El Trapiche Tour

My dear friend Sarah Joy and her partner Julio run a tour organization, Boyero Tours, that focuses on eco and rural tourism. They focus a great deal on youth exchange and volunteer travel, but also are able to set up personalized tours to take the hassle out of travel and make sure that you get the experience you are looking for.

One of the bonuses on our trip was that we were able to get free lodging and tours to test them out. Luckily all of them could be vouched for fully.
This is a path on the grounds of the Cloud Forest Lodge, beautiful nestled into a large forest just at the edge of Monteverde, Costa Rica. The room was very comfortable, lodge feeling with high ceilings, a king bed, twin and then bunk bed. I think my favorite part of the room was the really nice hot shower. The breakfast was what set the Cloud Forest Lodge apart, literally one of the best breakfasts I’ve had at all the hotels I’ve stayed in the world. A perfect way to start the day.
This was one of the many birds we spotted, though not all are easy to get a shot of. This is a cousin of the kingfisher.
As most folks know, Costa Rica is famous for its coffee. One of the tours we took was El Trapiche, teaching about agriculture including coffee, bananas, and sugar cane.
We did the tour with another family from California and it was definitely a good tour to take with kids, though I guarantee adults to learn a great deal as well.
El Trapiche is the traditional machine that presses sugar cane by ox power. It was a family owned and run tour and had an excellent and informative guide. The machine is about 150 years old, and was brought to its current location about fifty years ago, it took two weeks to bring it in from the cost.Costa Rica has plenty of beautiful hydrangeas.

This is a hand painted ox cart wheel, which Boyero Tours is named after.
There motifs on the carts are pretty cool.
At the end of the tour you also enjoy freshly made sugarcane candies, as well as coffee and a wonderful specialty that is served at weddings in Costa Rica.

Very well worth it!

Miel

2 Comments

  1. Anonymous on December 8, 2010 at 8:32 am

    nice post. thanks.

  2. Anonymous on December 23, 2010 at 11:14 am

    It’s really a nice and helpful piece of information. I’m glad that you shared this helpful info with us. Please keep us informed like this. Thanks for sharing.

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