Costa Rica – Part 4 - Fair Trade Organic Coffee

I have written previously about our visit to the cloud forest and our river cruise, both experiences reawakening a sense of awe and respect for nature. Perhaps the most inspiring experience for me came during our tour of a fair trade organic coffee co-operative in Hojancha which, in my mind, epitomized the concept of sustainable development. Our guide on the Duria coffee tour, a lively lady who works on the co-op, explained to us some of the requirements to have coffee designated fair-trade and organic. These rules range from ensuring that the children of the farmers who belong to the co-op are going to school and are not working during school time to limits on the hours per day they may work during non-school time. As well, environmental standards are set extremely high. For example, at one time they used plastic bags to encase the coffee seedlings; that had to end because of their environmental impact. Of course, pesticides are out, making the growing process more labour-intensive but ultimately more profitable for the growers, one of the reasons we pay more for organic products. The processing plant itself is a wonder to behold, a kind of closed system that wastes nothing and produces debris that is ultimately used both to fuel the roasters and to produce rich compost that is given to the members freely. Even the lagoon water of the tailings, once the sediment sets, is reused for irrigation.

The visit was a real education for me; even though we have long bought fair trade coffee, up to that point I really had only a foggy notion of what it meant beyond the fact that the growers are paid a decent price for their products, as opposed to the fraction that conventional practices yield to the farmers. More importantly, however, it got me thinking even more than usual about our wasteful ways in the so-called developed world that has left us with endless bloated, non-recyclable packaging, disposable goods, and rapidly filling dumps. It really made me wonder about why more industries are not compelled to be stewards of the environment rather than simply shepherds of profit. Besides, the two are not incompatible principles -- as our tour guide gleefully explained, the incentive for these ‘green’ practices is the extra profit they bring to the producers. What a concept!

Summing up our first trip to Costa Rica, and how it affected me upon returning home, will be the subject of my next post. After that, sometime in the near future, I plan to write about our second trip in March, to Jaco Beach, which yielded experiences entirely different from those of our Guanacaste sojourn.

Costa Rica - A Land of Contradictions - Part 2

In my last entry on Costa Rica, I gave it the title “Land of Contradictions,” the reason for which will become apparent over the next few posts. Today I would like to focus on the positive learning opportunities our January trip afforded us, both through the tours taken and the resort we stayed at.

The first thing we noticed at our resort, Sol Papagayo, was the harmony existing between the reception building, which also housed the restaurant, and the surrounding environment. Open on three sides, the architecture blurred the distinction between the inside and the outside, allowing the sounds of nature and the tropical breezes, and yes, the occasional gecko and even bat, ready access. That co-operation with nature, and the fact that we were just feet from the beach and inlet, seemed to set a tone for our visit, one present in all three of our tours.

Additionally, we were captivated by the howler monkeys that made the trees near the pool their home. There is something particularly enthralling for me to watch primate behaviour, and they provided hours of fascinating observation and photographic opportunities. Significantly, they were not regarded as pests, but rather as simply part of the natural environment and landscape. Here are a couple of the pictures that I took:





Our first tour, to a cloud forest, was a tame one as we opted for a canopy experience (a series of bridges above the trees) as opposed to a zip line adventure. Choosing this route allowed us to appreciate the myriad flora that our guide pointed out,and the fact that there were only four on the tour meant we got pretty individualized attention from him as he pointed out that going through such a cloud forest requires a guide so that people will not damage the plants and trails. As well, he informed us that Costa Rica has set aside 25% of its land for conservation, a move designed to slow down the deforestation that has taken place over the decades for coffee plantations, etc. What especially impressed us was the seeming reverence of our guide for his environment, something that I think we all need a little more of. The only disappointment of the tour, and indeed, of the entire January visit, was the absence of exotic birds. Apparently early morning is the best time to spot them.





Our visit to the cloud forest was followed a couple of days later by the river cruise and the coffee co-operative tour, which I will write about in my next post.

Costa Rica - A Land of Contradictions - Part 1

I have not written anything here for some time, partly because I’ve been busy with other things, including a basement renovation and some travel, but also because I really haven’t felt that I’ve had a great deal to say about things lately that are worth publishing on the blog. In my recent reading of other blogs, I’ve come to realize that some are totally self-indulgent and self-referential, with seemingly very little of value or interest to a readership beyond family and friends. My intention from the outset has been to avoid such mistakes, but who knows whether or not I have succeeded?

What I would like to write about in the next few posts are what my wife and I learned on our two trips to Costa Rica this year, one in January and one in March, our first visits to the country. I had long been interested in the Central American country, having read about its record of environmental stewardship, the diversity of its geography, and the fact that many Canadians and Americans have chosen to retire there. Another compelling reason for my interest is the fact that since I retired, I have developed an even greater aversion to the cold of winter than I had when I was working, resenting the fact that the elements often confine us indoors for lengthy stretches.

During our time there in January, we stayed at a 3-star all inclusive resort (this would be our first time at a resort) in Guanacaste Province, known for its heat and low humidity, and while there, we took three tours, one of a fair-trade organic coffee co-operative, another of a cloud forest, and the third a jungle river cruise. We also took a trip to Liberia, a city about a 20-minute drive from where we were staying. Each excursion, in its own way, confirmed for us the special qualities that make Costa Rica stand out as a country in Central America to visit, and a place where North Americans can learn new perspectives on how to live. That will be the topic of my next post, but for now I am including a few pictures that represent a few of the things we saw.