Villa Vanilla grows spectacular rainforest spices in Costa Rica [travel]

My sister and I took a tour of this sustainable organic spice farm right outside of Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica in November of last year. You'd be really surprised of what they are able to grow and produce there at the plantation with nothing but natural resources and the land surrounding them.

The secret of pollinating the vanilla plant (which is an orchid) remained a mystery to most of the world until the mid 1800's. Pre-columbian mesoamerican's knew how to pollinate vanilla way before the 1500's. Villa Vanilla grows will let you sample the vanilla beans they grow.

The farm offers samples of everything and even a small store that sells real vanilla beans, cinnamon sticks, vanilla extract, and more. The tours are absolutely enlightening, you get to experience everything that is grown hands on and get a great idea of what it is like to work on the farm.

Henry runs the farm, he is a great resource and a wealth of knowledge about everything there. He is an expert in the field and can be relied upon for any information about spices or biodynamic agriculture.

Villa Vanilla