Dec 29 – Costa Rica 2008

Coffee Lesson on the Road

Dec 29 Tagged with: coffee, flora, 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

Dec 29 Tagged with: flora, hike, volcano

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.

Two Toed Sloth

Dec 29 Tagged with: fauna, On the road, sloth

Dec 292008

Heading back down the mountain there was a crowd of people standing in the road staring up into a tree – a Costa Rican slothjam (kind of like a bearjam in Yellowstone). The green you see in her fur is moss – yes, they’re that slow.

Paul taught us a lot about sloth-life, including that the mating ritual involves a lot of napping, and they can have 150 different species of insects living in their coats.

Two Toed Sloth