Costa Rica’s Coffee Tourism: A Tale of Women Empowerment
Costa Rica is known for its coffee. Since mid-19th century, this country in Central America has relied on coffee beans. The coffee industry has deeply penetrated and influenced the country’s economic, social and even political affairs that extend to this day.
A proof of its influence has been experienced by the locals living in Biolley at the Talamanca Mountains region. Read and watch how the women of the place empowered themselves to improve their life in How Coffee Tourism in Costa Rica is Transforming Lives in Yahoo Travel.
“Coffee is the lifeblood of many small towns dotted throughout the coffee-growing regions of Costa Rica. So what happened when all the men left the town of Biolley in the Talamanca Mountains region? The women came together to imagine a different future for themselves, their families, and their community by building their own coffee mill, Asomobi. They are the first women’s run micro-mill in their country.”
The video/documentary was directed by award-winning director (of the “An Inconvenient Truth” fame) Lesley Chilcott. The documentary entitled “A Small Section of the World” shows how the resourceful women battled the adversities in the name of survival and how coffee transformed their lives and their future.
Today, coffee continues to pump Costa Rica with income not only from selling its famous coffee beans, but also through coffee tourism/coffee plantation tours. These generally include visits to the cafés, as well as to coffee fields and roasters. Coffee tours are great cultural experiences that highlight coffee tradition, history and modern production. Some popular tours you may want to check out are:
- Don Juan Coffee Tour at Monteverde
- Espiritu Santo Coffee Tour at Naranjo
- Doka Estate Coffee Tour at Alajuela – SJO Int’l
- The Classic Britt Coffee Tour at Heredia
- Cafe Monteverde Coffee Tour at Monteverde
- Café Milagro and Finca Rosa Blanca Organic Coffee Tour (prototype for sustainable coffee production)
If you are inspired by the women of the Talamanca Region, go on a coffee tour around the region and “Sip coffee along the Talamanca Mountains.” Read about the two delightful plantations to visit in Go Visit Costa Rica – Javi’s Blog Section.
Monte Azul
Up in the sky along the Talamanca Highlands lies a beautiful organic coffee farm. This family-run farm offers tours where you can learn about the entire process of coffee making that ends with a smooth, bold blend cup of Joe … But here, coffee isn’t just something that gets people up and moving, it’s a way of life. If you travel here during the right season, you can see how coffee is dried, shelled and roasted to perfection! You might even learn how to make a true Costa Rican cup of coffee – yum!
Pueblos De Cafe
Down below along the mountainside, the Pueblos de Cafe is a family run project where you can tour and taste the wonderful coffee here! This local farm has been run since 1958, and allows each guest to get a hands-on experience of what goes on through the process. With scents of coffee in the breeze, you’ll surely fall in love with this area! You can go on a personalized guided tour through the farm … You’ll want to head to this farm between October and March when the harvest is happening to see the entire process of making coffee!
The plantation tours are guaranteed to make you enjoy one of the best and freshest cups of joe right from the beans to the cup. The tours are bursting with culture, history and people against a setting that is so gorgeous. Highland coffees produce the best coffees in Costa Rica. This highland coffee and the countryside are a strong, intoxicating tandem; you wouldn’t want to leave the relaxing destination anymore.
