On the first day of our 6 week trip around Costa Rica, we had the pleasure of exploring Hacienda La Chimba, a beautiful 179-acre hacienda, a large ranch or plantation, 25 minutes outside of San Jose to the neighborhood of Barrio Espana. Set on the side of the beautiful Santa Ana mountains, Hacienda La Chimba combines Costa Rica’s traditions, nature, adventure, and hidden treasure.
Our tour started at the bird sanctuary and we learned about the different types of native birds. Interestingly, parrots only have one lover in their life and if they die, they do not mate with another bird. We saw the two love birds perched together.
La casa de Chepita is a house decorated in a way that Costa Ricans used to live many years ago.
The people of Costa Rica are very religious, attending church at least once a week.
On top of some of the buildings at Hacienda La Chimba, you can see solar panels! Costa Rica is powered by 99% renewable energy. Drone photo by Dave Scott
Getting to the Buddha statue by foot is not easy as the path is 4.5km, mostly uphill, taking 1 hr 30 mins. The kind tour guide and the staff let us onto their golf cart up to the Buddha statue. On the way up the mountain, we saw a huge Costa Rica sign in the colors of their flag overlooking the mountains.
Stand at the I and take your photo!
The Buddha statue is magnificent, standing tall in the middle of the woods. The materials were brought in and it was made at the spot of its current location.
We headed back down the mountain for their coffee tour! We learned about their own coffee “Café Mi Momento”
The way of brewing coffee in Costa Rica before machines pouring hot water over a sock with a stand to hold it.
After tasting their delicious coffee including light, medium, and dark roast, we began to see their coffee production.
Coffee plants!
The coffee seed is shown in the diagram in the photo. Yes, the coffee seed is red!
The coffee beans are turned every 3 hours by hand during the day to dry out the seeds.
Their coffee production is massive. Their warehouse storage (three times the amount not shown) is produced in only 3 months during harvesting season.
After relaxing, drinking fresh coffee we began the adventure straight uphill to La Mano Del Mantra.
It is a newly opened section of Hacienda La Chimba that offers stunning views of the mountains.
You can get onto the hand and take a photo!
Hacienda La Chimba is a must-do if in the capital city of Costa Rica. If you’re looking for a local experience in the city, this is the place! Read about more adventures in Costa Rica.
