 6:00
Stay at Best Western Madan

Don Tito and Monica at fermentation facility

11/29 Thursday  
Travel to Pichucalco and tour the haciendas and fermentary of the Jimenez family. Also visit the Pichucalco Cacao Cooperative
Stay the the Hotel La Selva

Palenque Pyramid

11/30 Friday  
Early start to Palenque, a huge and amazing Maya site. Google “Palenque, Chiapas, Maya” for more info and photos
. Five or six hours at Palenque and its museum. Return to Villahermosa and Best Western Madan.

12/1 Saturday  
Monday; Flights home.

 

Regards,

Steve DeVries

 

DeVries Chocolate

970.215.4848

steve@devrieschocolate.com