Coffee Plantation Tour
Since the end of the 19th century coffee has been a major part of the economy of Costa Rica. Since 1990 coffee prices have fallen drastically all over the world, and tourism has come to replace coffee as the largest segment of the Costa Rican economy. However, coffee farming still has a major impact on the culture of Costa Rica, and to experience real native Costa Rican life everyone should at least visit at least one coffee farm.
A separate company-Costa Rica Study Tours-operates the Monteverde coffee tour with the permission of the Cooperativa Santa Elena. The tour begins in Monteverde at the newly remodeled coffee shop belonging to the Cooperativa Santa Elena, owners of the brand café Monteverde.
To see the coffee farms everyone hops into a van for the drive to nearby San Luis. San Luis is one of the five villages of Monteverde, but the low altitude makes it seem like a different world entirely. The drive down to San Luis is steep; the road that is nicknamed ‘la trocha’ is dramatic and spectacular. If it is a clear day the van will stop and allow you to take a few pictures of the Gulf of Nicoya and the waterfall of San Luis. San Luis is at an altitude
Shortly you arrive at the coffee farm – ‘Finca la Bella’. The coffee farm-Finca la Bella-is a communal farm divided into twenty-three parcels each owned by twenty-three local families. The families were Each family was given the land free of charge to farm their own coffee and in return they contribute ten percent to the Cooperativa coope.
The tour begins in the lush coffee fields, which in this case are made more beautiful by the shade trees, and ; at this point in the tour, many different aspects of coffee cultivation are discussed. Firstly, all the coffee grown here is arabica strain (shade grown) rather than the robusta (sun grown) coffee that formerly dominated the industry in Costa Rica. This type of coffee offers several advantages; it is more environmentally friendly and higher quality coffee. (**Why is it more environmentally friendly??** Because it uses less chemicals and pesticides, and other reasons-find out.) The only drawback disadvantage is the arabica plants produce fewer beans than the robusta variety.
Not Students $25
Students $20
Guide, transportation 7:30am/1:30pm
Coffee can only be grown at certain heights, generally between 800 and 1400 meters in altitude, which explains why coffee is grown in San Luis and not in other zones of Monteverde. It requires moderate temperatures and good soil.
One Response to “Coffee Plantation Tour”
I am in Quepos for a month. Hpow far is it to Monteverde? Can you suggest how I get there? How much for a group tour? Do you have somewhere we can sleep over next Saturday night?