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Costa Rica: San Jose, Summer Family Vacations at Costa Rica’s Most Sustainable Inn.  Finca Rosa Blanca Coffee Plantation and Inn offers a relaxing and exhilarating destination for family vacations in Costa Rica, with comfortable amenities and close proximity to outdoor and cultural activities that appeal to both young adventurers and older explorers.
Located just twenty minutes from San Jose’s Juan Santamaria International Airport, Finca Rosa Blanca is set amongst the volcanoes and coffee farms of the Central Highlands. The inn offers spectacular views and range of accommodations, including suites with mini-bars, refrigerators and coffee makers that can adapt to any size family.
Owned by the Jampol family, Finca Rosa Blanca is celebrating 20 years of operations as Costa Rica’s first boutique eco-resort and onsite activities and offsite tours have been chosen based on their own hands on reach with their children who also grew up in Costa Rica.
The whole family will appreciate how quickly they can begin their Costa Rican adventure upon arriving into the country. Older family members will enjoy the luxurious touches like a full service spa, bamboo sheets, exceptional cuisine and wine list along with private balconies and lounging areas, surrounded by a lush indigenous garden and acres of coffee plantation.
Those young in age and at heart will appreciate the onsite certified guides as well as the inn’s commitment to sustainability, and its distinction of being the only hotel in Costa Rica to receive a 100 per cent perfect score for its five leaf certification for sustainability.
Showcasing the beauty of Costa Rica is what Finca Rosa Blanca does best, and cherished memories may be made when the whole family has the opportunity to interact directly with the local culture and meet members of the local community. Families may take a neighborhood tour with a bi-lingual guide where they will meet the children and teachers of Barrio Jesus Elementary School, and be introduced to local artists and the workshops of puppet and mask makers. Then on to exploring the fresh produce markets of Heredia and tasting and cooking traditional tamales with coffee cupping sessions for Mom & Dad back at the inn.
Here is a listing of more adventures and activities for the whole family:
Go Where the Beans Grow.  Finca Rosa Blanca’s onsite coffee plantation tour and tasting is considered one of the best in the country. Guests learn how coffee was discovered, traded and consumed, and then experience the entire process of organic cultivation and harvest, including participating in the picking of coffee during the harvest season (October – January) guests are taken through the processing of coffee, ending with roasting their own coffee. Finally, they learn how the experts discern and rate gourmet coffee by participating in a “coffee cupping” session with our Barista and Coffee Tour Guide.
Get Cultural in the Highlands. Experience Costa Rican Culture and History with knowledgeable guides who will take families on a magical journey through the colonial towns of Barva and Heredia. Experience the sights, smells and sounds of the Central Market, crowded and bustling and filled with exotic fruit, vegetables, spices and herbs. On the way back to Rosa Blanca the tour will stop at the Museo de Cultura Popular (Museum of Folk Art and Culture) which recreates Spanish colonial Costa Rica in a century-old farmhouse, restored with period pieces and ingenious tools. Discovery: Docents in period costumes may use the beehive-shaped ovens to make typical tico foods.
Explore with an Eco Tour. As an award winning eco-luxury inn, Finca Rosa Blanca offers a Sustainability Tour. After a brief history of Rosa Blanca and their journey toward total sustainability, guests will visit the “back of the house” to learn about the inn’s “good practices”; including the use of biodegradable products in the hotel and laundry, solar drying area, solar panels for heating water, and the copper silver ionization system for the pool. Tours are free.
Ride a Horse. A specially designed horseback tour where a horse wrangler and an expert bi-lingual guide will share their knowledge of the nature and the culture of the volcanoes and highlands of Costa Rica. Discovery: Highly recommended is the three hour trip into the coffee farms and up on to the slopes of the Barva Volcano for amazing bird watching with one of Rosa Blanca’s resident naturalist and guide and an in-depth experience with the history and culture of quality Costa Rican coffee, grown only at high altitudes.
Give Back to the Community. Finca Rosa Blanca is very committed to its community and invites guests to meet the children and teachers of Barrio Jesus Elementary School, the volunteer mothers at the Children’s Food Bank and the wonderful folks at the Senior Citizens Center, Recycling Center and Clinic as well as local artists and artisans. Offered Monday–Friday when school is in session.
Raft the Sarapiquí River.  A guided floating tour on the Sarapiquí River, declared a National Historical Monument, where guests will have the opportunity to spot many kinds of reptiles, crocodiles, caimans, iguanas, howler, spider, and squirrel monkeys and countless exotic birds. Surround Yourself with Butterflies. Rica has more species of butterflies than any other country in the world and the Butterfly Farm is the second largest exporter of living pupae in the world. The tour begins with a video introducing the world of butterflies, followed by a guided tour through the gardens and laboratory where guests witness and learn all about the butterfly life cycle.
From Gardens to Volcanoes. Irazú Volcano is Costa Rica’s highest volcano with four craters. On the way to the volcano guests will make a stop-off at Lankester Gardens, a tropical paradise that houses more than 3,000 species of plants and one of the world’s foremost collections of orchids. On the way back, the tour will pass through Orosi where guests will visit Costa Rica’s oldest colonial church.
Make it Happen. Finca Rosa Blanca Coffee Plantation & Inn. Apdo Postal 41-3009, Santa Bárbara, Heredia, Costa Rica. +(506) 2269-9392, info@FincaRosaBlanca.com or www.fincarosablanca.com
Information and images provided by Finca Rosa Blanca Coffee Plantation & Inn. Copyright 2010.
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