Monday, February 17, 2025 San Jose

 Monday, February 17

7:00 breakfast this morning and an 8:00 lecture here at the hotel on Biodiversity in Costa Rica.

The speaker, Sylvia Valerio was excellent.  Though Costa Rica is small (about the size of West Virginia), it contains 6% of the earth's diversity including 12,000 species of butterflies and moths, 1400 species of orchids and 932 species of birds.

Costa Rica is midway between the North and South Poles, near the equator, which means it has species that migrated from both North and South America.  Near constant temperature year round and 12 hours of daylight every day leads to more action, faster growing and faster evolution.  Since the 1960's Costa Rica has redirected efforts to focus on education about and protection of its valuable resources.

Next, we meet for a short bus ride downtown to the Gold Museum which is built as an inverted pyramid under the Plaza of Culture.  We pass the National Theater, built by coffee barons in the late 1890's.

Plaza of Culture

  Our guide there is Martin, a very enthusiastic and entertaining man. 

 He begins by discussing how Costa Rica was formed by volcanic action which resulted in connecting North and South America.  The oldest evidence of human occupation here goes back to 10,000 to 19,000 BC.  There are still eight different groups of indigenous people in small pockets of the country, but they are less than 3% of the current total population.  The pre-columbian gold dates from 300BC to 1550 AD.  Many beautiful ceremonial and decorative pieces!

Six of the 8 indigenous groups are matriarchal.  Martin says that Costa Rica's view of races is "If you close your eyes -  everyone looks the same".  

From the museum we drive through town to a Britt Coffee Tour.   There is a variety of housing along the route, many with metal roofs.  The tallest, most modern buildings seem to be banks.  Seems like all brands of auto dealers are represented, and traffic is heavy in town, with motorbikes moving between cars regularly.

Our guide at Britt Coffee is Tina, who says "If you don't drink coffee, we forgive you."  Costa Rica has perfect weather for growing coffee, which it has been doing since 1750.  Coffee seeds take 2 months to germinate, then are put in individual pots for a year before being planted.  Then it takes 2 years for them to  produce.  They would turn into trees, but are kept trimmed to about 5 feet ("We are short people," says Tina).

This is one of the decorative carts that were used to transport coffee.

We see one plant with flowers, which Tina says, is another sign of climate change - they should not be blooming this time of year. When beans are red, they are hand-picked.  Pickers, many of whom are migrants from Panama or Nicaragua, are payed by the pound.  An experienced picker can make about $60/day.   (Tom is outfitted for the task. ) 

 It takes about 45 beans for 1 cup of coffee.  Then it is immediately processed - milled, dried and roasted.  Costa Rica produces only 1% of the global production, but, she says, the BEST Arabic coffee.  There are several stations where we can try different roasts and those who are coffee afficionados appreciate it.  (Me, I have never learned to appreciate it.)  She also shows us several different ways of brewing coffee.

On the return drive, Andrey covers a wide range of topics about Costa Rica.  Some highlights:  Eco-tourism is the #1 revenue industry in Costa Rica.  The pandemic had a significant impact, but it is recovering nicely. They have quite a few immigrants from Nicaragua and Venezuela, but not many Costa Ricans emmigrate, as free healthcare and free education and a fairly steady economy keep people here.  Sales tax is 13% and Income Tax is 8%.  There are Police, but no army since 1948.  Citizens can retire with a pension and you must live here 7 years to become a citizen.   Protected lands plus private reserves total 40-45% of all land.

 Tonight is dinner on your own, but those who wish can go on the bus to a barrio with many restaurants.  We do this and end up enjoying some unique burgers and the biggest onion rings we've ever seen! We eat with Rick and Debi.