It rains in the rainforest!

We have moved to the Arenal Volcano area near La Fortuna. Before arriving at the volcano we visited Doka Estates, a coffee plantation that sells 90 percent of their production to Starbucks. we learned about the life cycle of the coffee plants and the way in which the coffee "cheeries" are harvested. We all felt that we would not be able to keep up with the pro pickers. We learned how the coffee is dried on concrete for 5 days. It is raked every 30 minutes to promote even drying. Finally we went to see the roasters. We were surprised how small they were, but learned that Starbucks buys green beans and roasts them. Our drive through the mountains gave us some adventures as some of the bridges were so narrow the bus cleared the sides by mere inches. Our driver is amazing! We arrived at the hotel after dark and enjoyed a good dinner in the open air restaurant and then to bed listening to the soft rain.