For over 4,000 years, the art of ceramics have, in one way or another, stayed with the Guanacaste people since their origin in pre-columbian times -- from traditional use at home -- up to their current production of replicas and decorative pieces. In Guatil & San Vicente of Nicoya in Costa Rica, this ancestral heritage has been handed down from generation-to-generation. Up until the 50’s, the largest production and sales of the pieces were for traditional use at home. These products were very well known throughout the region and the materials to produce the products were extracted from mountains in the same area.

This meant a lot to the people of the area because it gave them an income, especially the women, who were in charge of manufacturing the griddles, pots, jars and other pieces used at home. The situation changed in the 60’s and the 70’s when men were integrated to the production manufacturing replicas of pre-columbian and decorative pieces that were very much liked by the growing tourism Costa Rica was beginning to experience.

In the Community of Guaitil, more than half of the population older than 12 years old is involved in the production of ceramics. Some are in charge of collecting the materials in the mountains, others give shape to the sculptures and others paint them and sell the pieces. There’s even a group in charge of collecting the wood necessary to use in the traditional mood ovens that are used in finishing the process of the pieces.

The pieces are made in the houses of the people and in community workshops where the young people learn how to be an artisan. One of the strategies that they’re using to promote these beautiful pieces is the Eco Museum, where this is used to preserved the arts and the learning process. Currently, part of the production is positioned in national and international markets, but because they’re not getting a lot of visitors and therefore, not getting an income. Some of the people, especially the young ones, are migrating to work for major hotels in Guanacaste.

This is where Tropical Adventures comes in. Our way to help them out is to help expose them to the tourist market and to help provide them with more volunteer help to assist them with tours and translations. It would truly be a tragedy to lose such a beautiful and long-lasting piece of our culture here. In this process, our volunteers are able to learn how to manufacture these beautiful pieces, live with an artisan family, enjoy their unique and delicious food, participate in community activities and finish with a big dinner created to present the pieces that they have made with their host families and enjoy a night of celebration with all the people in town.

If you're interested in more information about our Guaitil project, please contact us at 1-800-832-9419 from the US or Canada, email us or call +506-25-74-44-12 internationally.

Watch a video from Guaitil.

Susan was a volunteer with Tropical Adventures back in October of 2007 on the Talamanca Indigenous Reservation. She worked with the community, the elementary school and the retirement home. She's one of our many "dream" volunteers who came with a great attitude, worked hard, fell in love with the people here and who continues to stay in touch and help us out in many ways. She's part of our very large and extended Tropical Adventures Family. "We love you Susan!" Here is her story...

In the Talamanca mountains of south eastern Costa Rica, the village of Bambu consists of about 20 houses, two small stores, a retirement home, an elementary school, a beautiful cultural center, and some of the nicest people you will ever meet! My recent time there was a wonderful, fulfilling experience and I promised myself I will go back soon.

Why did I choose Tropical Adventures? After hearing about them on another trip to Costa Rica last winter, I contacted the staff and was warmly welcomed as a potential volunteer. My emails were always answered quickly and full of information. No question was too silly or insignificant not to warrant a prompt, helpful response. I felt comfortable with the price that included everything from airport pick up, medical coverage, local coordinators in the area, and well-screened host families. Care was taken to consider my talents and interests and also the needs of the community I would be visiting.

Bambu and I turned out to be a great match. My host family was delightful. Their house was rustic, with an outdoor shower and toilet, but clean and I had a private room. My host “mother” provided three meals a day centered around rice, beans and plantains. Flory also made the most delicious tortillas for breakfast and, of course, rich Costa Rican coffee. My host “father” Gilbert left early in the morning for work and returned after dark but still had time to study a little English with me. Their son, Flander, who is 8 was a charming little fellow; well behaved and full of questions for me.

My second day in Bambu there was a baby shower. About 25 women from the community gathered. It was great to meet so many people so soon. We decorated the hall with balloons and crepe paper, made chop suey (chicken, vegetables and noodles) for a snack and rice pudding and lemon tea for dessert. The shower was a surprise for the mother to be and she was delighted. Sister Elizabeth from the retirement home led the party games and there were lots of giggles.

Gilbert loved the French toast I made at breakfast one day, first time for both French toast and Canadian maple syrup. The whole family loved to hear the story of where maple syrup comes from and how it is produced.

I love cooking and another day I made deviled eggs for the family and neighbors. I was surprised at the store. It is not unusual here to buy only 3 or 4 eggs at a time. The shopkeeper really looked surprised when I asked for eighteen. You can also purchase many things here in small amounts, only one aspirin from a bottle, 20gm packages of peanuts, little bags of mayonnaise with a spout.

