KWC in Costa Rica: Volcanoes and Coffee
During the 2012 Winter Term (January 3-19), Dr. Arcea Zapata de Aston is teaching a travel class called Language, Culture and Diversity in Costa Rica. Three students are taking the class and are sending updates and photos for the KWC blog. If you missed any entries, you can read a full account of the trip on the Costa Rica page above. You can also see a full photo gallery from the trip online (click “recent albums” to see day-by-day photos).
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Day Two:
Today was an early morning. Undoubtedly, we all slept well — we hardly got any sleep on the road or in the air yesterday.
We all agreed to meet at 7 a.m. for breakfast. The Costa Rican breakfast is surprisingly nutrition based. Laid out across the counter were pitchers of farm fresh milk (we later discovered it gets delivered everyday), fresh fruit juice and hot Costa Rican coffee, along with cut-up papaya, pineapple and watermelon. Also offered to us was a plate of eggs, rice and beans (called gallo pinto) with a piece of cheese.
Breakfast!
El Volcan Poas was to be our first attraction. Emmanuel, our guide for the entire trip, mentioned that it might be a bit chilly on El Volcan Poas. Who would have thought it would be cold around a volcano? Needless to say, I wish I would have known how cold it would be 8,000 feet above sea level! But, I prayed that the Lord would keep me and I wouldn’t become too cold, and that’s the way it worked out.
In front of a volcano!
The view from the top was absolutely surreal; we were eye to eye with clouds! Below was a turquoise acidic stew of water, ash and sulfur. As we continued our tour of the Poas Volcano, we came across a lagoon made solely from rain deposit yet heated by the volcano itself. That was breathtaking to see.
The Lagoon
Later, we visited a coffee plantation, which was very interesting and cool. We got to learn about the process of how a seed starts by hanging off a tree – yes, a tree. There are misconceptions that coffee is a plant of some sort, but it’s actually more like a tree with tiny little seeds (coffee beans) hanging off.
At the coffee plantation
The process of making coffee and comparing the plant to the finished product is quite interesting. Apparently, they pick only the reddest seeds to be exported, making those their primary exports. The Costa Ricans drink secondary and tertiary coffee seeds. A cool surprise was to try the coffee beans in their primary form and the “meat” around the bean. You’d never guess that it’s sweet! Verrrryyyy delicious …
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I am so glad you guys are having a blast!
Awesome pictures! So glad you guys had fun and got there and back safely :)