Our time in Costa Rica has come to an end and although I am so sad to leave, I am beyond grateful for the experiences, knowledge, and friends I have made on this trip. Through out this trip, we learned about all different steps and aspects of the supply chain through all of Costa Rica’s…

Today we visited Sibö Chocolates and just got to sit back, relax, and enjoy a presentation. Two men, Julio and George, quit their jobs and became experts in chocolate to they could start this business. Julio was a historian and so he led us through the historical story of chocolate and when we reached a…

Today we visited two plantations, one for bananas and plantains and one for pineapples. We started out at the banana and plantain plantations. We got to see all the banana trees and even got to chop one down. And on the pineapple farm we got to eat pineapple fresh from the plant and I used…

Today we visited the Heart of Palm plantation in Alajuela. We were shown the whole process of how they harvest the palm, which is the center of the trunk of a palm tree. We also got to try a bunch of foods, all with heart of palm. The coffee process in comparison to the process…

Today before we left Monteverde, we went to visit Life (Low Impact for Earth) Monteverde, which is a farm that has animals, food, and coffee. We started out with seeing the animals. They had cows, chickens, goats, and sheep. We got to feed the goats some hay which was super fun. The farm also cuts…

Today, we had an early rise to go to the Cloud Forest in Monteverde. When we arrived, we were given a plastic card which were used to log how many people entered the forest. We were shown their sustainability efforts right off the bat with these reusable cards. And it also allowed them to track…

Today, we ventured our way through the twists and turns of the mountains up to Monteverde. As we were driving up, something I noticed was that the houses started to get further and further apart from each other. In Heredia, the houses are very close in proximity and they are in a neighborhood structure. But,…

Today we visited Café Britt to learn about their roasting and marketing process. It is an extremely popular spot for tourist from all over the world. I even saw all their TripAdvisor rewards on the wall at one point during our tour. However, most locals don’t drink coffee from Café Britt. I think it is…

Today we visited the Doka Coffee Plantation in Alejuela and got to see how they produce their coffee from the moment it is planted in the ground to finish. We were greeted with a sample coffee with chocolate and cinnamon. As we sipped, we were serenaded with songs on a xylophone. And then we were…

After a very early morning and a whole day of traveling, we made it to Costa Rica! Yesterday, we spent the evening getting to know our host moms and brushing up on our Spanish. And this morning, we are ready to see Heredia! One of my big first impression of Costa Rica was how friendly…

Costa Rica has so many sustainability initiatives that are extremely impressive to a foreigner. Since tourism is extremely popular there, I have no doubt that it will be a wonderful traveling experience. And their dedication towards their care of their county and citizens makes me believe that we will be well taken care of.  Some…

Hi Everyone! My name is Katie Heckroth and I am from Cleveland, Ohio. I am finishing up my freshman year in the College of Business Administration as a marketing major. Some of my involvement at Pitt includes being one of the recruitment chairs for Alpha Kappa Psi, a professional business fraternity, a sister of Alpha…