Sugar caning, what an interesting process from the field to your dining room table.  It takes about sugar cane 8 months to grow about 12 feet high and with a 2 inch diameter.  Because it grows so easily it can be harvested anytime of the year in the tropics.  When it reaches the above size the sugar cane fields are burned to get rid of the various snakes in the field, burn off the grass (leaves of sugar cane), and most notably to rid the plant of its super sharp edges so humans can go in and cut it.  Once a plant or field as been burned, the heat of the combustion actually starts the sugars in the plant to ferment, so you've only got 24 hours to harvest after the field as been burned and cut.  The stalks are then run though a pressing machine that acts to squeeze out all the sugary juices from the stalks.  About 200 stalks like the ones in the photo below produce about 10 gallons of sugary water, which is then boiled till about 75% of the water is boiled off.  This sugary molasses you're then left with is poured into wood molds and allowed to harden for 1 day before it's solid like the sugar cane we're all familiar with.  Sugar like this is equal parts sucrose, glucose, and fructose.

Sugar cane cut this morning ready to be pressed and made into sugar.

I thought this opportune image summed up Costa Rica well: super well known for it's wildlife in a country that is coping with the many challenges of modernity.

A nice scenic view of a church overlooking a broad rainforest valley.

Quite the colorful wagon used to haul sugar cane.

Double click on the movie below to see a quick clip of the leaf cutter ants in action!