Day 1 - San Jose: INBioparque & Cafe Brit

Costa Rica is such a wonderful country. It is rich with so many natural resources. Coffee is one of Costa Rica's many different natural crops. It plays a large part in the economy and is a large source of income for the country's GDP. Cafe Britt is a great company that produces coffee. Their coffee is sold in Costa Rica, but their international sales is only through internet transaction. The tour that was given was very entertaining and informative. The tour guides were extremely charismatic. The process of producing coffee and caring for the coffee plant was explained in detail. It is quite a vigorous and long process. It's interesting to note that women play a large part at Cafe Britt. They work a lot of the coffee plantations where Cafe Britt gets its coffee.
One of Costa Rica's tourism attractions is its natural beauty. InBioparque is a great showcase of this beauty. It is a not for profit organization that is built on educating people about biodiversity. It is a park with such vast vegetation and different species of animals. InBioparque is currently trying to advance its marketing techniques and roping in sponsors to further its cause. Most of its attendance is Costa Rican families that are interested in biodiversity. This group makes up sixty-five percent of the park's visitors. Twenty percent is for educational purposes. Only fifteen percent is international visitors. It is currently trying to increase the international attendance by eighteen percent. This is a hefty goal, but it is reasonable. InBioparque is such an important part of Costa Rica because it is a representation of the country's beauty.

Katie JohnsonMartin, '12