Turrialba and the plantation
Trip Start
Aug 07, 2009
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47
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Trip End
Jul 14, 2010
Turrialba, Province of Cartago, Costa Rica
Thursday, January 7, 2010
We drove through different sections of plants, such as coffee and cocoa, and Paul, our guide, explained how hybridization was carried out. When the flowers first appeared, they were covered in plastic bags, and then pollen was rubbed onto them from the plant that they wanted to cross it with. We also got to try lots of different tropical foods, such as heart of palm (not recommended!), arassa (a very sharp orange-like fruit, but it is quite nice), manosteeen as well as the flesh of cocoa. The cocoa flesh was lovely and sweet.
The tour was great and we also saw a few birds around the lake, such as the jacana (called the jesus bird, as it appears to walk on water).
The afternoon was spent relaxing, before enjoying a short stroll among the sugar cane fields to see any birds; nothing very exciting though.
At 6 o'clock, Ron our guide, called a emergency meeting to tell us that the nearby volcano Turrialba, had been put on a high state of alert and we could be asked at any moment to evacuate the hotel. During that afternoon, there had been a small volcanic eruption and ash was emitted into the local area; it didn’t drift our way though, as the wind was blowing the other way. We were asked to pack a small bag, which we could grab if we had a strong earthquake; this would most likely be the evidence of the start of a major pyroclastic flow.
We ate in the hotel, watching the news of the eruption and ash falling on nearby villages and went to bed with the knowledge that we could be woken up at any moment. Should we be scared or excited about the events that were unfolding? Well, you know how I was thinking…. But in reality, I didn’t think that the volcano would erupt that night and it was most likely to happen several weeks down the line. The fears were unfounded and we left the hotel the next morning, without any excitement! The news just showed the monitoring of the volcano.
