Here at Xandari (Alajuela, Costa Rica) everything is ready for coffee’s big return. The resort’s land was once dedicated to growing and harvesting the finest estate coffee this country offers (you can visit the Doka Estate, to which Xandari’s land once belonged, in one of our guests’ favorite day tours), but for the last 18 years more attention was given to the organic vegetables, orchards and gardens that now dot the verdant grounds. Plans are in motion, however, to bring the crop back to this area long celebrated for the quality of its coffee.

The ground is tilled:

The plants are ready:

Coffee plants (2 species)

All that’s left is the labor to put the plants in the ground and time for water, sun, and the soil’s nutrients to work their magic. Seth and I will be responsible for at least part of that labor. We will be spending the summer here (and Seth longer than that) cataloguing the resort’s tremendous biodiversity and participating in its many sustainable projects. This is only the first in a series of post on Xandari’s efforts to bring responsible coffee cultivation back to the area, but also be on the lookout for regular posts on the local flora and fauna (read: birds!) of Xandari and Costa Rica’s central valley.

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