After another day at sea sailing ever more southwards, we arrived early morning in Costa Rica next to our sister ship again. After a quick breakfast our tour bus picked us up right on the dock and off we went on our excursion to see a coffee plantation.
October is part of the rainy season so it was overcast most of the day but still warm and humid. The coach wound its way through villages and countryside all the while climbing in to the mountains. Unfortunately due to recent rain, part of the road had been washed away and a temporary Bailley bridge had been put in place but it was only allowing one way traffic so one direction went for 20 minutes and then the other for 20 minutes. An hour and a half later, we finally got out of the jam and not long after we were at the plantation.
We were given samples of coffee to try - dark roast, medium roast, light roast - all very strong as they were issued black, and then we set off on the tour. Our guide explained how the coffee bushes are raised from seed, planted out and pruned every 3 years. The coffee harvest begins at the end of October and all the "cherries" are picked by hand. Machines can't do it because there may be ripe and unripe on the same bush. About 600 pickers are employed during the harvest.
We saw how the cofee cherries are processed to get rid of the outer husk and then dried. Some are exported at this point as they keep better. We then moved on to see how the roasting process works and it is at this point that the difference is made - dark roast (27 mins), medium roast (25 mins) and light roast (23 mins). The coffee is then bagged and sold.
After a quick vist to the gift shop, we returned to the bus and continued on for our lunch stop and a bit more shopping time, before returning to the ship - on a different road thankfully from the one we had taken before. This was actually a bonus because it allowed us to see more of this small country.
A country which seems very new to tourism and is totally un-comercialised - although we were told that over on its other coast, the Caribbean side, its very different. A country where very poor people live right next to obviously much more wealthy neighbours. A country which seems relatively unorganised with people living in little more than shacks in some areas and yet which generates 80% of its energy from hydro-electric with more from solar panels and wind generators. Even the countryside was confusing - at the same time being utterly familiar with rolling hills and deciduous trees and the next minute looking totally exotic as palms and bananas took over! Even the people were conflicting. Unlike Mexico where the majority of the population look Mexican with dark eyes, dark skin and black hair, Costa Ricans have no such immediately identifying features because they have mixed with many other races. As we drove through the towns we saw people who were dark skinned, light skinned, blonde, dark, tall, short - all variations.
We set sail just after 7pm but being so near to the equator, it had been dark since about 5.30pm so there wasn't much to see after we had left the pier. Strange to think that the next time we set foot on dry land will be the end of the cruise at Fort Lauderdale in a few days time. We've still to pass through the Panama Canal and after that our last port of call is Cartagena in Columbia but we haven't arranged an excursion for there so until we dock in Florida we're at sea really.
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