We worked hard at the ASIS animal rescue center. The work we did was really needed, not some tourist made up projects. I became the segunda madre a tres mapachitos - 2nd mother to three little raccoons. I miss them and am going to have to go back to be sure they continue to do okay.     

This was my second Tropical Adventure trip and I defintely be back for another next year!”

Saint Francis of Assisi, Francisco de Asis in Spanish, is not the most famous of Catholic Church Saints, but he is one we all have to learn from. Indeed, Francisco de Asis used to place as equals, all the creatures of God. The interesting part to us is not about God’s Creation, but more about the equal aspect. What Francisco de Asis wanted for all of us was the unity, the harmony and a synergy between human beings and the whole of nature; and that is what Alvaro and his father Jaime want for all of us as well. From this comes the name Asis Project.

Asis Project is located near La Fortuna and the Arenal volcano, in Alajuela province of Costa Rica. When you are standing outside the front gate, waiting to enter, you think about an old factory or an illegal workshop. Once inside, it is just another world.

The office reminds you of a nice and cozy hotel office, the main building is very impressive and it is hiding a beautiful pond, full of ducks, herons, blue jays, fishes and even a caiman! If you hear like a buzzy noise, turn your head and you'll see dozens of hammerbirds flying around.

In addition to its amazing scene, humans and animals live in a perfect harmony in this Center. You will meet two adorable Kinkajous, Benjamin and Cindy, three funny monkeys, a lovely and smelly wild boar named Perla, parrots, parakeets, an impressive hawk and three hilarious and likeable baby raccoons, who are only 3 months old and are already smarter than any dog or cat.

This is the wildlife you are going to meet in Asis Project, where Alvaro, his father Jaime who is a professional veterinarian, Teniente, Mary and volunteers and students work every single day a year, helping animals and educating people. Because that what all this is about: Education.

This Wildlife Rescue Center exists because of people’s behavior, for example if they see a raccoon or a caiman in the backyard, they will try to kill it. This is just ignorance, you can find examples of even more cruelty.

Let me tell you a story: two days before leaving the Center, a MINAE car (governmental environment safety), brought us an animal they found on the road side, an owl. It was a beautiful white owl, with black patches around its yellow eyes. Very impressive in its way to stand and to look at you, it was clear that this owl, young but at least one year old, did not fall from a tree and had not been attacked but was abandoned. It was accustomed to human presence (even if you could barely touch it) and especially because it had its wing cut off. Yes, some people wanted to make it as a pet, and to be sure it would not fly away, cut its wing off. This owl won’t never fly again, and, without the help of the MINAE and Asis Project, it would have been dead a couple of hours after they abandoned it.

This story, which is one among dozens, is a proof of the importance of Asis Project, but it especially demonstrates a lack of humanity in some humans…Volunteering in the Wildlife Rescue Center means working hard, digging out for days to build a lagoon for example, or building new cages for new arrivals, because even if they are shut in, they still need a decent place to live, if you want have idea in video, clik here. Come and help us! This project is beautiful for any person who wants to be useful and humane, because these animals just need a hand from you.

Romain, Marketing Intern for Tropical Adventures.

A quick briefing

Nowadays, the world is in movement. European countries have opened their borders each other, free movement of people and goods are multiplying, air traffic is growing day after day, it is a time of globalization and international business. This evolution of our world touches each one of us. We can have any tropical fruit, such as a mango or a pineapple imported from Brazil, to  our front door supermarket. Today, with just a click on your computer, we are able to book a trip to the other side of the world. We can enjoy every part of it. Yes, we can. And we do, but careful, every pleasure has a cost and every move that we make can have a negative effect.

     Most of people are now aware of the existence of associations, as well as NGOs, whose purpose is to guarantee a fair trade between producer and consumer. This system helps local communities to lead a more decent life, to get their children educated and to feed themselves. But, if to buy through a Fair Trade label is enough for you to feel satisfied of your action, you are far from the truth. Fair trade is the beginning of a consciousness from people, but it remains a tiny part of all what we can do. Not only food or clothes are involved in this process, services are too.

    Indeed, travelling can be very noxious for the environment and for people living in the country  you are visiting. Just have a look to some places in Mexico, which became a real spot for tour operators and travel agencies, not really concerned by environmental issues. You can help us to preserve that.

What about ecotourism?

     Ecotourism is simply another way to travel. Ecotourism means to care about the country you are visiting and the culture you are meeting. People love to discover a new lifestyle, but we have to think about locals too. For example, do not book a hotel for just one week of trip when you are coming from the other part of world, it is a waste of energy and money. Be careful who you are travelling with, some tour operators and hotels don’t care about Human Rights or the environment protection, just like airplane companies which don’t worry about CO2 emission. It looks obvious to people that local communities should take benefits from tourists coming to their country, unfortunately most of time it is not the case. If we think it is normal to pay the right price to a coffee producer, why wouldn’t it be so for the same for the population who hosts you on his own home land?