The Bambu Retirement Home is an amazing place, with 20 well cared for and loved seniors. The building is simple and kept spotlessly clean. Run by three nuns who have a great sense of humour, fun and lots of love for the residents.

Breakfast was over by 9am when I arrived and from then until 12 noon it was time for crafts and exercise. Everyone who could possibly participate did. We made popsicle houses, fish from recycled pop bottles, flowers from coffee filters, cut up old calendars, colored, decorated plant holders made from old pop bottles, painted balsa wood cut outs and decorated them with dollar store decorations I had brought.

The faces of the residents beamed with pleasure as Hermana (Sister) Blanca praised and admired their work. Exercise is taken serious here, again, everyone who is able to participates. Five residents a day use the exercise bike, but it really needs replacing, held together with rope, screws falling out, it was a sad site!

After my morning at the retirement home I went to the elementary school and taught English to nine grade 6 students for an hour. The students favourite activity was word bingo, maybe it was the stickers I handed out as prizes!

After a few hours off in the afternoon, when I rested and did some prep work for teaching the next day, I went to the Cultural Center to teach English again in the evening for a few hours.

Before leaving Canada, co workers at the nursing home in Canada were I work donated money to buy supplies for the Home, I shopped in Cosco In San Jose and a friend from Costa Rica delivered them to Bambu on my last day there.

My last day in Bambu was also special because the director and other volunteers from Tropical Adventures came to give the ladies bedrooms and bathrooms and freshen up with a much needed coat of paint. My friends from San Jose (Jose is the Director Fuerza Publica for Costa Rica) arrived and brought with them some local police men that helped us paint.

The residents loved all the excitement, there was lots of laughter as the work got down in record time by people from Costa Rica, Canada, The United States, Columbia and Venezuela all working together.

I really want to thank Tropical Adventures and the people of Bambu for a warm welcome and the wonderful opportunity to live and work along side so many great people!

Susan Schuetze

We took this video back in October of one of our fabulous and wonderful volunteers, Jane, while she was teaching an English class at the El Yaz Elementary School. This is one of the two schools which are part of our La Flor volunteer program here in Costa Rica in the Cartago Province.

Jane did such a marvelous job of teaching and really gave 110% the whole time she was with us. She also donated a video camera and helped the kids in La Flor and El Yaz begin to learn how to develop stories and capture them on film.

Though this may not seem like anything out of the ordinary to people outside of Costa Rica, one might take into account that these children have no computers and very few of these kids even have things such as a DVD player or a VCR at home. So the opportunity to learn about technology is great, as well as being trusted with something valuable in a culture and country where "trust" does not come easily.

Many thanks to you Jane -- and all our volunteers -- for helping us to keep these programs alive and to help us educate, stimulate, and enrich the lives of the kids here in Central America!

On December 18th we had an amazing celebration with the residents of the Bambu Retirement Home. Four Tropical Adventures Foundation staff members (Scott, Isaac, Mauro and Elizabeth) attended, as well as the following hard-working volunteers:

Anita Stevens, Allison Schlett, Danielle Swears, Kimberly Abels, Danilo Gabb

We began by setting up lots of decorations, playing Christmas music and then moved into playing games with the residents and staff members. Afterwards we gave away gifts and served lots of food and deserts.

Still, I think the favorite parts for the residents were when we danced and when we played with bubbles. We really had a blast! And at the end, I’m convinced that they had us more tired and worn out than they were!

We were all very proud and happy to have had the opportunity to go spend some time with our beautiful friends at the retirement home. Though we make it a point to visit them all year round, there is still something special about the holiday season.

We brought with us several supplies, materials and food that they really needed. If you ever have the desire to join us or, to donate to the cause, or especially if you’d like to spend a couple of weeks volunteering at the retirement home, please just contact us for more information. More pictures of the party can be seen by clicking here.

Many times volunteers really want to come to Costa Rica and participate in our programs, but they say they can't afford it. Why not think about doing some good old fashioned fundraising to help pay for some -- or all -- of your costs?

Amanda Rose Kessner and her friends paid for 100% of the costs of their trip to volunteer in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, including their airfare. And she says it was easy! In this article, Amanda shares her tips with us on how to do it. Amanda is currently a student at UC Santa Cruz, double majoring in Feminist Studies and Community Studies. She recently interned in Costa Rica through a non-profit called CAN and worked at a fair/direct trade coffee coop.

Fundraising

When fundraising for a volunteer project it is important to remember that no fundraiser is too small; every penny counts when you are working towards a good cause. The first step to professional fundraising is organizing a fundraising game plan, so to speak.

