A 15 minute drive into the mountainous hillsides north and west of Atenas, Costa Rica is El Toledo, a family-owned and function natural plantation providing excursions specializing in the method of farming, harvesting, processing, drying, roasting, and packaging of the espresso bean.
We occurred upon this tour as it’s a web site of 1 one of many few geocaches in the whole nation.
The description of the geocache from the homeowners, like so lots of our favourite finds all over the world, is what drew us in:
We visited a small natural espresso plantation close to Atenas known as El Toledo. We took the tour and realized lots about this good plantation which is managed by the pleasant household of Gerardo Calderon, the founder and proprietor of the farm. The distinction between common espresso plantations and this plantation is that their espresso manufacturing system is predicated on the ideology of understanding nature and dealing with it. They introduce numerous and implementing strategies of conservation which facilitate the manufacturing, but in addition protect and defend the atmosphere. They advised and educated us their efforts to grasp the atmosphere and work with nature as an alternative of towards it. The foremost objective of their means of manufacturing espresso is that they try to reduce the affect on the ecology in order to protect it for the generations to come back. During this tour we not solely realized about producing espresso, but in addition numerous the character of Costa Rica.
So! We booked a tour on-line and ventured up the winding roads (learn this submit for tips about driving in Costa Rica) in anticipation of incomes a brand new geocaching memento and studying about natural espresso farming on the similar time.
We arrived a bit late for the tour (once more, learn the submit about driving in Costa Rica) however arrived in time to study concerning the function of natural farming regionally and globally, with perception into sustainability because it pertains to the financial system and atmosphere. Organic espresso farms comprise roughly 1% of the espresso market in Costa Rica and the Calderon household has capitalized on agritourism as a viable income stream. Before embarking on a nature stroll by means of the plantation we sampled several types of espresso (gentle, darkish, espresso tea, and even espresso wine) with biscuits and jam.
The strolling portion of the tour begins with a dialogue of how the beans are harvested and dried and the way variations within the course of affect the flavour and well being advantages of the ultimate product. A key differentiator with natural farming, as talked about within the geocache description above, is the interconnectedness between the numerous vegetation and animals (people included) in a single habitat.
For instance, as birds eat fruits and bugs their droppings fertilize the soil. Thriving within the soil are turmeric roots. Turmeric roots assist stabilize the soil and forestall towards erosion in the course of the wet season. In addition to espresso and turmeric, we noticed plantains, vanilla, cinnamon, cocoa, and stevia within the span of fifteen minutes.
The tour begins and ends within the cafe/reward store. I bought a bag of darkish espresso as a visit memento and am savoring each drop. We hope you’re keen on this expertise as a lot as we did. If you go, put on lengthy pants and a hat as we’re nonetheless recovering from some fairly spectacular bug bites.
Book Your Stay
We loved two nights Barons Resort in Atenas, however you should utilize this map to discover a venue that most accurately fits your way of life and dimension of your group.