This is a behavior we need to integrate for the well-being of our future, and as you know, if the demand of such a program increases, the offer will too. Of course, there are limits of sustainable tourism, you will have to fly anyway for example, but we are still far away from those limits. Ecotourism is not only about environment, it is about cultures, traditions and social issues.

Romain.

It is only 32 days and counting until our first Christmas Project.  The lights and decorations are starting to go up all around Costa Rica and we are working really hard to ensure all the events are a day to remember for all the community members who will be taking part.  We want to make sure we put a smile on the face of everyone who attends - children and adults alike.  This year is set to be much bigger than last year and we are in much need of donations in the form of supplies (decorations, arts and crafts and gifts for the children) and money to buy these supplies and yummy food and drinks for everyone.  Please contact us if you would like to get involved in any way - we greatly appreciate every tiny amount of help that we receive.

This year we would like to be able to invite all the children from Cocles School in Puerto Viejo to come to the Puerto Viejo Christmas Party.  Cocles is a beautiful location - set back away from the beach and the lapping waves of the Caribbean Sea.  It sounds idyllic but the reality is that the school is so understaffed that pupils are only able to attend school for around 3 hours per day.  In Costa Rica, lack of schooling has a very negative effect on the long-term career prospects and money-earning potential of many of the children. Many children do not continue in school after 6th Grade as they go to work to gain extra income for their family household or they lack the ambition to continue with school studies.

Our goal and the goal of our volunteers at Cocles, as well as teaching English, is to mentor and act as role models to the children to encourage them to be interested in their studies and enable them to want to continue learning after they finish primary education.  Being able to speak English is a skill that greatly enhances career prospects in Costa Rica and without our volunteers, the students at the school would receive no English tuition at all.  English classes simply do not take place when there are no volunteers at the school.

 Today our Director, Isaac Garcia, is in Puerto Viejo to meet with the school head teacher to find out if we can invite all the school children.   It would be wonderful to see all the children there and we hope they will enjoy the fun and be inspired by the efforts of ourselves and our volunteers.  Following that meeting, Isaac has a big meeting with the Puerto Viejo Development Association Board.  This consists of 15 community leaders from the Puerto Viejo area.  Amongst other things, he will be presenting the plans for the Puerto Viejo school Summer Camp and discussing with the board the possibility of having the event in the town cultural center which is larger than last year's venue and will allow us to invite more children from the community.  Isaac will also be visiting some local business in the area, including some of the main hotels and restaurants, many of which are run by foreign ex-pats.  We are hoping many of them would like to donate to our two events in Puerto Viejo and help us out with materials for the events.

Also over the Christmas period, we are very much looking forward to welcoming a group of students from the  Central Michigan University.  As well as participating in our Christmas Projects, they will also be staying at the beautiful Camaronal Reserve and taking part in our Turtle Conservation Project there.  This project is particularly understaffed and in much need of volunteers to help protect the endangered sea-turtles from becoming extinct by ensuring their eggs are laid in a safe place and do not get poached.  This area is quite rustic and very remote but all the volunteers we have had there have had a wonderful time and usually wish they'd stayed longer.  You can read what some of our past volunteers have written about their experiences at Camaronal here.

Our friends from Michigan will get to fall asleep to the sound of the lapping waves, experience the rugged beauty of the area, see live turtles laying there eggs and above all - work with some amazingly friendly, dedicated and knowledgeable people.  In particular with this project, we are very grateful to Danilo Gabb, our friend and indigenous leader who runs the Indigenous Cultural Center in Bambu over on the opposite side of Costa Rica who will be lending us enough tents to host everyone from Michigan.  We are so lucky to have such great friends who are willing to help us and our friends on other projects out!

As always, please contact us if you would like any further information on our projects, what we do or to see how you can help.

Please also join us on Facebook and/or MySpace.

Pura Vida,

Sarah

My Testimonial Markus Berres

My name is Markus and I’m from Zurich in Switzerland. After more than two months now with Tropical Adventures, I really don’t know where to start. Let’s try at the beginning ….

When I was back home looking for something different to do with my upcoming holidays, I knew it would probably involving volunteering at some point. Then I surfed the Internet a lot. Somehow, I can’t remember how I found out about Tropical Adventures, but when I found them – I knew right away that was the program I had been looking for. 

It looked like a good mix of travel to places with some tours and adventure and, it had the volunteering component I was looking for. Because all my arrangements had to be kind of last minute, I was a little worried it wouldn’t work out. But after a couple emails and telephone calls, everything seemed to fall into place. Roberto from the office in Costa Rica answered all my questions promptly and clearly.