If you will be receiving monetary donations you should arrange where the money will go. Do you plan on accepting personal checks? Are you willing to accept cash? Another way to receive donations is to set up a PayPal account (paypal.com), which enables donors to go online and contribute directly to your cause. You should first check with your volunteer organization to see if they have some advice, as they may have a system in place to help you. In addition, your volunteer organization might have a way to make those donations tax deductible for your donors.

Once the direction of your donations are arranged the next step is to type up a mission statement with your plans, goals, and why you feel passionately about what you are fundraising for. You might want to even make your own brochure with photos.

Do not forget to mention the organization you will be working with and provide their information as well. It always helps to provide credible references. People are more likely to contribute to something they perceive as legitimate and providing website links, etc. can help to support your mission statement. The last information you want to provide in your mission statement is your monetary goal and how to donate. This will help people gage what will be an effective contribution.

Depending on how much time you have prior to your project you may want to create a website or a blog where you can post your mission statement as well us update people on your fundraising progress, how close you are to goals, projects dates, dates of scheduled fundraisers, and you can share your experiences after your volunteer work is completed.

Personal websites and mission statements can be distributed to all your friends, family, neighbors, local business, your place of worship, youth groups, or in class. If you are a student it is great to share your mission statement in your classes and ask for support from your peers. One idea is to pass around a large envelope around a classroom and ask people to contribute just a dollar. This may seem silly or insignificant, but every dollar will add up, especially if you were to do this exercise in all of your classes.

Take advantage of local restaurants and venues for fundraising. Many local businesses are interested in doing percentage shares where they will give some of their profit to your cause if you bring the customers for a fundraiser. Maybe you have friends in a band. Ask them if they are willing to play to raise money for your project. Community organizations and international groups such as the Rotary Club are also great to get in touch with because often times they already have money set aside to donate and maybe it could be for you and your cause. You won’t know until you ask!

Another great idea is to contact your local newspaper or radio station and see if they would be interested in advertising your cause with donation information or announce the date of a fundraiser your have planned. Depending on if you are working solo or you have friends working toward the same goal it always helps to team up. Good group fundraisers are bake sales, fundraising picnics, walk-a-thons where people can donate a certain amount for each lap walked, or going door-to-door in your neighborhood asking for donations. Most importantly, you must keep track of everyone who contributes to your cause and send them thank you cards as well as let them know how your volunteer project went and share your experiences. People will be much more willing to support you in the future if you thank them and let them know about how they contributed by sharing the great work you did with their help. If you are professional, creative, and passionate about what you are raising money for, you can’t go wrong!

On December 14th, 2007 Tropical Adventures celebrated the first of our big four holiday events in the small rural communities of La Flor & El Yaz. We welcomed over 150 children, parents, teachers and local supporters. It was a great success!

To begin with, the weather was absolutely beautiful, which was a great thing since our “main attraction” was a big bouncy castle. We also had table games, painting, soccer, bingo, hot dogs, ice cream, prizes and a really big Frosty the Snowman piñata filled with tons of candy.

It was so great to see all the faces of the children and adults come to celebrate with us together. We’re happy to say that we truly feel like a welcome part of the community. Click here to see more pictures from our La Flor party.

In 2006 Tropical Adventures was only able to celebrate their fantastic year with one holiday party in one of the areas / communities we serve. We hosted a party and donated over 500 gifts to the indigenous children on the Talamanca Indigenous Reservation.

This year we are happy to say – thanks to our phenomenal growth and to the generosity of our many supporters – we are able to host a total of four holiday events!

All of our parties are being held in communities where we work to celebrate the people we work with, the children we teach, the teachers who allow us to work side-by-side with them, the principals who allow us into their schools, the host families who open their doors and their hearts to our volunteers and care for them like their own children while they are here in Costa Rica, our Spanish professors and all the people in general who support us all year long in our efforts to support the community.

All of the parties include food, games, and gifts and are educationally oriented. This year we are hosting the parties in the following communities:

• The rural towns of La Flor and El Yaz in the Central Valley
• The Bambu Retirement Home on the Talamanca Indigenous Reservation)
• Puerto Viejo, Limon
• Bambu Community on the Talamanca Indigenous Reservation

Though we’re a bit exhausted from the first party, we are looking very much forward to the next three – as well as the opportunity to celebrate the holidays with our very extended Tropical Adventures family all around the country.

A great big “Thank You” to everyone who has helped to make all of this a reality. If you could only have the chance to look into the eyes of some of the children who have never received a gift in their lives. There are no words that can describe that feeling.

