It was an early breakfast and we were all checked out of the hotel by 7.30 am and travelled to the Poas volcano. When we arrived there was a long queue of traffic and as soon as we opened a door to go to investigate we immediately got a strong smell and taste of the acidic gases being released by this active volcano. The rangers were limiting the number of visitors and also cut off the museum for the safety reasons. Once the gas releases had settled a little we managed to walk to a viewing point and initially all that we could see was clouds of gases, but patience paid off and we managed to get a view of the crater!
After this we drove for about 40 minutes to the Doka coffee plantation where we ate lunch and then had a superbly informative tour of the plantation with a full explanation of how the coffee is processed.
We learned that the coffee plants take 4 years to bear coffee beans and then produce beans for about 21 years until they are no longer so productive. The wood from the old coffee plants is burned to produce heat for the drying process of the beans. The husks are used as compost and the parchment from the bean is used as kindling to light the fires. A superbly sustainable process.
We all enjoyed testing out the various coffees available and as it was early afternoon but with jet lag it felt like the evening the timing was perfect and much needed!
