Today we had an early morning start because we booked a tour to a coffee plantation, Poás Volcano, and the La Paz Waterfalls and Gardens. Our scheduled pick-up time was 6:00 am at the hotel down the hill from our condo so we were out the door by 5:40 am! We waited, and waited, and waited some more. After two phone calls to the tour company we were told the pick up time was actually 6:40 am and they would arrive soon! Not a happy start, but things got better.
We stopped and picked up 16 more people before we actually got going so it was a full tour bus! The last passenger was a young woman from France whom we “adopted”. Auriane was very sweet and we enjoyed visiting with her and having her as part of our clan for the day. Our tour guide, Max, gave us lots of background information about coffee production in Costa Rica on our way to the first stop at Doka Coffee Plantation. There are eight coffee growing regions in Costa Rica and it has been a cash crop for over 160 years. There are about 44,000 families that are involved in coffee production here. HOWEVER, most of the coffee pickers – 200,000 come from Nicaragua!
The tour included learning about production, harvesting, and sales. It’s funny that this is the SAME coffee plantation we toured six years ago when were in Costa Rica! It also included a yummy breakfast with rice and beans, eggs, fruit, tortillas, and coffee and juice. We took Ann and Gary’s word for how good the coffee is since we don’t drink it!After the plantation tour we were off to the Poás Volcano. We had about a half mile hike from the parking lot to the overlook.
As we arrived, the clouds starting rolling in and covered it!
Max told us to wait for it …. and the clouds lifted and we were treated to the beautiful views.
Póas Volcano National Park was established in 1955. It is active and has one of the largest craters in the world and last erupted in April of 2017 spewing gas, ash and rocks which damaged some of the buildings and trails. The government closed the park for almost 18 months!
We did have a little traffic jam on the way to our next stop. We waited and they cows made their way down the road!
Next stop was the La Paz Waterfalls and Gardens. It includes a nature park with exhibits of a hummingbird garden, butterflies, snakes, frogs, and an animal sanctuary for sloths, monkeys, and big cats. We spent time enjoying the gardens before lunch. After a HUGE buffet lunch at La Paz Waterfalls our tour continued. We walked into the rainforest and followed the three kilometers of paved trails that wrap around five amazing waterfalls.
There were 750 steps down, and about 250 steps UP! Platforms along the trail allowed us the luxury of viewing the waterfalls from above, below, and center while being misted by its spray. All of the falls are on the La Paz River.
By the time we finished with the tour, we were exhausted! Back on our tour bus, we dropped off all the other passengers and arrived back to our condo about 6:00 pm. It was a busy day.
We are having a very quiet evening – we even opted to have cereal for dinner rather than going out. Tomorrow we pick up the rental car and will tour on our own.
1 comment:
I bet you were tired. Love hearing about your adventures.
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