flora

Coffee Lesson on the Road

Dec 292008

Coffee Plantations

The tour officially kicked off this morning with our guide, Paul, and bus driver, Marcos.

Today’s primary adventure was a trip to the Poas Volcano. The hour long bus ride wound across the valley through three different cities, then up the volcano to 8800 feet, about a mile above the valley floor. Along the way we passed through miles and miles of coffee plantations. We learned a lot about this beautiful crop. For example:

All coffee grown in Costa Rica for export must be Arabica.
In the ‘30’s (?) the government gave away land and coffee plants to families that wanted to start a farm. The goal was to create a major coffee industry, but to have it be owned by many citizens, not by a few large landholders or companies.
The best coffee is grown between 4000 and 6500 feet elevation and it loves volcanic soil, making these slopes of Costa Rica ideal for the crop.
Costa Rica grades their coffee in three levels. Level 1 is the finest and commands the highest price. Level 3 is not allowed to be exported, and is generally what the Costa Rican population drinks. Level 2 is also exported, but is a lower grade than level 1. Much of Level 2 goes to Columbia and Brazil, where it is mixed with their lower grade beans to bring the overall quality up, and thus the price.

Poas Volcano

Costa Rica '08, Dec 29 '08

Dec 292008

Poas Volcano is in a cloud forest, so the last half hour or so of the drive is through dense mist.

Once at the volcano we were given the choice of a half mile walk up a fairly flat road from the Visitors’ Center to the crater, or a more interesting hike through the cloud forest to get there. Eric, Kevin and I opted for the hike, and Sarah’s wisdom lead her up the gentler path.

The three guys, having chosen the path less traveled, ended up on a pretty rigorous two mile hike at 8800 feet of altitude, with no acclimating beforehand. Not knowing that half the hike was a pretty steep and steady climb, I blasted out of the gate – regretting that strategy about half a mile later. We got a nice view of a smaller crater up higher, but the main crater was buried in a cloud when we finally arrived there.

In the meantime, Sarah had had a jolly walk to the main crater, seen it in its splendor before the clouds covered it, gave up waiting for us and strolled back to the bus.

Botos Lagoon. This is the small crater up higher than the main one. The view lasted about 2 minutes though a hole in the clouds.

Here’s what the main crater looked like: a cloud.

Pictures from our hike through the cloud forest:

Fungus

Flowers. Sorry, I don’t know what type they are.

Sombrilla de Pobre, or “poor man’s umbrella,” is the common name for this Costa Rican plant – for obvious reasons.

A Long Day of Travel – Including Some In The Air

Costa Rica '08, Dec 30 '08

Dec 302008

Today was four hours of riding in the bus, broken up with a number in interesting stops. We left San Jose at 7:00am, traveling east through the Braulio Carrillo National Park, over the Continental Divide to the Caribbean Sea.

Our first stop was in the Braulio Carrillo National Forest for an aerial tram tour of the rain forest.

Before the tram ride, we had a guided nature walk through the bottom of the forest. At the head of the trail there was a three toed sloth and her baby which we observed for a bit before heading into the forest.

On the nature trail

Leaf Cutter Ant Crossing.

We learned quite a bit about the biodiversity of the region, including the difference between a vine and an air root. Vines grow up from the ground, air roots come down from the plants in the trees. Tarzan swung on air roots, not vines.

“Monkey Vine”

Coolest insect: a bullet ant. My photo didn’t come out very well, but they’re about an inch and a half long and have an almost paralyzing bite. I didn’t get close enough for the shot. Duh.

These fungi are about 3/4″ across. Check out the tiny red flies on them.

Don’t eat it.

The cable-suspended tram travels a one and a half hour round trip through all three levels of the canopy. You travel close to the ground, then through the middle canopy, and then for most of the return trip you travel at or above the top of the canopy. It was incredible seeing the complexity of the environment, and trying to grasp the interwoven relationships of all the creatures and flora that inhabited it.

Heading out into the rain forest at the lower level.

The trip back over the canopy.

Lunch And Butterfly Garden

Costa Rica '08, Dec 30 '08

Dec 302008

Today was Marcos’ birthday. He’s our bus driver, and according to our guide Paul, “The second best driver in Costa Rica. The first best is in jail.” Many times Marcos proved his skill at maneuvering the huge Mercedes bus.

Happy Birthday, Marcos!

I wish I wrote down the name of the place we stopped for lunch, the food was great plus they had a nice butterfly garden out back. It’s near the town of Guapiles, and it’s exactly here: N 10.20316667, W 83.77471000.

Butterfly

Morphos wing detail

The plant is called “Labios de Puta”, or in more polite English: “Hot Lips.” It makes more sense before the blue berries appear.

Passion Flower

Bananas, Bananas, Bananas

Costa Rica '08, Dec 30 '08

Dec 302008

Around 2pm we stopped at a Del Monte banana plantation and learned about the entire banana pipeline, from growing through picking to sorting and packing.

While on the tree, the bananas are encased in blue plastic bags. The bags protect the bananas from predators and damage, and also keep them from being sprayed by the insecticides.

Wild bananas (not at the plantation)

Tame bananas (at the plantation)

Once cut from the trees, they are hauled in trains of about 30 bunches suspended from an overhead cable system. The guys who do the pulling are among the more highly paid workers, and when you watch them do this grueling work you understand why.

Hauling bananas

Once at the processing area, the ‘hands’ are separated from the main stalk and floated down a pool to workers who cut them into smaller bunches and sort them for quality. Level 1 bananas are exported to the US and Europe, Level 2 bananas (which are smaller and may have small scars) are sold for baby food or pig food, and Level 3 bananas are discarded. You can buy a banana in Costa Rica for a few cents.

Banana staging

The ‘hands’ are cut off the stalk and thrown into a water stream, where they’re cleaned as they float to the next step.

These women cut the hands down to smaller bunches and sort them. It was amazing how fast they were.

Next to the processing area a few vendors were selling miscellaneous items, including fresh coconuts. I would guess this little guy got his share.

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