It's getting very close to Christmas, so this will be one of the last entries about our cruise. Maybe THE last. I've got other things on my mind, like getting the house clean and making sure there are enough presents for some cute little kids who are showing up soon. And we've gotta heat up the sun room so little tootsies and fingers don't freeze. Ironic, isn't it, that a "sun room" is the coldest place in the house this time of year.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After Panama, we went to Costa Rica. Costa Ricans boast about the "pura vida", or good life, of their country. Probably not true for everything, but the countryside is green, lush, and beautiful. Our shore excursion was a trip to a coffee plantation. I will admit I didn't have high expectations for this venture into the mountains of Costa Rica, but it turned out to be one of the best experiences of the trip. I could write pages about it, but instead will be brief and use pictures.
Our guide at the coffee plantation gave us coffee beans to taste. However, at this stage--red and ripe to be picked--the flavor is from the syrupy sugar coating between the red skin and the pair of beans inside (twins, like E and O!). Pesticides aren't generally needed because insects are happy to eat the sugary coating and don't chomp through to the beans. Or so we were told.
The plants aren't very tall--not more than four feet in height, but since they are planted on the mountainside on sloping, terraced soil they appear taller. The ripe beans look like cranberries or big holly berries. Plants are picked once a year, and only ripe berries are useful for coffee production, so there may be several rounds of picking over a few weeks. The information that surprised me the most is that one coffee plant produces enough beans to make one pound of coffee per year. Considering that the beans are picked by hand, that the plants grow on steep mountainsides in conditions that make the work labor intensive, and that pickers are paid by quantity of ripe berries picked, it's hard to complain about the price of a cup of coffee.
The background of this photo gives an idea about what the terracing looks like. News to me was that coffee plants aren't native to Central or South America. They were imported from Africa to plant as a cash crop. Like grapes for wine, some coffee plants grow better in certain soil and in specific weather conditions. Like wine tasters with wines, coffee tasters can tell where the coffee beans that made the cup of coffee were grown by the fragrance and taste of the coffee. We think Miles would be good at that job when he grows up. He's got a keen sense of smell and is always curious about our coffee. What do you think, Miles?
A visual aid that was situated among the coffee plants
After beans are picked, they go to a gizmo that removes the outer skin and sugary layer. It smells like a brewery near the machine because the sugary syrup ferments quickly.
Here's what the beans look like after being peeled and washed.
Next stop is a big cement pad out int he sunshine, where the beans are spread out to dry. We were there after the harvest was over, but when the operation is at full capacity, the entire area is filled with the raw beans. They are spread out with a rake-like tool, by hand, and turned over often so they will dry.
Dad/Larry/Paco took his turn spreading the drying beans.
Next stop is the roaster. The roasting building smelled soooo good!
The man in the background operates the roaster and can tell by the
appearance and the fragrance of the beans if they are roasted to the
right level for the taste of the coffee.
Near the coffee roasting building is a small, traditional old Costa Rican home (no picture--sorry). It's like a small cabin that isn't completely enclosed. Inside, our guide showed us how coffee is made a cup at a time using a wooden tripod that supports a cloth bag made of cotton or cheesecloth. Hot water is poured onto coarsely ground coffee beans and drip coffee comes through. Our guide and another employee of the plantation both said they make their coffee that way every day and prefer it to coffee made in an electric coffee pot. Despite the rustic and authentic manner of making coffee, the beans were kept in a Tupperware container, as you can see in the background!
Angie, I thought about Brit often while we were on this tour. She'd probably enjoy learning where the coffee she roasts and serves comes from!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Acapulco and Cabo San Lucas are yet to come, and I may continue at some point with photos from those places, too. And then there are some miscellaneous photos that would be fun to write about. I guess the trip isn't over yet.
Speaking of not being over yet, Larry/Dad/Paco and I both are dreaming about the trip nearly every night. Not travelogue sorts of dreams, but rather dreams that take place on the Island Princess. Every night, the Island Princess, but don't really have to do with the trip itself. What started out as a two-week tour has turned into a month of travel instead. Wait-- that has a familar sound to it... Gilligan and the captain... the professor and Mary Ann, the millionaire and his wife... a three-hour tour....
