Poas Volcano, Doka Coffee Tour and Sarchi

This full day tour introduces participants to a nice mixture of places – a coffee plantation, an active volcano, and the quaint town of Sarchí, known widely as the craft capital of Costa Rica.

The tour begins with a pickup from your San José hotel around 7:30 AM. The tour bus then hits the Pan-American Highway en route to Alajuela (where other participants are picked up) before continuing on to the Doka Coffee Estate. On the way you’ll learn about the “golden bean” – as coffee is sometimes called in Costa Rica – and its importance to the local culture and economy.

The Doka Coffee Estate is set along the slopes of the Poás Volcano and has been growing, harvesting and roasting coffee for three generations. The tour begins in the field, where your guide will teach you about the biology of the plant and its relevance at both a local and global scale. You’ll then visit the processing plant (which, as it turns out, was declared to be an Architectural Heritage for Humanity site in 2003) and watch as beans are de-pulped and fermented. The final stop is the roasting plant and café, where you’ll learn about and sample the estate’s eight blends of coffee.

Next, you’ll hop back in the bus and ascend the Poás Volcano along a road dotted with fern, flower and strawberry farms. At the volcano you can explore segments of the park with a light hike and peer into an impressive crater steaming with fumaroles. You’ll also visit the beautiful Botos Lagoon and learn about the various ecosystems that are present within the region.

The third stop is in the town of Grecia, which was once named the cleanest town in Latin America and is home to one of the only churches in Central America made entirely of steel. After visiting the church you’ll wander the town’s central market and have the opportunity to purchase food and small gifts.

The final destination is the town of Sarchí, a cradle of Costa Rican artistry. The town is filled with small craft stores and family-operated woodworking factories. Some of the best-known crafts include wooden bowls, wooden and leather rocking chairs, and carretas—elaborately painted oxcarts that in older times carried coffee to the ports along the Pacific coast.

The tour ends around 5 PM. Participants will be dropped off at their hotels.

Light jacket, comfortable shoes, camera, insect repellent and binoculars.

Transportation, bilingual guide (English/Spanish), entrance fees to the Poás Volcano National Park and Doka Coffee Estate, and lunch.