Thursday thoroughfare to coffee plantation and San José: 5 miles. Again.

~Mom & Dad visiting: day 5~

We left again around 7:30 to visit Doka Estates, a well-known coffee plantation in the area. I'd taken the tour before with our JanTerm Honors Freshmen, so I knew that Mom and Dad would probably enjoy the info presented. We explored around the grounds and learned about the historical life of the area, observing an old sugar processing mill and talking to a worker about this awesome fruit called pitonga, which he let us pick some ripe berry fruits from the tree! We also explored the butterfly and bonsai gardens on the premises before taking off around noon.

Our fabulous Doka Estate coffee plantation tour guide.

Dad tastes the sugary "fruit" of the coating
around the coffee bean's red berry.

On the tour and learning about how coffee is harvested.

In the processing plant, learning about the storage of coffee.

Observing the drying process of the washed and fermented beans.

In the museum that displays coffee-processing
techniques of the past.

Part of the sugar-processing we discovered on the grounds.

Mom and Dad at the Doka Estate. 

Discovering the pitonga fruit on the premises.

In Doka Estate's new butterfly garden.

Mom in Doka Estate's new butterfly garden.

Doka's new bonsai garden.

Dad smelling the orchids (?) in the Doka bonsai garden.

Our newest discovery of tropical fruit: the pitonga tree,
with some of the fruits that we'd picked resting in the pot.

At Doka, they have cutesy sidewalks with coffee beans,
butterflies, and bonsai imprints in various pathways.

In the afternoon, after getting delicious Comida Libanesa (Lebanese food-- falafel sandwich wraps), I drove them into San José. We only waited in traffic for 20 minutes or so on the way in, due to an accident!

Mom liked taking photos of the everyday Costa Rican life out the car window as we drove .

Parking in my fav parking garage, we then walked through San José's pedestrian market, to the artesania market to purchase gifts for loved ones. My buddy who handcrafts wooden keychains was there and made some special presents for my sisters!

In the Parque Central in San José.

The woodworker creating keychains.

A still from the video Mom captured of me conversing with the artisan
in the market; Bammaw always wants to hear me speak Spanish :)

We checked out and explored the National Theater and the Parque Central on our way back to the car.

Mom and Dad in front of the National Theater.

Inside one of the great rooms in the Theater.

Elaborate curtains, intricate designs, and great stairways
in the Teatro Nacional de Costa Rica.

Toyota Yaris

MUCH dirtier than
when we rented it!

We drove back into Heredia to search for some of the sticker decals of Jesus' head, surrounded by the crown of thorns. We finally found some smaller-sized ones in a store that contained religious paraphernalia. Dinner was eaten at the CRC when we returned.

Later in the evening, we returned the rental car.