Adventures in Pura Vida: Alta Mira Day 2

7-31-11

On Sunday we woke up to a bright clear morning and had another amazing meal at the cantina before heading off to tour the coffee production center of the community with Carlos. We toured several shade grown coffee fields, which were mixed in with organic banana and saw their processing, drying and toasting center to the packaging. The whole beneficio (processing center) is owned by the community, allowing them to sell finished products, something very different from the traditional coffee growing process where they only sold the raw cherries to the plants. In the community each grower is assured of the price of his coffee and paid 50% in advance of the sale, so that he has money to invest in his next crop. The coffee is then toasted by the artisanal roasters in the community who ensure quality of the finished product and bag it under their brand name. Let me tell you, that finished product is the best coffee I have ever tasted.

After the coffee tour we piled into the back of Carlos’s truck to drive up to the entrance to Parque La Amistad. Karen and I were exploradoras extraordinaire and we sat up on the edges with the wind in our hair as we rode up the mountain. We headed into the park for our two hour tour with Carlos (local farmer and naturalist, the community and park are very symbiotic). It was a mostly uphill hike but very worth it as Carlos stopped to show us several unique plants and birds we passed. We were able to see both primary and secondary forest during our walk and there is a distance difference between the two. In the primary forest its life layered upon life and almost no light comes through. In the secondary forests was much lighter and everything looked like it was covered with Kudzu since vines are some of the pioneer species. The secondary forest is also an important food source for the animals and birds that live in the rainforest. The rainforest was gorgeous and unique, but also really hard to walk in since even on the path you have to fight your way through because there is so much competition for space and light plus everything is wet. Due to this there were several slips and slids on our way out, Karen bravely went first to test the path and yell back down the line where to step. By this process we made it out unscathed, and just in time because the rain started right after we got back out! This was only partly a good thing because we had come in an open truck, and would need to go back down the same way. Sill high off the adrenaline from our successful hike we decided to keep up our explorer personas and take the truck back down in the rain. We all climbed in the back of the truck with our various weather protection strategies, umbrellas, rain jackets and ponchos. However, nothing really keeps you dry during the rain in a rainforest. Even with Carlos speeding down the road, we were all soaked by the time we got to the lower elevation where it wasn’t raining. I would like to add that my strategy of using an umbrella while squatting in the corner or the truck was highly successful as I was only half drenched, with mostly dry shoes. Profesora gave us each a lollypop as a reward for our explorer bravery before we ran back up to the cabin to change. I had somehow not planned for rain (yes after more than a month in CR…) and only had one pair of pants, so I ended up wearing my PJs for the rest of the day. We packed up our things and headed down to the headquarters to buy our some of their local products before we left.

After saying goodbye to everyone and thanking them for their hospitality we piled back into the van and headed back to San Jose. On the way we passed the pineapple fields again that have come to define this region, and compared them to the example of local economic growth and diversification that we had just experienced. We also stopped for ice cream at pop’s again (I think profesora has a sweet tooth!) , the only problem was that it was in a mall and we all looked like a mess. Ticos dress up to go to the mall, so you could just feel the judging of the lazy US tourists as we quickly got our ice cream and hid back in the car… aside from this one negative this was an amazing trip which I will definitely use as a case study when I go back to App this fall!