We left San Jose today to visit other parts of Costa Rica. First we stopped by the Volcan Poas, an active volcano near San Jose in Alajuela. It was beautiful, and we were able to hike to a lagoon not too far from the crater. I had never had the opportunity to see an active volcano so it was a special occasion. The national park industry in Costa Rica is clearly well developed with their infrastructure, which I will continue to mention, as the hike to the crater and lagoon was made easy with paved sidewalks and pleasant little convenient stores with restrooms to explore before and after the hike.
Later in the afternoon we visited the privately-owned Doka coffee plantation where we learned about the process of how the making of coffee occurs. Apparently this plantation employees 400 migrant workers a season for picking the coffee cherries and during the season, they provide housing, benefits, and a kindergarten for children. I was impressed with the infrastructure and treatment of their workers, but was curious as to other less endowed plantations and how amiable they are to their staff. The capital used to process and select the cherries for packaging was very impressive - clearly this plantation has been running for awhile as their machinery was savvy and their staff well-informed of the coffee-making. I was impressed with the tour guide as he was very open with his answers in regards to whatever questions I asked, whereas other tours I have been on have provided less-than-open answers to my questions, particularly to sensitive questions like labor and production.
We continued on to our first home-stay sight in San Marcos de Cutris. I was very excited about this - an opportunity to improve my Spanish and see the region. Of course it was humid and full of bugs, but it only enhanced the experience; made it more real in a sense. This community essentially thrives on subsistence farming and agricultural trade among communities as this is a very desolate area. The locals said that relatively 300 people live in San Marcos which to me is a significant number.
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