Costa Rica Adventure and Service I

DAYS 1 – 3: SAN JOSE, VOLCAN POAS NATIONAL PARK

Our journey begins with a direct flight into San Jose and a sound sleep in our luxurious hotel. As an introduction to what makes Costa Rica so unique, our first full day we’ll head to nearby Volcan Poas National Park for a firsthand look at the country’s extraordinary biodiversity; see pumas, monkeys, toucans (and many other birds), sloths, frogs, butterflies, and countless tropical creatures surround you. Five huge waterfalls and a cloud forest are there, too!

DAYS 3 – 5: PACUARE RIVER

From San Jose we’ll take a private bus to the Pacuare River and raft to our next destination: a beautiful, comfortable lodge in the heart of the rainforest. Swim in waterfalls and soak in pools, hike through the jungle, relax in hammocks, zipline over canopy and participate in our first community service project of tree planting.

DAYS 5 – 8: PUERTO VIEJO DE LIMON

We’ll head south to our hotel on the beach near the town of Puerto Viejo de Limon. Spend a day canoeing down the Yorkin river with our local BriBri guide who will teach you about the surrounding nature and, after a swim in the cool water, take us through organic cocoa and banana plantations. We then visit the indigenous Yorkin village and participate in a lesson on making chocolate and learn how the BriBri people weave the thatched roofs of their houses. The following morning we’ll start our next community service project of cleaning the nearby beach before heading to Cahuita for an afternoon of snorkeling in the clear Caribbean water.

DAYS 8 – 10: TORTUGUERO

We then say Pura Vida! to Puerto Viejo and head north along the coast to the Pacuare Reserve in the Tortuguero Rainforest. Here we’ll have the chance to team up with biologists who’ve been working on a turtle conservation project in this region for over twenty years. Spend time with conservationists patrolling for the endangered leatherback turtle. One of our mornings will be spent cleaning the beach, the most vital part of the turtles’ habitat.

DAYS 10 – 12: TURRIALBA

Our next and final stop is Turrialba National Park. Part of our time here we’ll spend a morning volunteering at a local school, play games with the kids, and help out with whatever needs to be done at the time (painting a wall, light handiwork, etc). We’ll also go on an all-encompassing mountain bike tour in the countryside, riding up scenic hills and through various different plantations where everything from coffee to mangos is grown.

DAYS 12 – 13: SAN JOSE

After our final night in San Jose and a trip to the airport, you’ll spend the flight home wondering how you saw and did so many things in so little time... Pura Vida!