After leaving Volcan Poas, there were only 3 of us continuing with an all-day tour: Gary, from Washington D.C., Dona from Germany, and me.
From the volcano we headed back down the mountain to the Doka Coffee Plantation. Unfortunately, I have no pictures because the camera battery went dead after I took the picture of Botos Lagoon. Gary, however, is returning to Washington D.C. tomorrow and said he would email me the pictures he took of the rest of the day. It will probably take a couple of weeks for him to sort through his pictures and send them to me, so for now, I'll try to give a visual description of the plantation. I'll upload the pictures when I get them.
You're probably wondering why I went to a coffee plantation. Well, that's a valid question. The choice was a 1/2 day tour to Volcan Poas or an all-day tour to the volcano, coffee plantation, and the towns of Grecia and Sarchi. Since my excursion was free and I wanted to see something outside of San Jose, I chose the all-day tour. Back to my story -
We turned off the main road leading down the mountain onto a narrow road, that seemed to go on forever and get narrower until it eventually became a dirt road. We passed lots of coffee fields, run-down shacks and then eventually came to a beautiful plantation that consisted of 12,000 acres of coffee, a processing plant, and a restaurant. As we entered the area, a large sign read: Doka Coffee Plantation, Home of the Best Coffee in the World. The flowers and trees lining the road were absolutely beautiful. We saw the largest hydrangea flowers I've ever seen, and bird of paradise everywhere. There were orange trees with ripe fruit, lemon trees with fruit, a mango tree, and banana trees mixed in with the coffee plants to keep the wind from damaging the flowers.
And rows and rows of arabica coffee:
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Pictures from: http://www.bijlmakers.com/fruits/coffee.htm |
Doka was the first coffee plantation in Costa Rica. It was started in 1949 and is owned by the Vargas family. Coffee plants live and produce up to 80 years. The best coffee is between 3 and 5 years. The Doka Plantation cuts down its coffee bushes when they are 20 years old. Harvesting occurs from November through January each year.They farm 12,000 acres and 70% of their coffee is sold to Starbucks. Starbucks pays $50 for each 50 kilo bag.
We toured a small portion of the field and then learned about how the coffee is processed. First, it is washed, then sorted, then fermented for a couple of days. Next, it is placed in the sun for 5 days to dry out. Then it is roasted and bagged. I learned that the amount of time spent roasting the coffee is what determines the flavor. For example, French roast takes less time in the roaster than an Italian roast.
Samples were given. I heard they were good, but I don't know since I don't drink coffee.
After the tour we ate a complimentary lunch in their open air restaurant. A lovely breeze was blowing while we ate a traditional Costa Rican casado: chicken stir fried with onions and peppers, various mixed salads made of native vegetables, fried plaintains, fresh pineapple juice, and yes! You guessed it: black beans and rice! Afterwards, we had cajeta, a cake made of coconut, molasses and vanilla.
Today was the first day in all the time I've been in Costa Rica that I actually felt like I was on vacation. It was a lovely interlude from the hustle and bustle of San Jose's traffic jams, my daily classes, the graffitti, and the dirty streets.
Tomorrow I am going to Monteverde Cloud Forest to see the wildlife preserves, the forest and butterfly farm.
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