The two weeks I spent in Bambu rivaled the best two weeks I have experienced in my life.  I understand very little Spanish and speak even less but in spite of that, all of the people in the community were very kind and friendly to me.  Nothing had to be said; they just welcomed me into their families and homes. 

For two weeks we spent a few hours each week teaching English to the grade five and six classes

at the  school and a few hours in the retirement home doing crafts and painting pictures with some of the residents there.  It was all smiles and laughs as we spent time with the wonderful people there. 

In the evening we held English classes for one hour for people of all ages and varying levels of competency of the English language.  In the school the children really warmed up to us and were eager to learn English.  They were a really fun bunch of kids.

The evening English classes were the most fun of all.  We taught the same material that we had  introduced at the school during the day and then we would play games afterward.  We played tag and hide-and-go-seek with all of the young children there.  One night we made Smores for them.  All of the kids that came to our evening classes wanted to be best friends with every one of us.

The lodging was like a gigantic tree fort with tents set up to protect us from the bugs.  It was a great set up and worked very well.  The meals were fantastic.  Sometimes I felt like they were cooking something special for us.  It was a great chance to enjoy some of the traditional Costa Rican cuisine.  I was really sad to leave Bambu.  When we were traveling away from Bambu I had  already begun to plan my next visit.  But at the end of the day I had such a fantastic time and I will have that with me forever.  While we were there we went on some fun tours to waterfalls in Panama and on a river fishing tour as well.

Before going to Guanacaste we went on a 3 hour white water rafting tour through class 3-4+ rapids and had a tour of the Arenal Volcano.  Both of those tours were so much fun.  There are not very many people here in Guanacaste to keep the turtle conservation project going so they really need volunteers.  I was happy to help out in doing the daily chores during the day and to patrol the beach at night.

From the beginning of my adventure everything was planned out and worked out exceptionally well.  I  never once worried about where I was going, who was going to meet me at the airport or where I would be staying.  I really look forward to returning to this wonderful country and the wonderful people in the near future.

Ryan Kilberg, Canada.

Click on the pics to enlarge