Banana Plantations

Cavendish bananas in Costa Rica

Located in Cahuita Park, there is a banana plantation. Pearing a resemblance to Louisianian plantations, the main media for the history would be the buildings. Many people go to plantations to regard the beauty and grandeur of the main plantation house, but there are other buildings on the many acres of land.

Even if the banana plantations are no longer used for production, people go to visit them to learn about the historical aspects. Just like people in Louisiana, the plantations offer insight to what life used to be like in the Costa Rican plantation society. The main buildings and facilities of the plantation are the forms of media used. Tourists roam from building to building in search for knowledge of what was.

possible questions to ask

• Since the banana plantations are considered a part of the Cahuita National Park, are there people that work on the plantations today? Are the bananas left for the native wildlife to eat?
• Aren’t the banana plantations connected to New Orleans in some way? I read that the former ruler of Costa Rica was living in New Orleans before he returned to the the  country to lead a coup d’etat.
• Even though the plantations are located in a protected area, how much damage did the plantations cause to the environment?
• In early Costa Rican history, natives were used to work on plantations. Were the natives ever replaced with slaves from Africa? If slaves were used, when was slavery outlawed?
• In Louisiana, there are slaves quarters and separate buildings for kitchens. Is the layout to the Banana Plantations the same? Or is it different depending on what type of crop is grown?
• When were the peak years for banana production? What time of the year are the bananas harvested?

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