I took the Hacienda Experience tour with Swiss Travel through Norwegian out of Puerto Limon. The tour is long, 8 hours, and four hours are on a bus. We had Minor as our tour guide and he was knowledgeable and informative. He pointed out sights along the way and gave us an overview of the hacienda we’d be visiting. A second bus followed with Percy as their guide.
The hacienda, Sitio de Mata, is striking. It’s set in the mountains and overlooks a hydroelectric dam with a lake behind it.The plants and the landscaping are striking. There’s also a beautiful church, a small house to tour, a stone labyrinth, and a gorgeous gazebo overlooking the valley.
We learned about macadamia growing and harvesting, coffee growing and production, and sugar cane processing. We watched a demonstration by hacienda staff where cane was turned into granular cane sugar, and where a chocolate macadamia nut confection was made. Samples were passed to all the attendees. The hacienda had stadium seating for all three demonstrations so everyone could see the process. The staff, Minor and Percy were all fantastic and were entertaining as well as informative.
A buffet lunch was included and was served in a large shelter overlooking the valley, dam and lake. Lunch consisted of pasta salad, steamed zucchini and carrots, white rice with macadamia nuts, black beans, stewed chicken, candied plantains, coffee and a cold sugar cane drink. Water and soda were available for purchase. All the food was excellent! There is a store where you can buy products, souvenirs and crafts. Restrooms were clean and of sufficient number to handle our two busloads of people.
A couple things keep this from being a five star review. First, several people stepped on biting ant nests. I’d think this would be a warning given at the start. Second, we had 30 minutes to wait for our table to be called to reach the buffet, eat, visit the hacienda store and use the restrooms. I’d have loved to be able to enjoy my lunch without needing to wolf it down. The antics during the presentation were fun and enjoyable. But I’d much rather have 15-20 minutes carved from that so we could enjoy the food, especially in such a striking setting.