Whole party (two 30yr olds, two 70yr olds) loved this tour! There were some steep parts that were a little difficult for my 'mother in law', but they were extremely accommodating to her mobility needs (in the past five years, broken femur and both hips replaced), and she was able to do like 98% of the tour with flying colors.
Our guide, Lisa, was excellent! She was extremely knowledgeable and enthusiastic - you could really tell that she loved and was forever fascinated by the flora of the island, all of it's uses, and the history of their origins. Most of the tour focused on 'canoe' plants that were not endemic to the island but brought by the first Polynesian settlers, and how they used them, and what we still use them for. I loved having the connection to history and the ancient peoples of the area, and of course the garden was stunning.
It is on the rain-forest-y side of the island, so expect there to be some drizzles(+) during the tour. I find that the little bits of rain we had were refreshing, and just enhanced the beauty around us. The layout of the terrain showed lovely variations, and there were little streams and hills and valleys to enjoy. We also tasted fruits and honey they made on site.
Of course you want to hear about the chocolate tasting - well, it was delightful and interesting and conscientious and delicious. The only thing I think I would've liked was to taste the actual cacao fruit, but I get that it's too precious of a commodity with the production size they're at to do that. All the chocolates we tasted were fair trade, varied from different regions, were mostly single origin (if I remember correctly) and had the same ingredients. What was mind blowing, other than the delectable flavors, was that they all had very different flavors; terroir man... Their in house chocolate was f-ing amazing and it's criminal that you can only get it as part of this tour. Reason enough to make certain this is on your itinerary!
