Small Group Guayaquil og Cocoa Farm Full-Day Tour

What a great way to dive into some Ecuadorian culture with a local guide. We really felt like we were getting an insiders look at a place we had very little understanding of. Our guide, Allyson, was a true ambassador for Guayaquil and Ecuador. The cacao farm and chocolate experience was first rate as was the lunch. An amazing experience from start to finish.

The tour was wonderful and informative. This was the one thing my son wanted to do on the trip and he keeps saying it was his favorite part of our week in Ecuador and the Galapagos. Mario was knowledge and extremely accommodating to what we needed. My son got hot and he found a place with air conditioning so he could cool down. We were supposed to do the city walking tour but my son wanted to spend more time at the cacao farm and he had no issues spending as much time as we wanted at the farm. During the drive back my son fell asleep so instead of the walking tour of Guayaquil he changed it to a driving tour so I could still see the sights of the city. No complaints at all everything was wonderful.

Highly recommend Mario! Mario is an amazing and very knowledgeable tour guide. He explained all the details of the cocoa farm process. The farm is lovely to visit. We made our own chocolate from scratch, roasting the beans and peeling them, then grinding to a paste in a hand grinder. We tasted unique drinks. The lunch was delightful, so tasty with a beautiful presentation. We made our own chocolate bars with different fixings as desired. The chocolate is excellent! We met the cocoa farm owners and were able to purchase chocolate bars at a very reasonable price. Heading back to Guayaquil, Mario showed us the highlights of a church, a beautiful street, and the iguana park. Mario shared the history of the city and was able to answer all our questions about life in Ecuador. We spent a full day from 10 am to 6pm with Mario. Thank you Mario, we love your country!

Mario was very thorough, knowledgeable and thoughtful on this tour. We easily made it up 444 steps for the view was nice.

My wife and I did a full day Guayaquil tour with Antonio Escobar. We started off with an excursion not too far out of the city in a cocoa farm where we see a range of local fruits and get to experience harvesting, roasting, grinding and tempering of cocoa to its finish product. We were guided by Rosa with Antonio translating along the way. We tasted the fruit at each process and it was an eye opener. Lunch at the farm was yummy. Antonio then brought us around the city, cathedral, iguana park, Malecon and the old districts. He gave great descriptions and historical information of the region and showed us a side of the city that we would not have experienced otherwise by ourselves. Throughout the tour Antonio made us feel safe and well looked after. Thank you for this wonderful experience of your city.

Our guide was Antonio and he was really good about answering my additional questions about Ecuador that was not directly related to the tour. We had a great time at the farm and as others have stated the provided lunch was amazing. My child had a lot of fun making his own chocolate and seeing the many steps associated with it. The tour of Guayaquil was sufficient in letting us get a feel of the city and we felt safe the entire time with our guide telling us where we could and couldn’t go. Highly recommend this tour to anyone visiting Guayaquil!

Our guide was Allyson. She picked us up from the hotel and we drove to Finca Cumanda. Rody explained everything there about cocoa growing and the many other fruits on the farm. Roasting the cocoa beans and producing your own chocolate was a great experience. Lunch at the farm was excellent. Afterwards, there was a city tour in Guayaquil. Highly recommended!

We arrived a day early for our Galapagos tour so signed up for the all day cocoa plantation and city tour. This was a great choice and we had a wonderful day with our guide, Allyson, and driver Darwin. The plantation tour was fascinating and fun as we followed the process of the cocoa pod from taking it off the tree to making our souvenir candy bars. It was hands on, too, which engaged our interest. Our host at the plantation was so enthusiastic and knowledgeable- his family owns it- and we were treated to a delicious three course meal before we returned to town. Cautious travelers will be reassured to know that they used only filtered water for cooking and in the homemade lemonade. Allyson’s enthusiasm did not falter in the late afternoon walking tour of the city. She is a wealth of information and fun to be with. This was a fabulous day and some of the best money we’ve spent on tours.

This was a terrific tour. I was traveling with my adult son and we had only one day in Guayaquil before heading to the Galapagos. So glad we selected this particular tour. Mario picked us up at our hotel and we headed to the cocoa farm where we learned about all the many plants on the farm, made our own chocolate, and enjoyed a delicious lunch. Then, as an added benefit, Mario took us to several spots in Guayaquil and we learned some of the town’s history. Mario was a great guide - extremely knowledgeable and he shared his love for the area with us.

Mario does a wonderful tour! We were picked up promptly at our hotel. While driving to the cacao farm, Mario talked about the plan for the day; the Guayaquil area - neighborhoods, getting around the city, sightseeing, restaurants, local industries, and life in the city for its 3M inhabitants; Ecuador in general - its history, the regions within the country, seasons, primary industries and exports. After arriving at the cacao farm, Rody, the owner, showed us around the farm and had us taste several fruits grown with the cacao trees. The fruits add various aromas to the cacao. Some of the fruits we recognized, others were new to us. All were delicious. We then went through the chocolate-making process which was a lot of fun. Afterward, we had a delightful lunch and then returned to the city. We stopped at Parque Seminario and the Catedral Metropoltana de Guayaquil; went up to Mirador Bellavista; and toured the cemetery. It was a very full, lovely day with Mario. I highly recommend this tour.