The parties will run us a cost of approximately $6,000. A couple of volunteer families have worked tirelessly over the last few months doing some fundraising and have raised $4,500. That leaves us short only $1,500. If you, or someone you know, would like to donate a few dollars to help us cover the cost of these events, we would be very grateful. Simply visit our secure website by clicking here, or contact us at 1-800-832-9419 or by email. Thank you for your ongoing support!

It’s funny the kind of assumptions I find myself making in life sometimes. Not consciously, of course. Somehow I’ve found myself buying into subconscious little misconceptions of reality that have later led me to disappointment later in life.

At its core of many of misconceptions I think is, “If I’m a good boy, people are going to like me.” Ha ha ha! Now that’s a seriously messed up statement!

I’ve seen many volunteers make that wrong assumption and try to warn them about it when they arrive here in Costa Rica. For instance, one assumption volunteers make is thinking that just because they work hard to help others, everyone around them will shower them with love, appreciation and thanks.

Often, especially in Costa Rica, that is the case – but not always. And when faced with ungrateful people, it often comes as a shock and a surprise. And it hurts!

I fell into that same trap yesterday thanks to Amanda, otherwise known as “The Grinch” around our office now.

We sent out our end-of-year newsletter yesterday, which we were very excited about. We had an amazing year and wanted to share about all that we accomplished and what we were looking forward to for the next year with our friends, volunteers and supporters.

When we saw our first response come in we were very excited. We mistakenly thought it was going to be a “good for you, congratulations and keep up the great work” kind of response. But much to our surprise, we opened the email and found this:

“I have unsubscribed to your email list. As a professional fundraiser, I find your volunteer program to be totally repugnant. The idea of charging to volunteer and call it a vacation does not sit well with me. Are you a tour business or a non-profit? Figure it out because I really think it's slimy.”

I find it really interesting that people think because we are a non-profit that all our employees should work for free. That our landlord donates the property to us, and the gas station puts gas free into our vehicles. What about the phone company? Should they let us make free phone calls too?

Anyhow, at the same time (after I calmed down for a minute), The Grinch’s email made me thankful for the many wonderful supporters we do have. Without them, we would not be able to provide the wonderful programs and services to our local children, families, communities and wildlife.

The truth is, not everyone is going to like us or appreciate us. That’s okay. We don’t do what we do to impress people. We do what we do because we believe in it. Sometimes it’s hard to remember that in the face of hatred and nastiness.

To all you Grinches out there: A very Happy Holiday Season to you. We hope you find Peace and Joy somewhere deep in your hearts. And that if you yourselves find you are in need someday, there will be someone to help you without judging you.

Warm holiday greetings to you and your loved ones from all of us in Costa Rica at Tropical Adventures!

As we prepare for our year-end holiday activities and begin to implement our exciting new 2008 projects, I thought it only fitting to look back and share with you our accomplishments and learnings from the last couple of years and thank you for your generous support.

Since its inception in 2005, our organization has grown at lightning speed. In just this year alone along with our over 220 volunteers from around the world, our small foundation made quite a mark as we:

• Raised funds to replace the roof for the Hone Creek Elementary School
• Began a project to grow organic food to feed the poor in Puerto Viejo de Limon
• Taught English and tutored hundreds of children throughout the country
• Saved thousands of sea turtle eggs from being poached
• Saved hundreds of iguanas from being eaten or killed
• Painted a high school in Guanacaste
• Taught environmental education to hundreds of school children
• Planted over 6,000 trees and medicinal plants
• Cleaned countless of miles of beaches
• Painted a retirement home on the Talamanca Indigenous Reservation
• Hosted an international corporate “green retreat” with 125 participants

More amazing to me, however, are the personal stories from our host families and children in our schools. Watching them prosper financially, educationally and emotionally over the last couple of years has been the most rewarding part of my job.

Sometimes it’s as simple as watching a family earn the funds to be able to buy a front door where there were none before, or be able to buy themselves a stove for cooking. Other times I see children developing stronger skills in school or stronger self-esteem. I see these positive changes as a direct effect of the presence of our amazing volunteers and our ongoing projects in our communities. It truly makes me proud to be part of this organization.

In 2008, in addition to our ongoing projects we plan to open a Spanish language school, expand our work with sea turtles underneath the water, begin working with a dolphin research program and a monkey refuge center, run a Summer Camp for families, lead eight free medical and dental clinics throughout Central America and expand our educational programs in our elementary schools. By 2009, we are working towards implementing a program to help drug addicts and creating a rehabilitation program. There are currently only a shocking total of 8 beds available in Costa Rica in their social medical program for those needing rehabilitation assistance, with a waiting list of thousands.

