Coffee, Chiggers, and the Final Days of Las Cruces

Prior to arriving to Costa Rica, I had been trying to cut back on my consumption of coffee. I had low expectations that I was going to keep up this goal for myself in Costa Rica. Spoiler: I was correct in assuming that this goal would not last long. The coffee down here is just so good. I've pretty much had a cup every morning since I've arrived (also the waking up for a 6:30 breakfast also has enforced the consumption of coffee).

However, the area around Las Cruces is actually filled with a lot of farms and plantations. We actually had the wonderful opportunity to go and visit a coffee plantation. Don Roberto, the owner of the plantation, was very kind and explained to us a lot about the production of coffee. Essentially, if you don't buy fair trade coffee that are run by successful and respected co-operatives, the farmers are being highly exploited for their produce. In many instances, farmers are being paid less than US dollar for their coffee. Don Roberto recently made the switch to roasting his own coffee and attempting to sell it locally in order to make more money. 

Don Roberto in the drying tent. 

Up close and personal.

Additionally, he also had other crops planted along with the coffee in an attempt to make some money on the side. The addition of the other crops are also ecologically more sound, as it provides habitats for birds and insects that can use the plantation to get to other portions of the forest. Don Roberto has also added some plants to reduce erosion, and has even donated part of his land to reforestation. 

Everything that we had at Don Roberto's was delicious- the bananas, the coffee, and the biscuits that we got with the coffee. In addition, the family had a lot of adorable animals that we fawned over. There was even a pony, but I unfortunately did not get to snuggle with it. But I did get to play with the bird and the dog, which was an A+ in my book anyways. 

Two of my new best friends.

Additionally, if you would like to learn more about the unfairness of the coffee industry, I highly suggest you watch the movie "Black Gold". The movie highlights the struggles of a coffee co-op in Ethiopia, but it details the exploitation of coffee farmers in the industry today. It is a very interesting subject, and it definitely got me thinking about where I should purchase my coffee (i.e. not  brands owned by Kraft, Nestle, Sara Lee or Proctor & Gamble). 

The next day we took a bumpy one hour car ride to Las Alturas. Las Alturas is a satellite station that is considered to be attached to the Las Cruces station. The station itself was very remote, but was a beautiful little cabin. Additionally, it's located in one of the most gorgeous parts of Costa Rica. Las Alturas is right next to La Amistad International Park, which is the largest contiguous piece of preserved land in Costa Rica that also extends into Panama. The park is home to thousands of species, and has actually been largely unstudied simply due to the fact that it is so big. Not many people get to enter the park since they must go through a couple of hoops to do so, but OTS had us covered. We were basically VIPs for this park, it was pretty awesome. 

So, we began on a trek that was probably the hardest hike I've ever done. The trail was only 3km long, but we went from 1500m to 2200m in around 2 hours. I tried to enjoy the scenery as we went up, but an unfortunate amount of the hike was me concentrating on not dying. But the view from the top was still pretty fantastic (albeit a bit misty). 

The way down was not as hard of a hike, so I was able to actually look at what was happening around me. It actually turned out to be really cool, because there were at least four different habitats on the hill, just based on the microclimates created by the elevation we were at. Also the hike down was a lot shorter than the hike up. And when we got back to the station, cookies, coffee and tea were waiting for us, so that was a welcome sight as well. 

Unfortunately, the next day I realized that the chiggers had gotten to me during the hike, despite the DEET. So now my entire torso is itchy, which isn't super fun. However, my professor and a few of my friends here also got them, so I don't feel as targeted. Cortisone is my best friend right now. Also the fact that this is really the first vaguely bad thing to happen to me is probably a good track record (minus the mosquito bite right under my eye that appeared after the night hike- ow). 

Another aspect of the course is that we are supposed to go out into the forest and write about what we see/hear/smell/etc. I actually really enjoyed this assignment. I found a nice little spot by a creek and observed everything for about 2 hours. It was nice to just sit and have a little zen moment with nature  (and a slight sunburn, whoops). Additionally, I saw really cool insects, like this beetle:

Tomorrow we have our plant practical, which I'm slightly nervous about. But I still have most of the day to study for it, so hopefully it'll go well! On Wednesday we say good-bye to Las Cruces and head out to Cuerici. It's a little weird to be leaving Las Cruces, I've mentally labeled it as the home away from home (also the food here is delicious- shout out to the kitchen staff). But I suppose it is time to move onto other places. Cuerici doesn't have internet, so I will attempt to post and update when we reach our next field site, Palo Verde. 

In the meantime, here's a picture of a butterfly:

See you in Palo Verde!