Yes, I am a tourist...

Touring Costa Rica so far has been a great experience. Seeing the different coffee plantations and sites throughout San Jose has given me a different perspective on life within Costa Rica. Being from the U.S., many cannot comprehend a life of modest material possessions and limited access to things that are always available in the states such as hot water. It is interesting to see how the lifestyles are so different here.

Costa Rica especially has taken advantage of the ecotourism boom and the number of tourists visiting Costa Rica has increased steadily for years. Costa Rica's tourism industry undoubtedly has been economically strong and attractive, its benefitting the environment is questionable.

EcoTourism is a seen as ¨purposeful travel to natural areas to understand the culture and natural history of the environment; taking care not to alter the integrity of the ecosystem; producing economic opportunities that make the conservation of natural resources beneficial to local people.¨ This definition can be interpreted in multiple ways easily causing corruption and flaws in the actual representation of it. Costa Rica has turned to ecotourism as its key to economic development.

Costa Rica has incredible biodiversity with beaches, the rain forest, awesome volcanoes, and exotic wildlife. The tourist industry in Costa Rica brings in about 1 million visitors annually and generates approximately $1 billion a year, making it Costa Rica's second largest source of income after silicon chip production.

Costa Rica has been able to develop a solid ecotourism industry and capitalize on their natural resources. However, Costa Rica's ecotourism sector has been praised by environmentalists, politicians, and economists, not to mention avid travelers, but there are many who believe that ecotravel has not been an environmentally sound tool. Ecotravel has become a very appealing area of the service industry, but some of those who study the industry worry that the economic benefits of ecotourism may not be reaching the local community. Companies are motivated by short-term profits, while tourists are looking for mainly a self-satisfying vacation and local communities are seeking to obtain the maximum economic benefit from tourists.

Costa Rica's ecotourism industry overhead costs of training, infrastructure construction, and promotion can be a burden on poor nations, and the risks can be considerable; but the growth potential and environmental benefits of ecotourism make the investment worth the while in the long run.

Bananas...

I was happy to know we will be doing a lot of studying about how Costa Rica is a huge producer of bananas. There is a history of banana production within much of the Central American Countries and it has become a dominant part of the Costa Rican economy as well. Currently there are many different practices involving the production of bananas.

A particular green banana farm that I have found to be interesting is EARTH University´s who in 1989, acquired lands that included a sprawling banana plantation, but the school's eco-consultants told officials to get rid of the farm. Instead the agricultural school decided to grow a banana that is not as harmful to the environment.

Today EARTH's farm is the oldest working banana plantation in Costa Rica, selling its product exclusively to the eco-friendly Whole Foods Market chain, which has more than 270 stores in the U.S. and the U.K. Banana sales provide 7 percent of the university's revenue, helping to pay tuition for the many students who come from poor backgrounds in developing countries. Green practices at the school are reshaping the global banana industry.

EARTH has started a program to recycle the plastic bags used to keep the bananas protected from insects and animals. Today almost all banana growers in Costa Rica have adopted bag-recycling programs. The Dole Food Company, one of the largest banana producers in the country recycles about 1,900 tons of plastic per year.

The school is now working on producing completely organic bananas in the near future. The only setback is that strong pesticides are necessary to elminate fungi that are hurting the crop significantly. EARTH's organic farmers developed fertilizers that include "effective microorganisms", benign bacteria, yeasts, and fungi that crowd out nematodes and minimize disease. In addition to the environmental consequences, using pesticides and herbicides is detrimental to plantation laborers, suffering from sterility, cancers, and other conditions after years of exposure.

Later on this trip there will be more examples of the steps being taken to create sustainability within this market.

Coffee in Costa Rica

The coffee in Costa Rica is some of the world´s finest. Yesterday we traveled to a coffee plantation, Del Cafe Tal. It is run by woman named Daisy Rodriguez. She has just recently won an award that gives her the title of best coffee in all of Costa Rica. I am not an avid lover of coffee, but apprarently it is suppose to be pretty good here.

These are coffee beans before they are put through the milling to remove the red skin. The greenish beans is with the skin removed, but it has not been process yet thus there is not a dark color to it.

This is the coffee plant.

Once picked the beans are put through the mill below that cleans them and remove the red skin.

On the left is the drying process. After going through the mill the coffee beans are left out in these trays to sun dry.

We were able to see the coffee shop that has been opened because of Daisy´s recent success.

Today we are going to visit a larger coffee plantation, Cafe Britt. We will be comparing the different size plantation and observing how Fair Trade Coffee is affects the economy of Costa Rica.

Fair trade is a trading partnership that contributes to sustainable development by offering better trading conditions to, and securing the rights of, marginalized producers and workers.

There will be more to come on coffee...

A few days in...

Mucho Gusto,

Hey guys, this is my first official post from Costa Rica.  Even though we have only been here a few days there is so much to talk about.

Host Family:  I live with Gladys and Riccardo, the grandparents of the family.  Two of the nicest people I have ever met.  The grandfather is a retired narcotics officer and was a big soccer player when he was young.  They play cards with their friends and are always willing to hangout and "attempt" to talk to me.  Basically in Costa Rica, the family units are very traditional and close.  Their daughter, Rosie, lives right around the corner, her role is the caretaker and so she comes over and cooks all of the meals and does a lot of the types of things to keep the house in order.  Rosie has a husband, Marco; a 23 year old daughter, Jimena; and a 28 year old son, Marco.  They are always over, families here are always enjoy spending time together, very different from the US.  In addition to them, Rosie's brother, Riccardo Jr., lives above us with his son Juan Diego. 

The entire family is very nice and the younger members speak pretty good english but it is always interesting talking to the adults, but it is becoming easier.  My spanish skills, or lack there of, have been coming in handy.  Thank you Joe Kolman.  

Food:  This topic is huge for me.  I was very curious prior to the trip about what to expect.  The main dish of Costa Rica is Rice and Beans, which is very good, along with fried plantains, basically fried bananas, other types of vegetables, and chicken, beef or fish.  I have had that dish almost everyday, it is still good though. 

The fruit here is awesome, mangos, pineapple, bananas, and others that I have never heard of.  They always have fresh fruit and fruit juices.  The food is different but it is a good change.  As many may know I am incredibly picky usually but I have tried to be open to new things and so its always an adventure at every meal.  

In General:  I am enjoying the trip so far.  It has rained a few times.  Rainy season is beginning which means it will rain basically every afternoon.  I am getting used to the humidity and the constant wetness as we travel the country.  We have been traveling the city seeing different sites, but I am more excited to see the nature aspect, i.e. the rain forest and volcanoes.   Tomorrow, we will be going to see a coffee plantation so there will be more to come.  Also, this weekend we will be going to a volcano and swimming in the hot springs.  I am very excited for this.  Anyways, I will be updating my blog a few times every week hopefully and hopefully there will be pictures soon.  

Hasta Luego!!!