Last week me and Jakub had a chance to visit Hojancha and had a great opportunity to visit Daycare and Nutritional Center. Hojancha is a small town located in the Province of Guanacaste. The origin of the name Hojancha comes from a tree located in the region, which the Indians called broad-leaved, because of the very special characteristics and the size of their leaves.

Because Hojancha is a small town, it's easy get to know local people and to make new friends. Volunteers are welcome in town and are taken care of very well by our host families and community members.

Hojancha can be proud of its cleanness, how well the town is organized and maintained. Even more, it is one of the safest towns in the country and it is reflected that residents feel in safety and many of them still leave their doors unlocked day and night.  Hojancha is still considered a small town in Guanacaste but it is one of the most respected.

Projects in Hojancha that are currently possible to join are Art & Music Project and Daycare and Nutritional Center. And also in Hojancha our Holiday Project will take place. For more information please see here.

As I mentioned at the beginnig this time we had the chance to visit Daycare and Nutritional Center. It was created to function as an educator for parents and kids to teach them better hygiene and eating habits. Additionally it serves for distributing food packages to poor children who live far away from the center and are in need of a more nutritional diet.

Nowadays the Daycare and Nutritional Center serves as a model for others throughout the country. Its staff takes great care of it and is committed to maintain the quality of the services they provide. Unfortunately it is not easy for them, since they are understaffed and the government keeps pressuring them to maintain its services and also to improve them every day. Due to this fact volunteers are more than welcome in this amazing Center. Not just that volunteers can play and do various activities with the children, but by this they give some extra time for teachers to catch up with the paper work.

Center is very beautiful and you can see that teachers there really take care of it. There are pictures on the walls and some posters that were made by children and previous volunteers. You can feel lots of positive energy and compassion here.

 Volunteers can participate by assisting teachers with taking care of children and keeping them busy and under control, playing games with children, assisting the children in taking their naps, preparing food donations and also by teaching them some basic English and in whatever more that is needed.

Volunteers that are naturally enthusiastic, active, creative and proactive and of course they love children have the best prerequisites to spend an amazing time here!

For more pictures from the Daycare Center please see our photogallery here.

Except the great time spending in the Center there is also an option for some afternoon adventures such as zip-line canopy tour, Diria Coffee tour, Wildlife Tempisque River tour and many more. 

Also, make sure you visit some of the beaches since Guanacaste is famous for its spectacular beaches in the Pacific coast with more than 125 miles of extension and are definitely worthy to see!

What is your experience, have you ever participated in volunteer projects connected to children?

(By Marketa Sobotkova – Marketing Intern

Time goes so fast and it´s already one month since me and Jakub started our marketing internship with Tropical Adventures. We have already had an amazing opportunity to go to the Manuel Antonio National Park, where there is a great future possibility for Tropical Adventures to open a new projects for our volunteers. But more about this trip you can read in our other post from David here.

Another great possibility occurred for exploring more beauty of Costa Rica and we went to stay few nights in Bambu village, where our Bambu indigenous project takes place. Commonly labeled on traditional maps as “Bratsi”, Bambu can be reached about 30 minutes from the main indigenous community of Bribri. During the way to get there we were passing alongside Suretka river and on the opposite side of the riverbank we could have seen Panama. We stayed in Bambu Cultural Centre that was built by using traditional indigenous methods and hosts people from around the world. Just by staying in the Centre it supports up to 20 local families through the income it produces through receiving overnight guests. 

 Next day we took a look around and visited elementary school of Bambu, where our volunteers have opportunity to participate and also retirement home, where we were warmly welcomed by one of the nuns that takes care of the elderly people living there and volunteers are there welcome as well. For more information about typical day in Bambu you can read more here.

Talamanca Indigenous Cultural Festival

As the headline indicates, we didn´t come to Bambu just to enjoy beauty of indigenous centre and hospitality of local people, but the main reason was to experience a Talamanca Indigenous Cultural Festival, that took place during the weekend August 6-7 in nearby village called Amubri. This was a first year of this festival among the indigenous communities of Talamanca and local political officials. The event was held in honor of common unity organized by our friend Danilo, a Bribri political activist employed with the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Travelling to the place of event                        

Early in the morning we had to get to the shore of Súarez river. The only way how to cross the river is by motor canoe, since the government doesn´t have enough financial resources for building a bridge over the river. On the other side a bus was already waiting and we continued our adventure towards the festival. After a while we arrived to the place of the event.  My colleagues Jakub and David could lend a hand and utilize their height for hanging the big table over the stage, as you can see on the picture :). 

Festival started by several speeches of local prominent personalities that were followed by playing and singing the national Costa Rican anthem in Bribri language. As next a performance of local children showing the traditional dance of local culture was followed.

These showcases of indigenous culture attempted to show local political leaders the value of the community’s presence as well as encourage the leaders to help facilitate the administrative process of obtaining the “cédula de identidad” for the many undocumented indigenous community. The “cédula de identidad” is the necessary identifiable ID card which is required in obtaining any services as well as accessing and transactions in Costa Rica. The process for obtaining the cédula is highly complex for native people who often lack the necessary resources to navigate administrative procedures. 

Puerto Viejo

Bambu is located about a one-hour bus ride away from the popular tourist beach town of Puerto Viejo, where we had also opportunity to spend some time.  It is home to beautiful beaches, such as Playa Chiquita, Playa Negra, and Punta Uva and it is a place with the most amazing surfing opportunities. And of course, this place will love fans of reggae since cadenced rhythm of this music are present everywhere. That is caused by substantial Jamaican population that lives here. We had a chance to try Carribean sea and also experience Puero Viejo´s  local delicious food and town´s nightlife. But there are plenty of things what to do in Puerto Viejo such us many water sports as above mentioned surfing, snorkeling, diving, kayaking, horseback tours around the area, mountain biking or for those who prefer some nature there is a possibility to visit for example National Park Cahuita.

(By Marketa Sobotkova – Marketing Intern)

August 2 is the official day of La Romería in Costa Rica, a religious festival and a long-term tradition in this country. Every year, when this date approaches, about two and half million people start walking from their homes to reach the city of Cartago. Their goal is to get to the Basilica de Nuestra Señora de los Ángeles  and visit a dark colored stone image of the Virgin Mary. Many of them would walk long miles, many days and over nights just to get to the cathedral and say their prayers.

Since my temporary home is located in the province of Cartago I just couldn't miss it. During these days, it is basically impossible to get to Cartago by car or bus so the decision if to walk or not was not very difficult. It doesn't matter what time you choose, a couple days before the mentioned date there are people walking all the time so you know you will not be walking alone.

Getting closer to the center of Cartago it is more and more difficult to pass. Together with my friends we decided to walk on Monday, August 1, probably the busiest day. The roads  change in a continuous flow of people and when you finally get closer to the basilica you feel more like at a big concert with famous foreign band. Thousands of people at one place, long lines, several music stages and various food stands. But these people are not here because of food or music, they came to get to the cathedral and it surely won't be that easy, the line is endless and lasts at least 2 hours. No patience to even try it today, I better try some of the delicious local food and observe the atmosphere, the excitement in eyes of people waiting in the line.

Nevertheless, I don't give up and I come the second day with new energy and determination. I am rewarded and I succeed to enter to the cathedral after just a few minutes of waiting. You first choose if you want to enter walking or crawling. I have to say the sight is quite spectacular. The basilica is beautiful and the whole act very memorable. People are then leaving with a sense of accomplishment and seem happy. Its time to go home, this time by bus, no more walking. At least until the next year.

(By David Kolesa - Marketing Intern)