As you know, the cost of these projects is great and does not get covered by just the price of our volunteer packages.

As is true for many non-profits, we are running at a deficit. Right now we are about $40,000 in debt. However, we’re happy to say we have a solid, 2-year plan in place, which we believe will enable us to be fully self-supportive. In the meantime, we are hoping to find a way to pull ourselves out of the current debt that we have.

In the event that you may be planning any year-end giving, we’d love for you to consider Tropical Adventures. Any amount would help. Even if you only have $1 to spare, we’ll gladly accept your generous gift. We accept credit cards, PayPal and checks.

To make a donation by credit card or PayPal, simply click here to visit our secure website or call our toll-free number at 1-800-832-9419. Checks may be made out to the “Tropical Adventures Foundation” and may be sent to our US address:

Tropical Adventures Foundation
1775 E Palm Canyon Dr.
Suite H-341
Palm Springs CA 92264

We’re also offering a wide variety of Tropical Adventures apparel and gift items available at our Online Marketplace, such as t-shirts, hats, mugs, calendars, etc. Proceeds go directly to support our programs.

We can’t thank you enough for all your generous and loving support from this year. Please know you have our best wishes for a safe and wonderful holiday season. And we hope to hear from you soon!

Scott Pralinsky
Executive Director

Tropical Adventures had the amazing privilege of hosting 125 volunteers last week from the world’s leader in Sensory Innovation, Givaudan Fine Fragrances.

Three long months went into planning a special trip for Givaudan Fine Fragrance employees who attended a global team building and corporate bonding event here in Costa Rica for a four-day period.

Billed as “Givaudan Growing Together 2007,” participants arrived from France, New York and South America to “grow together” as a company, as well as to do their part to help the environment.

We all worked together to:

• Plant 1,000 trees at an animal refuge
• Plant 5,000 medicinal plants at a technical high school
• Paint a high school
• Lead environmental education workshops for 400 elementary school kids

Tropical Adventures Executive Director, Scott Pralinsky, facilitated the corporate bonding and team building exercises and helped Givaudan participants determine what personal values their employees bring to their work. After looking at the relationship between their personal values and Givaudan corporate values, participants worked together in teams to develop new corporate initiatives and goals for the future of the company.

Though we had a very tight schedule and worked incredibly hard, we still found plenty of time for fun and enjoyed several banquets and parties. We even squeezed in a canopy / zip-line tour. On Monday night we had a beach party at the Paradisus Playa Conchal where we all stayed during the event. Tuesday we had an amazing beach party at Lola’s on Playa Avellanas.

Wednesday night we celebrated with a grand finale party in the middle of the jungle and enjoyed an evening full of entertainment. The surprise event started when the group was driven by bus into the “middle of nowhere” and was met by a live calypso band. We were then led through a long, jungle labyrinth by a group of mystical creatures.

The other end of the labyrinth was like another world altogether. It was pretty incredible, to say the least. There was an amazing DJ, Ciro, who kept us on the jungle dance floor all night. Tepee chill out lounges were set up and brilliantly lit.

There was a large screen showing clips of photos from the week, as well as the names of the values that the participants had identified from the work they did in their team building breakout sessions. We had amazing decorations, lounge chairs and sofas, an open bar, as well as food. We enjoyed entertainment by fire spinners, phosphorescent performers, a Cirque du Soleil-style segment, a Cuban comparsa celebration, face painting, and fireworks.

Our Tropical Adventures team did an amazing job. It was a lot of work, for sure. But at the same time, it was a lot of fun. We thank Givaudan Fine Fragrances for giving us this opportunity to host them and we hope that we have the opportunity to see them again soon!

Photos can be viewed on our online photo gallery. We got some amazing shots. If your company or group has an interest in planning an event in Costa Rica, Tropical Adventures would be happy to help.

We specialize in creating unique experiences for groups of all sizes. Please contact us for more information.

We're very excited to announce that we have our new online store up and ready in time for your holiday shopping! For a couple of years now our volunteers have asked us about buying t-shirts and other products with our Tropical Adventures logo that they could bring home to share with their family and to help support us as a non-profit foundation.

Well, we finally have many products available, including t-shirts, mugs, jackets, sweatshirts, clocks, hats, calendars, magnets, posters, prints and much more!

Not only will you love the quality of the products, but you'll feel great knowing all the proceeds go directly to support our non-profit foundation and the communities we serve here in Costa Rica!

Please visit our new online store today by clicking here! Shop early and spent $75 and you can receive free sipping in the US! See our store for more details.