Archive for the ‘Travel - Costa Rica’ Category
July 22, 2008 – Hosting Costa Ricans at High Hopes
As part of the Costa Rican exchange, after our visit to Costa Rica agricultural sites this past February, the Ticos are now visiting Iowa and it is our turn to reciprocate for the warm welcome we received.
The stage is set for dinner and dancing - it turned out to be a perfect July evening – in ...Read more.
March 2, 2008 – Final Thoughts on Costa Rica
All told, we were 10 days in Costa Rica. We stayed in San Jose for six nights, Liberia for two nights, and Punta Leona for a night.
These are our digs in San Jose. It is tucked in a corner of the University of Costa Rica and had a nice grounds and exterior and functional rooms. ...Read more.
March 1, 2008 – Costa Rican Beaches/Pacific Forests
At the end of the trip, we had about 20 hours at a place on the beach (Pacific side).
This woman’s Midwestern modesty cannot coax her out from behind the palm tree!
Later in the day, some folks tried their hand at fishing and were not successful.
There were some rocky stretches as well where we could explore ...Read more.
February 29, 2008 – Melon Farm
All about melons!
Here’s one of the few photos of the two of us together on the trip.
This melon farm was on a floodplain adjacent to a river. Across the river (which isn’t visible in this photo,) is a national park. It was a stunning place for a farm field.
These melons are ready for harvest. This ...Read more.
February 28, 2008 – Mango Farm
The first stop this day was at a mango farm and packing plant.
Again, this was a large expanse of mangoes, several hundreds of acres.
Some mangoes hanging on the tree.
The perimeter of the orchard is lined with this wall of recycled plastic to protect the orchard from wind.
The mangoes that cannot be harvested by hand are ...Read more.
February 27, 2008 – Sugar Cane
Sugar cane day was one of the most interesting days of the trip.
They used to burn the canes before harvesting, but at this farm, they use this giant chopping machine. It has a chopper arm that stays about 6 feet above the ground to chop off the top of the canes, and a chopper on ...Read more.
February 26, 2008 – Ferns, Strawberries and Coffee
The first stop today was at a fern farm. It is one of the largest fern farms in the world. The ferns are background for flower bouquets – the stuff that’s left weeks after the roses die!
The farm has a lab that has done extensive research on fern diseases and they do some top-notch research ...Read more.
February 25, 2008 – Banana and Pineapple Production
We visited a couple of banana locations. The first was a banana germplasm preservation center where they were growing many varieties of bananas to save and use for possible future breeding. The standard Cavendish banana for export teeters on extermination because of devastating disease problems. They have not yet been able to develop another variety ...Read more.
February 24, 2008 – San Jose Farmer’s Market and Poas Volcano
Since most farms/factories are closed on Sunday, today was a less intense learning day. The Farmer’s Market was open, so we spent the morning there.
It seemed like it was about 10-12 blocks long – full of strange fruits and vegetables, noisy vendors, and people hawking lottery tickets like ticket scalpers.
Linda tries some coconut milk straight ...Read more.
February 23, 2008 – InBIO Park/Group
Today we visited InBIO park, kind of a rainforest research theme park in San Jose. Lots of different concepts going on, and I’m not sure it all works together, but it is certainly worth a try.
Here are some beetles. They even had samples of the pupae you could look at in jars. A part of ...Read more.
February 22, 2008 – Organic Farm Tour/Wal-Mart Brokers
Our first tour was to an organic farm. The farm was located up in the mountains outside of San Jose, the capital city.
The man in the white hat is the farm operator and the woman is the daughter of one of the professors at the University of Costa Rica who came along as the interpreter. ...Read more.
February 21, 2008 – Arrival in Costa Rica
After a 10 day absence we are back! We’ve been in Costa Rica and just returned.
As I get time, I will have about 10 days worth of photos from an agricultural tour of Costa Rica. We were invited to trek to Costa Rica by a group at Iowa State that is the beneficiary of a ...Read more.
