La maison du Cacao, Guadeloupe

This was a spirit of the moment visit. We had no camera. Here comes a ”phonto” post. Let’s go! Cacao house (museum)

Watch out for some funny surprise near the entrance. There were sand crabs crossing the road. They’re shy, but active 😉 Spot them in their barrow or in their tracks.

This was a walk around the garden / botanic garden-ish type of “museum”. It was mostly outdoor, so this was not an ideal rainy day activity.

What I do love about this place was that all exhibition boards had both French and English! (YEY!!!) I felt a lot more informed after the visit. The history and botany of the plant was totally intriguing.

Who knew that cacao is such a delicate plant? There’s anything from 5 to 6000 flowers per trunk. BUT only 1% of the flowers will become a cacao fruit. These trees are just not productive at all!The highlight of the visit was their interactive presentation.It’s like a 25min thing? The staff spoke about the history and various interesting facts about cacao… all in French. From the reaction of the kids, this was not made for kids at all. 5min in and they were positively displaying radicalised behaviour e.g. rolling on the floor, war crying in some dialect unknown to mankind (and parent alike).

Cacao, the fruit

Fermented, roasted cacao

Cacao grided

Cacao grinded and dried

The presentation entailed tasting of almost all their products!!! The tasting list was:

1. Raw Cacao fruit
2. Dried Cacao fruit
3. Fermented Cacao fruit
4. Cacao butter (food)
5. Hot cacao, the drink
6. Hot chocolate, the drink
7. Cacao liquor
8. Ginger chocolate
9. Chilli chocolate
10. Cacao butter (skincare)

*I may have missed something, but you get the idea 😉

Hot chocolate = cacao powder + milk + sugar

Tips:

• Do not visit on a rainy day (if you have a choice).
• Tropical strength mosquito repellent.
• Shop at the end / after the tasting session.
• If you’ll read everything (slow surf like me :P), this is an 75min-90min visit.
• Their cacao liquor was… industrial strength?
• Try their ginger chocolate bar!!!

My battery died before the end of the tour. It’s a sign that I am so not meant to be a blogger. LOL

Where was I?

La Maison du Cacao
Grande Plaine
97116 Pointe Noire
Guadeloupe

Closed on Sunday

7 EUR per adult

http://www.maisonducacao.fr/ **like most things on the island… this site was in French only. Again, who cares when there’s fab quality chocolate? Any language will do.

Camera: Sony Z3+

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