28 March 2010 * El Trapiche

In the afternoon, we went on the El Trapiche plantation tour. It was an interesting and pleasant introduction to traditional family-run coffee and sugar cane farming in rural Costa Rica.



We learned that:

• bananas and plantain trees that grow for one year, fruit once, then die, but the roots persist to sprout new trees
• plantain trunks are green-brown; banana trunks are black
• the Arracache, a plant of the celery family, looks like ginger, tastes like potato, and is traditionally cooked for wedding celebration feasts
• sugar cane harvesting is hazardous:
• the leaf edges are very sharp and cut like paper
• the stem tops are guarded by a coat of tiny sharp cactus-like spines
• the dead leaves provide perfect habitat for rats, who eat the cane
• the dead leaves provide perfect habitat for poisonous snakes, who eat the rats
• coffee plants take 2-3 years to grow and can only be harvested 2-3 times bofore they must be cut to grow new shoots
• coffee plants are productive for 20-25 years
• coffee pickers from Nicaragua and Panama earn $2/basket, and average 8-12 baskets/day
• light roast has higher caffeine content than dark roast
• coffee beans have a soft fruity husk and a hard inner shell
• traditional Tico oxcarts are pulled by a team of two ox steers; their three basic commands are Go, Stop, and Back-up
• El Trapiche, a sugar cane press, was traditionally turned by ox team
• the bark of the female Budia tree is used to remove dirt and other contaminants from vats of boiling sugar cane juice
• sugar cane juice is cooked into a syrup, then stirred quickly as it cools to crystallize into sugar

This last fact we learned first-hand. Our tour guides poured a pat of syrup for us, wo which we added coconut and chocolate powder. Then we stirred it with a wooden spoon until it suddenly transformed into candy. Delicious!

28 March 2010 * Monteverde Cloud Forest

Today, Tara and I went for a walk in an amazing place, the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve. The forest is densely vibrant. Everywhere, life climbs life. Vines snake upward around towering trees, dropping long roots through the air, reaching to touch the earth. Then growing thick, they strengthen into ponderous legs propping up the canopy. The large trees support a multitude of epiphytes, plants that live upon the trunks and branches of rooted trees. They grow so densely, its as if the earth has climbed up into the treetops.

Echoing throughout the forest were haunting clear songs of hidden birds, like water bells or glass whistles. Their penetrating calls seemed to come from no direction. We scanned the canopy, but could never spot the birds. But, we did chance upon a pair of quetzals, bright red, truquoise and green, moving from branch to leaftop high above us. We watched them for a brief while, then they disappeared.

Hiking through a myriad of trees, leaves, shadows, and songs, Tara and I soon fell silent. Our senses came alive watching, listening, breathing the full rich air. I felt my mind unclasp. My thoughts evaporated. I entered a realm of primal experience. It was as if human history never happened and my life story was an unremembered dream. Only the living forest remained in a timeless constant dance of life transforming into life.



The cloud forest we explored today was different from the rain forest we visited at Arenal's hanging bridges. There was more space and light. The air moved more freely through the trees, especially on the wind-swept ridge tops.

Our trail traced a portion of the spine of the Americas, the continental divide from which waters flow eastward to the Caribbean or westward to the Gulf of Nicoya and the Pacific. From this spectacular vantage point we could nearly retrace our entire Costa Rican journey: the central valley in the distant east, cloud-covered Arenal to the north, the arid lowlands and coastal mountains of Nicoya to the west.

This lovely morning voyage through a primeval forest was the highlight of the trip for me.