San Luis Waterfall and the coffee farm

Every day just gets better and better! We got up again at 7 this morning and headed to breakfast at 8. We had eggs this morning, they were awesome! After breakfast we got ready for the hike to the San Luis waterfall. There is a small pool at the bottom of the waterfall that is perfect for swimming, so I wore a swim suit just incase I decided to hop in. It was actually pretty cool this morning. Scott, who is a Resident Naturalist and lead our hike yesterday, guided us again today. He lives here at the lodge with his wife who is also a naturalist, and he is very funny and extremely knowledgeable. 

We left campus around 9 am for the waterfall. The waterfall is actually located on private property, so there is an 8 dollar fee to take the hike. luckily the fee was covered in all of our student fees. In exchange for the fee the family maintains the trails which are extremely well kept. We first stopped a the families house to pay the fee and sign the log book. They always put out fresh fruit on a post in order to attract birds. We saw some beautiful birds including a scarlett rumped tananger. After the we began the hike. It's only about a mile to the waterfall but the trail is pretty tricky so it took us about an hour and a half to get there. We got to cross a lot of small wooden bridges over the San Luis River. It was an amazing hike. Every now and then we would stop and Scott would point out different plants around us. I decided to wear my Keens because I knew we might be walking through water. Mom and Dad, let me just say, Keens are amazing. Thank you so much for getting them for me. I will admit that I had never worn them before I came here and I primarily used them to kill cock roaches in athens. They were awesome today though. Super comfortable and sturdy and even though it was a long hike they were perfect. I highly recommend them. 

We finally got to the waterfall land it is absolutely beautiful. We walked down closer to it and the water was freezing! I decided to only stick my feet in a bit, but Ashley, Allison, Erin and David decided to make the plunge. The hike back was a lot quicker and easier, and we got back at 1230, just in time for lunch. 

After lunch, around 130, we hiked another 20 minutes or so to a local coffee farm. We went to a local farm close to campus that is run by a small family. They have zbout 4,000 coffee plants! They used to just pick the beans and then sold them to the local coop, but that was not making ends meet. Two years ago they purchased all the equipment to shell and roast the coffee themselves. We went out to the plants and picked the beans for about half an hour. It really was so much fun! The weather here is absolutely amazing that I could pick beans for hours. The farm is a little higher than campus so you can feel the moisture from the clouds on your face. Coffee needs to be planted in the shade in order to grow best, so that makes picking it even better. 

After we picked the beans we headed back to the house to learn about the roasting process. They put the beans into a machine that takes away the outer fruit. After that they soak the beans in water four about 12 to 14 hours. They then dry them under a tent for about 10 days. After that they are either stored, or roasted. They said that they like to roast the beans only when their supply is running low in order to keep it as fresh as possible. The family only roasts medium and dark roast, and it takes about 40 minutes to roast the medium and 45 for the dark. Afterwards we were taken inside and given samples of both roasts. It is truly the best coffee I have ever had. It was amazing to drink it because I knew where it was grown and even who picked it. They sell the coffee on the farm and they use bags that are made locally in the community. They bags are only 5 bucks a pop, so I plan on getting quite a bit before I come back. If anyone wants some, place your orders in the comments or facebook me. I'm not gonna buy it until right before I leave, therefore I bring it home as fresh as possible!

We start classes tomorrow! My first class is Spanish at 830, and then I don't really know the rest of my schedule after that, but I guess I'll figure it out. Horseback riding starts for me on thursday at 615! Wish me luck. I'm not quite sure if tomorrow can beat today, but here's hoping!