CR – Saturday March 26, 2011 Day 15

Day 15

We we’re excited when we woke up to see that the weather looked good outside because this meant that we’d have a clear view of the Poas Volcano. We woke early so that we could meet our guide. We met her at Burger King. Yes that’s right, Burger King. There is one street in Heredia that has practically every fast food restaurant you can think of.

Anyway, our guide was a very nice lady. We were prepared to practice a lot of spanish because while she understands a lot of english, she doesn’t speak much.

On the way, we again saw lots and lots of dogs but no cats. The guide explained that that is a correct observation. You hardly ever see cats in Costa Rica. She wasn’t sure why this is the case.

As we climbed the hill toward Poas, we passed by lots of farms where strawberries are grown all year long. There are also a lot of coffee fields, dairy milk farms and sugar cane fields along this particular route.

There was a horrible earthquake about two years ago and many people died. Hence, there are numerous signs memorializing those who died in the quake and signs of well wishes to the deceased.

As we ascended the mountain, the temperature began to drop. We began to notice very different flora, pine trees, etc. the closer we got to the volcano. We also began to smell sulfur when we arrived at the volcano proper. The trek on foot to the volcanic crater was about a 20 minute walk. We arrived just in time to see down into the crater, because 10 minutes later, the clouds began to roll in. We were at an altitude of approximately 2400 feet. Next, we walked another 30 minutes up a very steep path to view a gorgeous lagoon, taking “Rambo stops” along the way to rest! We threw out the gum in our mouths because we didn’t want to use one more muscle than we needed to use as we climbed. It was worth the climb when we arrived. We took tons of pictures, some of which will be on Facebook and we’ll post the rest on our website.

On our way down, a large group of Chinese diplomats had arrived to view the volcano and so there were a lot of security police in the area.

We discovered that Poas is located on the world map as one of the volcanos associated with the Pacific ring of fire (noting active volcanos). There was a small museum and gift shop at Poas where we purchased family gifts.

Our guide told us an interesting story about a cluster of white flowers (Flor Etaba) that the Costa Rican people like to eat (mentioned also in an earlier part of this blog.) We were told that the neighboring Nicaraguan people are horrified that people eat this flower that they call the “cemetery flower or flower of death”. It is often planted in cemeteries in Nicaragua and so they can’t imagine eating it.

We descended down the mountain and stopped at a favorite lunch spot of our guide, El Recreo where we all ordered the “dish of the day.” As usual, the food was delicious.

From there, we headed to a coffee plantation where they grow the world renown Britt coffee. This plantation is approximately 110 years old and over 3 generations have maintained the 450 acres. When we arrived, they served coffee in the outdoor restaurant while we waited for the tour to begin. We went on the tour with a young, guide who explained the complicated process of growing coffee. The coffee bushes can last up to 100 years, but as they age, the beans are of a lesser quality. Hence, at this plantation, they only use the plants for 25 years. There is a law in CR that only Aravica coffee beans can be grown, as a way to protect one of the key Costa Rican resources. The government realized a long time ago how important it was to maintain the quality of their coffee if they wanted to be competitive in the global marketplace.

From germination to harvest, it takes four years for a coffee plant to bear fruit, then another three months for the preparation to ship process. I have a new respect for a good cup of coffee. De-cafe takes even longer to process.

At the end of the tour, we went to the tasting area and were given as much coffee to drink as we liked. For the first time, Lee tasted the dark chocolate covered coffee beans and loved them. So, a purchase was made, along with a bag of Peaberry coffee (their premium coffee), and other trinkets for friends.

We arrived home around 3:30 today, just as it began to rain. We were exhausted, but pleased with the day of fun and delighted in a two hour siesta before dinner time.

The day was a great success do in large part to our guide.

Maybe R&R tomorrow……

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