Our Thursday Outting in Costa Rica

Yesterday was a long and filled day. We woke up at 5am and left our house at 6am to head to Volcano Poas. On our way to the volcano we were able to stop at one of Costa Rica's finest coffee plantations Britt Coffee Plantation. It was so beautiful to see. Most of you know my family is in the coffee business. They have visited Costa Rica multiple times for business. So I have seen all of the pictures before however it was so great to witness this in person. Coffee grows on a plant. This plant produces the coffee bean it looks like a berry. When the berry is ripe it turns red and then is picked by hand. The berry is then opened and the green coffee bean is removed. The green bean is shipped to roasters all over the world. This is what my parents do they ship green coffee to roasters in the US and in other parts of the world. The first picture is coffee growing. The next picture you will see a large plant called a plantain (they grow fruit similar to bananas) and coffee in the background. Interesting fact that I didn't know they spread plantains around the coffee plantation to help with bugs so that they will eat the plantains and not the coffee plants.

Once we got to the volcano it was a hike to get to the top of it. This volcano is 8,200 feet above sea level. It is surrounded by the beautiful rain forests. In order to see this volcano we had to leave early due to all of the smoke from the crater and the clouds that normally cover the area by 10am. I will show pictures and the blue part is the lake of sulfuric acid. So neat!

After the volcano we stopped at a yummie little restaurant called Poas Lodge. It over looks the mountains & is newly remodeled. This was a splendid hidden treasure that our driver Alan found. We all were craving American food. So we got our burger & fries fix! Mmm Mmm Mmm!

After our delicious meal we were finally off to La Paz Waterfall Gardens! Get ready to see some amazing pictures of waterfalls, rain forests and wildlife. What an unforgettable experience! (Sorry that the pictures are so small I cannot figure out how to get them larger.)