Farewell to Panama City, its been an interesting visit. At the airport for the short flight to San Jose, the capital of Costa Rica. I think we got the party bus back to the airport!
Flying into Costa Rica it was easy to see how mountainous it is
Before checking into the hotel we had a trip into the hills to the Doka Estate coffee plantation where we learned the cultivation of the plants, harvesting and roasting. The estate lies on the slopes of the Poas Volcano making the soil especially good.
The coffee plants take a year to be big enough to be planted in rows on the estate then another three years before they yield flowers which become beans, when the beans are ripe they turn red/orange and are called cherries.
The paths on the estate
The plants in the nursery
The coffee bean is multi layered and from harvesting goes through many processes.
The flowers of the coffee bush
The estate is set in lush gardens with the sounds of many different birds
These are just some of the birds we heard
The bark of the rainbow eucalyptus
The view over the valley was pretty good and on the way back our driver spotted a grey falcon in the bush
Then onto San Jose for just one night, Hotel Presidente a charming boutique hotel in the centre of town
Around San Jose
Not particularly impressed with San Jose but the hotel’s restaurant and bar was a little oasis.
