Unlike the Costa Rican coffee that is rich, bold and
bursting with flavor, our fist taste of Costa Rica was dark, bitter and strong
-- fortunately, our first taste didn’t linger. Arriving mid-afternoon, we endured
endless waiting lines for sim cards and car rental so were delayed setting off
to our hotel. This meant that we encountered rush hour combined with Christmas
shoppers at a nearby shopping complex. Through a combination of our inability
to properly use the US GPS and map errors, our 19 kilometer drive to our hotel
took us 2 ¼ hours. As a rule, streets in Costa Rica don’t have names, or
numbers, so using the GPS is a challenge. A road that should have taken us to
the hotel is now closed and we ended up at a locked fence only a few meters
from the hotel but couldn’t find a way around it. We finally arrived 45 minutes
later exhausted and frustrated!
Our introduction didn’t dampen our enthusiasm
for going out the next day to begin our adventures so we were off early the
next morning (hoping to avoid traffic) to visit a butterfly farm. Unlike in the
US, there were no signs so it was difficult to find. On arriving, we had our
own personal guide and since it was a gorgeous sunny morning, over a thousand
butterflies were flying around the garden. We were lucky to be able to observe
a rare opening of a giant moth while we were there. We also got to watch a
couple of caterpillars begin their development of the chrysalis as well as others
just emerging and trying to dry their wings for flight.
Later, our tour of the Britt Coffee Plantation included a wonderful
buffet lunch of rice and beans along with other typical dishes before learning
all of the ins and outs of growing, processing and making coffee. Our tour
ended with a coffee tasting in the shop with not only coffee but also an
addition of samples of chocolate covered coffee beans so it was the best of
both worlds.
Other adventures included a walk through a rain forest where
we spotted viper snakes (very poisonous), toucans, a sloth and a white-faced
monkey as well as hundreds of plants and orchids. We then took a long aerial
tram through the rain forest at two different levels – mid-way to the top and
top of the trees. We also visited a botanical orchid garden with hundreds of
varieties of plants and a tropical bird reserve. There were long drives up
mountains on twisting, winding roads in thick, dense clouds where you couldn’t
see anything beyond a few feet in front of you, other times it was clear and
you could see coffee plantations planted right up against the road. We also
stumbled upon a microbrewery/pub, supposedly the first one in Costa Rica. Of
course we had to stop and taste their product – yummy!
Christmas Eve was spent in an Italian restaurant with the
most fabulous food and wine ever! I know, not local, but it was the only one
open. Fortunately, it was also one of the best in San Jose. Christmas day was
quiet and then our last day was spent at another coffee plantation with a
totally different process than the first one. We had another coffee tasting –
tough life! Did you know that Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts as well as other
well-known coffee places purchase the beans from Costa Rica and roast them in
the US?
My mornings (every morning) started with the famous Costa
Rican Gallo Pinto (translated as spotted rooster) – a dish of rice and beans.
This is a staple in Costa Rica and I could absolutely live on it! Rice and
beans is quite common for any meal and I could have had it 3 times a day,
although I didn’t. I didn’t manage to get the recipe while there but now have 5
recipes that I’m going to experiment with. I’m hoping to recreate the wonderful
breakfast experience of actually being in Costa Rica.
Cost Rica is a breathtakingly beautiful country filled with
wonderfully warm, welcoming and pleasant people. If you haven’t visited, I’d
highly recommend it!
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