A $26,000 Trip to Discover 'The Untold Story of Chocolate'

Image: Ecuador's cloudforest offers explorative treasures within. (photo iStock / Getty Images Plus / Kalistratova)
Image: Ecuador's cloudforest offers explorative treasures within. (photo iStock / Getty Images Plus / Kalistratova)
Alex Temblador
by Alex Temblador
Last updated: 8:00 PM ET, Tue March 12, 2019

Luxury chocolate brand To'ak and travel company Brown + Hudson are working together to create a luxury chocolate expedition that will take travelers into the heart of Ecuador where chocolate was first created over 5,300 years ago.

Called, "Heart of Darkness: The Untold Story of Chocolate," travelers will have an opportunity to experience chocolate in a whole new-albeit pricey-way.

The trip is set up for only 12 guests and will occur from June 22-29. The tour costs $25,968 and will include luxe accommodations at Illa Experience hotel, a forest lodge called Casa Simpson and an exclusive ocean retreat, Las Tanusas.

Travelers will be able to dive into To'ak's cacao plantation and the Jama-Coaque Forest Reserve on a private tour with To'ak founder, Jerry Toth. They'll also see the archeological site associated with cacao's earliest origins.

In addition to exploring Ecuador's cloud forest and eating plenty of chocolate, travelers will enjoy private tastings at a market, a culinary masterclass with Chef Carlos Gallardo and a foraging and masterclass with Rodrigo Pacheco from Netflix's The Final Table.

All meals and tastings will be included, as well as land transportation and the private jet flight from Quito to Loja and Loja to Manta and the helicopter flight from Las Tanusas to Valle Piedra de Plata to Jama-Coaque Reserve to Las Tanusas.

To'ak co-founders Jerry Toth said of the trip: "We wanted to turn a chocolate lover's dream into a reality. Only in partnership with Brown + Hudson were we able to curate a truly unique journey for guests to discover Ecuador's rich chocolate heritage and witness our conservation efforts of the ancient nacional cacao variety firsthand."

The reservation deadline is April 12 and all bookings can be made at brownandhudson.com.


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