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Yesterday I had my first real opportunity to see Costa Rica outside of Curridabat when I went on a guided tour to a coffee plantation, a volcano and an amazing waterfall and animal park.
At 6 am I was picked up by a tour bus and we began the nearly two hour journey up to Doka Coffee Plantation, a plantation in Alajuela province where they grow and roast some of the best coffee in Costa Rica. Upon arriving we were given a traditional Costa Rican breakfast and an opportunity to try some of the coffee grown on site. There were the usual Italian blends and House blends, but at this particular plantation they also grow a blend of coffee called Peaberry Coffee. Peaberry beans are basically beans that didn't split into two upon maturation like normal coffee beans do. These "peaberries" grow on every coffee plant but only a handful of plantations around the world make the effort to separate these beans from the normal ones and roast them separately. I tried it with milk and no sugar at our guides recommendation and it was the best coffee I've ever tasted! I had to buy a couple of bags to bring home with me.
After being shown around the plantation and given an explanation of the processing we drove up to Poas Volcano. It was quite a sight, but for a girl from New Zealand I must say it was pretty similar to all our volanoes at home, just slightly foggier! We did get to do a rather decent hike up past the primary crater to the crater lake, being up that amongst the clouds like that was seriously amazing!
We then carried on to La Paz Waterfall Gardens and Animal Park. This was by far my highlight of the whole day! We got to wander through the animal park for a few hours before being served lunch. The animals in the park have all been rescued for various reasons, for example a number of the birds only had one leg and the jaguar had been rescued from being put down in an overcrowded jungle cat park in Nicaragua. We were able to get incredibly close to all of the animals, it felt nothing like a zoo, although obviously the cats were all kept in cages! After lunch we then walked through the waterfall gardens. The waterfalls themselves were again very similar to what we have in New Zealand, in fact almost identical to the Bridal Veil Falls, but being in the rainforest rather than NZ bush was an entirely different atmosphere and quite awe inspiring.
Having seen some of the amazing things Costa Rica has to offer I am completely re-invigorated about my trip and the reasons I am here.
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