Day 2 Highland Fruit Tour

Pura vida! Greetings from Costa Rica, today was our first full day in country and it was full of activities and unique experiences. We ventured from our hotel in San Jose, CR to La Cope de Dota to the Highland Fruit Tour, a plantation located in the mountains of the Los Santos valley. The tour started with a quick showcase of some of the 14 fruits that are grown on the plantation. Most of the fruits on the plantation were unfamiliar to me and a few were even exclusive to Costa Rica. Among these were papaya, naranjillas (little oranges), tomatillos arboles (tree tomatoes), passion fruit, sweet lemons, guava, figs, and more than 13 variations of avocado!

The fruits were incredible and all of them had exquisite tastes. Even the avocado, which I eat all the time in America, tasted much better than what I am used to. The great taste of all of the produce can be attributed to the sustainable farming practices that are used on the plantation. Ninety-five percent of the fruit on the farm was completely organic. No pesticides or chemicals are used on the fruit, only mixes of spices, eucalyptus, and rinds of discarded fruit are placed at the base of the fruit-bearing trees once every week. As Olman Serrano(the proprietor), was chopping up some of the unique fruits his farm had to offer. Olman said something interesting in that he did not add a premium to the prices of his fruit because they are organic, but rather feel it is his ecological responsibility to go organic.

In order to control pest problems related with organic farming, Olman uses bio-pesticides. Bio-pesticides include using natural bacteria in order to kill the insects and diseases that would kill the produce. I thought this was interesting since regular pesticides are strictly against use for organic farming, but these bio-pesticides are considered ok in the organic process. My only concern is that things like this could open-up gateways for large companies to exploit the labels of organic and genetically create foods that may be “organic” by title, but do not actually have the health benefits that one would expect to be related.

           The most impressive part of the trip was the hike up La Passe de la Muerte, roughly translated as the trail of death,  a narrow, steep, winding path that took our group 2,010 meters up to the top of the mountain that overlooked the farm. On the walk up, which at times was as scary as its name suggests, we encountered a different type of avocado tree at nearly every turn.  When we finally reached the top of the mountain the views were incredible. It was a great hike, it gave me a ton of energy and I feel like it was the perfect welcome to this beautiful country. Despite the mild sunburn that’s stinging the back of my neck, the first day in Costa Rica was a resounding success- I can’t wait to see what we will experience tomorrow.


Tyler Pepe & Michael Banville
Bryant Sustainability Marketing 385