Today we left our host families and took a road trip to Montaña de Fuego, stoping at The Best Pineapple Tour and La Fortuna Waterfall along the way.

The Best Pineapple Tour took us on a tractor ride through the fields of pineapple plants. We learned how farmers will spray rotating sections of their crop at a time with ethane gas to chemically induce the flowering of the plants. This ensures a constant supply of pineapple regardless of the season. It takes about three to four months for the pineapple to develope a fruit from its bloom, and then about 20% of the crop is determined to be un-exportable due to its color or crown size.

After two years of farming a plot, farmers decide to either slash and burn, a very traditional method of returning nutrients to the soil, or to just push through and rely on fertilizers to give the pineapple their needed nutrients. Only about five percent of pineapple grown in Costa Rica is organic, meaning that no fertilizer is used, as fertilization does not require large sections of land to be left alone for full seasons; and, with 42,000 plants per hector, it is costly to just burn the product.

At La Fortuna Waterfall, we climbed 500 steps down into a valley to swim at the base of the waterfall. The water was significantly more rough than I would have imagined, leaving us struggling to climb back out of the valley. Then, I got to unpack my bags and bug watch while most of the others went to the hotsprings.

Throughout the past week, we have visited all kinds of farms, and passed many more, that specialize in giving tours of their plantations. I think that with discretionary income declining for households across the globe, the demand for expensive/imported produce has decreased. And, because fruit is a commodity, the prices that retailers and farmers sell their product for is determined by the global market, not the retailers. With demand for fruit decreaseing, the prices decrease, and farmers are forced to sell their fruit at a smaller profit margin. To make up for this decrease, farmers have started playing into the ecotourism that Costa Rica is known for. By offering tours of their properties and explaining, thoroughly, about the process and parts of their plants, companies are able to bring more revenue into their business.

However, playing into ecotourism has unintened consequences that can negatively affect the business and the country as a whole. When a country’s entire economy relies on tourists, things like global pandemics or travel bans can completely disrupt the market. I think that it would be better for larger farms if they were to invest in smaller farms or other smaller businesses, so that the economy can start standing on its own.