Puriscal, Costa Rica
6/2/19
We met to leave for the coffee tour at 8am. The farm was about an hour and a half away from home, give or take. When we arrived, the road close to the farm was a little broken and the driver didn’t want to drive any further, so we walked to the farm. When we arrived, our tour guide greeted us, introduced the farm that was named “Doña Rosa Finca Integral” and told us the plan for the day (he gave the entire tour in Spanish, which was good comprehension practice). First, he gave an explanation of the medicinal plants that they grow at the farm. He said that a lot of people that live in rural areas turn to medicinal plants before turning to pharmaceuticals, which I think is really cool. He let us taste and smell a lot of the plants, like cinnamon, citronella, mint, lemongrass, etc. He also explained different medicinal uses for them. There is even a plant that insulin is derived from that grows here. People make a tea with it instead of injecting insulin to control/prevent diabetes. I kept thinking, why is the United States so focused on pharmaceuticals when natural and effective alternatives exist? The next thing we did was look at the animals. There were goats, chickens, and a horse. We fed them the skin of the fruit that we had eaten earlier. The man explained that the farm doesn’t waste anything and that everything functions in the cycle of life. For example, they use the manure of the goats for the plants they grow, and they use the plant to feed the animals. I also feel like the US could use this logic. I was impressed with how many different organic foods were grown here. He let us try a lot of them along the way. There was even a fruit called “miracle fruit” that basically functions to make everything taste sweet after you eat it. He said that people with diabetes use this to reduce their sugar intake.
Again, why don’t we have this in the US and why haven’t I heard of it? Amazing. The next thing we did was walk up to an area where the tour guide taught us about the basic process of making sugar in older days. He explained it was Costa Rica’s main source of economy before coffee. We tried the actual sugar cane plant, which was really sweet. Then we took turns turning this machine type thing that basically juices the plant into a liquid. They would then cook it and mold it to make sugar. We drank some of the juice with lime, it was basically pure sugar water with a touch of root taste, but was really good. After that, we ate lunch and took a short break before the coffee section of the tour. The lunch was very good,
chicken, mashed potatoes, plantains, and salad. In the coffee section, the tour guide explained how the coffee plant is grown and the entire production process. It was pretty interesting, but more difficult to understand in Spanish because I wasn’t familiar with the vocabulary. We then grinded some coffee and each got to take home a small bag, along with whatever fruit we wanted. We then got ready to leave. I was debating whether or not to pay extra for the coffee tour, but I’m glad I did because it was a new and interesting experience.