Day 7: Cafe Britt and Last Full Day in Costa Rica

Hola Amigos!

Today was our last full day in Costa Rica and was one that we will never forget. We started out the day with our typical breakfast and then we made our way to Cafe Britt, where we went on a tour of a coffee plantation. Thankfully, the trip to the plantation was only 30 minutes. Much different from all our other excursions! Anyways, the tour of the coffee plantation was very informational, but it was hilarious and very entertaining!

Our tour started out with a couple of tour guides explaining the process of how the coffee plants were planted, what the coffee comes from in the plant, and other interesting facts about the harvesting of coffee. The basket that this man is holding, can hold up to 25 pounds of coffee fruits. Once it is reduced to the beans, it will only be about 20% of that weight. Each basket yields about 4 bags of coffee. You can tell by the expression on his face that we had fun with these guides!

After the field presentation, we went into the processing plant where we got to see how the coffee is processed from off the plant to the bag. The roasters they had were huge! Check it out...

Following the tour of the plant, we went into a theater where the guides explained how "cuppers" test out the coffee after it is roasted. They even put on a show for us to explain the history of coffee and how it made its way to different parts of the world. VERY interesting and funny :-)

After the show was over, we were able to visit the Cafe Britt Shop, where we were able to purchase all kinds of coffee and things related to coffee. Such a nice place! After that, Cafe Britt provided us with a nice buffet lunch.

When we returned from Cafe Britt, we had a nice, relaxed afternoon at the hotel. Some of us were able to go into San Jose, where some of the girls were able to visit a free market for last minute souvenirs. 

To finish off the trip in Costa Rica, the SHS Women's Choir spent our evening with a nice dinner at a restaurant called Cafe Mundo. This was a wonderful time for all. Ms. Hawk gave a final speech to the girls that was incredibly moving and there was not a dry eye in the restaurant. We truly thought about how life changing this experience was for all. The College of St. Rose Women's Chorale spent their evening in a few different places, but finished off the trip with some great memories.

There will be one more blog (probably Monday morning) to wrap up the trip. Tomorrow, we are leaving the Hotel Vesuvio at 4:00AM to catch our flight. We do not plan to arrive back to the Capital District until about 1:00-2:00AM. 

See you all soon! Hasta luego!

-SHS WC and CSR WC