This morning we woke up at Methodist Center in Alajuela and had breakfast. After we finished breakfast we got on a bus towards the Hacienda Alsacia Starbucks Coffee Farm. We cheered for the Chiefs along the way. Go Chiefs!
At the Hacienda Alsacia Starbucks Coffee Farm we learned how to choose the cherries off the trees to be processed into coffee. In this picture the tour guide is showing Judith the difference between a ripe cherry and an unripe cherry. We learned that cherry pickers are hired to work at the farm four months out of the year. They work from about 5am to 1pm picking cherries and typically pick enough cherries to fill 25 baskets.
During our tour we learned that at this coffee farm the members who worked there were doing research about coffee to share with coffee farmers around the world. Five members from our group volunteered to grab baskets to pick cherries. Once we finished with our tour we had lunch at the coffee farm and then headed to San Isidro to meet Wil and see where we would be staying for the rest of the week. On our way to San Isidro we stopped at Papa Madeo. This was an award winning coffee shop where we got more coffee and some sweet treats.
Written by Cindy & Jansyn