I cannot believe I am already writing my last ever blog post for this trip. I am extremely sad to be leaving Costa Rica so soon, but so grateful for this experience and everything I have taken away from it!! Today, we visited the La Pez Waterfall Gardens and saw birds to monkeys to pumas,…
Tag: Natalee Bertani
A Choco-lot like Coffee
Today we made a visit to Sibö Chocolate where we learned a lot about the history of chocolate itself and more about how they get their products to shelves. It shares surprising similarities with coffee. Both have long histories, involve careful processing from seed to final product, and face challenges tied to climate change, labor…
Bananas, Bugs, and Business
Today we visited a tropical family farm that grows a wide variety of crops, including bananas, black pepper, sugar cane, coconuts, ginger, mango, cacao, and more. Most of these are used for local consumption. While the constant battle with mosquitoes was a bit distracting, it didn’t take away from how inspiring our guide Francini was….
Sweet, but not Simple
Today we made our way to the Caribbean lowlands of Costa Rica to visit a pineapple plantation. The scenery changed a lot, we went from the misty mountain forests to very warm and very humid farmland. Our visit today gave us a behind the scenes look at Costa Rica’s role as the world’s largest pineapple…
Can’t Expresso My Love for Monteverde Enough
This morning, we checked out of our rooms in Monteverde (which I’ll definitely miss) and headed to Life Monteverde – a coffee farm dedicated to sustainability and education. This has been one of my favorite tours so far. Not only did we walk through the farm and learn about its practices, but we also got…
On Cloud 9
Today’s visit to the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve was a reminder that conservation isn’t just about saving land but also about making important choices. While walking through the stunning trails, surrounded by greenery and the sound of birds chirping, it felt like an alternate reality. Especially when we reached higher elevations, only being able to…
Moo-ving up the Mountain
This morning, I said goodbye to my host family for a few days to begin our trip to Monteverde! Our bus ride was about 4 hours, and during it, I got to see a completely different side of Costa Rica. We passed through small towns that felt much more rural than the Central Valley, with…
Just a Britt Obsessed with the Chocolate
After learning about coffee farming at Doka yesterday, today’s visit to Café Britt gave us a completely different look at the coffee industry—one focused on branding, roasting, and delivery. Our morning started with an amazing tour guide that walked us through the coffee journey—from the trees that grow cherries to how those cherries are harvested,…
Bean to brew, berry to basket
Today marked our very first day of tours, and I could not have been more excited! We started the morning off bright and early with breakfast from our Mama Tica before meeting the group at the bus stop. We started the day at the Doka Coffee Plantation, where we learned just how much goes into…
No AC, no addresses, no problem
I started off today with a delicious breakfast from my Mama Tica! We ate quesadillas, crackers, mangos, bananas then had orange juice and coffee to drink. What surprised me the most about this was the fact I LOVED the orange juice. Normally, at home I refuse to drink it and strongly dislike the taste, however,…
Costa Rica Calls
Hi! My name is Natalee Bertani, and I just completed my freshman year at the University of Pittsburgh’s College of Business Administration. I’m planning to major in Finance and Marketing, with a certificate in Innovation and Entrepreneurship. At Pitt, I’m a member of the professional business fraternity Alpha Kappa Psi, where I served as Recruitment…