Theme golu diorama - Costa Rica and Doka Coffee Estate, that tells the story and journey of coffee

The theme, of our 2014 golu’s side project, is Costa Rica. We made a theme golu diorama of Costa Rica, the country, and, the very beautiful Doka Coffee Plantation in Costa Rica.

The link to our golu album, uploaded on my google plus photos page, is given below. I have detailed and shared some arts and crafts ideas, for other golu enthusiasts and hobbyists in my album. E.g., cork paper ($1 to $2 per sheet at Michaels stores) is an excellent substitute that you can use, to produce the look of a completely natural, soil-like sandy floor in a diorama.

https://plus.google.com/photos/113430981528687324681/albums/6067977311485328353

Costa Rica, in Central America, is famous for its rich diversity of plants and animals, nature conservation and environment sustainability policies, and, for its coffee.

Our welcome sign board incorporates the Costa Rican flag along the corners, Costa Rica’s national emblem, and the characteristic Costa Rican phrase - 'Pura Vida' that is used as a greeting. The wordings on the signboard were designed with red and blue colors, based on Costa Rica's flag colors. The greenery in the sign board, is meant to highlight the greenery, that Costa Rica is so famous for!

Part I: Costa Rica, the country

In my attempt to recreate Costa Rica, the country - I have included the following:

1. A hanging bridge, made using trash bag twist ties, a thin metal chain, and craft dowel sticks.

2. A zip line. Ziplines, that zip people across lush greenery, are a key tourist attraction in Costa Rica.

3. Hiking trails made with ice cream craft sticks, on 2 gently sloping hills

4. Vista points and over look points at the end of the trails, overlooking the country below

5. Costa Rican animals, including, birds, insects, vipers, crocodiles, turtles, butterflies and colorful Costa Rican frogs. Frog exhibits and frog gardens are very popular in Costa Rica.

6. Costa Rica's different shades of healthy greenery, beneath the hanging bridges and zip lines, using aquarium plants

(Items 1 to 6 above, are meant to resemble, what one gets to see in a popular eco-destination, like the hike at the Monte Verde Biological Reserve).

7. A bridge, resembling the bridge en route the drive from Monte Verde to Manuel Antonio, from where one can view at least 60 to 70 crocodiles below the bridge, basking in the sun

8. Costa Rica's environment friendly character, as depicted in the trash classification signboard, above the trash station.

If the above scenes in our diorama depict Costa Rica's nature and touristy aspects, the following exhibits below in our diorama, projects the arts and crafts aspect and character of Costa Rica:

9. A colorful hammock made from a hospital flu face mask, behind the estate worker homes. Colorful hammocks, made and sold in Costa Rica, are very popular Costa Rican souvenirs.

10. Costa Rican wooden art, that greets us at the entrance, as we enter Costa Rica’s territory.

11. Costa Rican painted oxcarts and Sarchi paintings, which are again traditional to Costa Rica.

Part II: Doka Coffee Plantation, in Costa Rica, that educates us on the story and journey of coffee

The next part of the diorama is, Doka Coffee Plantation, The World's Best Coffee Plantation, Costa Rica.

The Coffee Tour at Doka Coffee Plantation is meant to educate the tour visitors on the journey of coffee – from coffee as a sapling, to the brewed coffee that goes into a cup, and, everything in between.

A lot can happen over coffee! Most people know

A lot does happen inside a coffee! Via our golu, we’ll tell you. But nothing like seeing it live!

In my attempt to recreate Doka Coffee Estate, and their coffee tour, I have recreated about 10 scenes in all:-

   1. Doka Restaurant, where visitors can try a number of Doka coffee blends

   2. Butterfly Garden at Doka Estate, with the famous Costa Rican blue morpho butterflies.

   3. Coffee Processing Plant, Storage, and Drying Station

   4. Estate worker homes, inside the plantation

   5. Coffee fields

   6. A Doka Estate coffee tour guide explaining coffee’s journey to tour visitors

   7. Coffee saplings ready to be transplanted to the soil

   8. Fruit stall, that sells Doka grown fruits and vegetables, in lieu of Doka’s coffee store

   9. Front office (Reception) to buy the tour tickets, and, an adjacent car park lot

   10. A painted red oxcart in the center, as a photo ops spot

I have used Doka Estate's emblems and logos, without the permission of the estate. My diorama was created for a non-commercial use and I do not want to be held responsible for errors and inaccuracies. My diorama is just a harmless art project.

Imitation is the best form of admiration and the greatest form of flattery. The Coffee Tour at Doka Coffee Plantation was very educational and interesting. A lot certainly happens inside a coffee and within a coffee production and processing house! We were glad we stopped at Doka. We'll encourage future tourists to make the stop too. Each tour visitor gets to appreciate his or her cup of coffee even more after the tour!

Costa Rica, the country should be celebrated, for their love and preservation of nature.

Aarthi Rishi.

Sunnyvale, CA