Week Four in Costa Rica

I'll be honest- the first four weeks were incredibly busy, hectic, with little free time (hence the super late posts to my blog). Despite those hectic weeks, we were able to get out of Santa Ana on the weekends for a couple of trips. Our first one included a coffee tour at Doka Estate. Our tour guide had shown up late, so we rushed through the tour, but I still learned a lot.

Coffee can be processed in a couple different ways. One way is the dry method, where the whole fruit is left to dry and it is the oldest of these methods. Second is the wet method, where the fruit that covers the coffee seed is taken off before drying. Although less common, some parts of the world also have a semi-dry method, where the fruit covering is removed like in the wet method, but the sticky fruit residue dries along with the seed.

After eating breakfast on the coffee farm, we headed up to Parque Nacional de Volcán Poas. The view is gorgeous and I got lucky with a clear day. Although you can't see from the picture, off to the left we were able to see Volcán Arenal in the distant. It's very windy and cold up there- it's amazing how fast the weather changes as you travel across Costa Rica. In addition, you can only stay near the pit for a recommended 20 minutes due to acid rain and fog that the gases of the volcano produce. 

The oxcarts are an important symbol of Costa Rica and you can see them almost everywhere you go. They used to be used for transporting coffee from the Central Valley to the coast, but are now just pretty decorations to the city square. They host beautiful designs and each region of Costa Rica had designs that were specific to them. Contests used to be held for artists until the demand for the oxcart decreased.

We took a trip down the Río de Sarapiquí to check out some wildlife. We saw monkeys, turtles, crocodiles, and bats. When I noticed that many of the trees had blue plastic bags hanging in them, I asked the tour guide if it was some kind of marking on certain trees. I was totally wrong and I was surprised by his answer. When the river floods, it flows into the banana plantations, where the bunches of bananas are covered in blue plastic to protect them from insects. It was sad to see that beautiful landscape being polluted.

To end on a positive note, I was given a beautiful gift by a Tico on this trip. We shared a bus with two Costa Ricans from Cartago, one who was an artist. While showing our group his drawings, he offered to give us one. I'd say it is my best memory from that weekend.

Can't wait to share some more of my memories with you! Up next is our trip to Monteverde, San José, and Manuel Antonio. Monteverde is near where I'll be living the last two months of my time here- in a town called San Luis. Stay tuned for more pictures and updates!

Stay Beautiful, 

Sadie