DAY ONE

We left Champaign by bus to O’Hare. We flew to San Jose via Huston and went straight to the Hotel Don Carlos. It was lovely and quaint with paintings and sculptures everywhere. After breakfast on their terrace the next morning, we went to the Doka Coffee Plantation. Ricardo, a young, easy-on-the-eyes Costa Rican, was our host. We all picked coffee beans for 10 minutes as a contest to see who could pick the most and ripest beans.  Nancy and David each won.  We took the baskets back to the oldest coffee mill in the country and toured the old plant.  They still dry beans in the sun on a patio as well as in a rotating oast.  We broke for lunch at a marvelous local restaurant, Chubascos. There were birds at the feeders and our naturalist, Louis, played a guitar. The food was excellent. We went back to the Doka Plantation and watched as the workers came and turned in all the beans they picked and got paid for each bushel.  There were about 300 people who stood in a long line with bright colored baskets full of beans. As each basket was poured into the truck, a plastic coin was thrown into the basket and it was returned to the worker. These beans were then taken to a more modern plant and we watched them go thorough the milling process. On our way out of the mill, Wilson had to squeeze past two trucks with a steep drop-off on the other side. He didn’t even scratch the mirror! That evening we went to Restaurante Machu Pichu for dinner.

We spent the first two nights at the Don Carlos Hotel in downtown San Jose.	Our first stop was the DOKA Estate coffee plantation.	The coffee beans called "cherries" are at their best when they are dark red.
Our group picked "cherries."	For lunch we went to Chubascos Restaurant in the mountains.	One of many families that picked cherries that day showing what they gathered.
The pickers waiting to redeem their cherries for DOKA coins made a very colorful site.	All the workers waiting by the trucks at the end of the day.	Workers handing up their cherries to the loaders.
View of the trailer with a load of cherries.	Unloading the beans at the coffee mill.	The coffee beans piled up waiting to be sorted and dried.

Day Two

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Last modified: 09/26/07