When I arrived in Costa Rica, I was met by their driver, Manuel, and was immediately taken very  good care of. After spending a night in a hostel near the airport in Alajuela, I was escorted once again the next day by Manuel to the bus station to go to the town of Puerto Viejo. Everything was already taken care of, and Manuel helped me find an ATM and take care of any needs I had.

My Spanish is very limited, so I was a little worried what would happen but again, all for nothing.  Just   when I exited the bus, my coordinator, Mauro, was there to take me to my wonderful host family. The first week I kind of stayed in my own little paradise, teaching English to kids in the Cocles Elementary School, which I went to with the bicycle I rented for the week. First I thought, "Bicycles here? That’s crazy in this heat!" Yes, I sweat like never before, and the road conditions are everything else but bicycle-friendly, but soon I learned to love my bike and the freedom it afforded me.

The kids in the school where fantastic. Since I'm not good with Spanish, and English is not my first language, and I never been a teacher, again I was worried. But not only did the kids learn English from me, I learned lots and lots of Spanish from them. They even recognized me when I passed by the school 8 weeks later – that was a wonderful feeling – and for me it showed that my work meant something to them as well. That’s the experience I was looking for when I planned to volunteer.

I spent the next 2 weeks in Bambu, a little community on the Bribri Indigenous Reservation. There I worked with the kids from the Bratsi School and in the retirement home. It was completely heartwarming just to see how much both the young and the old people enjoyed our company. They got really attached to us in those 2 weeks while we were there.

This time we didn't stay with a host family, but instead we stayed at the Community Center with Danilo (our local host). The place is amazing. It’s really just like a tree house. The whole community there was wonderful, the traditional food, the way of living. Everyone got so attached to the place, I just couldn't believe it. But after the 2 weeks were over, all of us had tears in our eyes when we were leaving.

The tours we did together here are something I will never forget. The 2-day trip over to Panama, just mind-blowing… I thought I’m kind of fit to walk for a couple of hours. We have some pretty strenuous mountains back at home. Here the first part was easy. Hiking for 2 hours on a good path, sometimes in the shade from the trees, sometimes in the hot sun. And let me tell you, it gets hot. I had plenty of water, at least I thought so, for the first four hours. Then the path began more and more to disappear into the jungle, and walking got harder and harder, especially because most of the locals coming through here come on horses. So the path was super muddy from the horses’ tracks and the rain (it was the rainy season, but so far I had not seen too much of it, luckily).

At one point I had to sit down, and Isaac started feeding me with crackers, our guide told me our destination wasn't more than a 15-minutes walk from here. Then for me...luck! A man and his daughter on a horse came by. The girl, maybe 12 years young, must have noticed my condition and offered me her horse for the rest of the way. Usually I would have declined, but not this time. I was happy not to walk the rest of the way (which was 25 minutes on a horse.) The little girl walked the whole way, like it was nothing, practically flying from rock to rock. Later we found out what we just did in more than 4 hours, she does every day to get to school...in less than half an hour!!!How crazy is that? Now I know I have to do more sports, or working out. But all the hard work was absolutely worth what was waiting for us. The pristine, tropical and nearly undiscovered waterfall close to the very small cabin we stayed for the night -- that’s what you never find on your normal “all inclusive holiday.”

The next week I spent at the Camaronal Sea Turtle Project. It was completely far away from civilization, as you might imagine. When we arrived there my first thought was: "Oh my god....noooo!" Now in retrospect, I think I would absolutely want to stay at that place for 1 or even 2 months. Domenica, Julian and German -- the project staff from MINAE (Ministry of the Environment) are the most welcoming people one person could possibly imagine. My Spanish improved a lot in the first couple of weeks, but here I really had to practice it, and it was easy to speak to them after opening myself up to the idea. And it was not only the little small-talk that tourists usually have with the locals; we could speak about anything. But especially everything about the project interested me – and the knowledge they have about all of the projects and the animals and the surrounding area is just astonishing.

My next week of volunteering took me to the Monte Alto Natural Reserve, another great project managed by MINAE, and in serious need of volunteer help. Here we helped build paths, plant trees and flowers, as well as helped in the kitchen. One thing I did here one day that I did not expect to do was helping to fix toilets. No, no. Not the nasty kind. The kind where I could show off all my plumbing skills. (No...I don’t really have any. Back in my real life I’m a chef in a hotel!) And yes, by the way, the toilets work again.

My sixth week in Costa Rica was spent in another national park, Barra Honda. That would be the week where I definitely got my wish for physical labor fulfilled. Besides taking wonderful tours and walks in the area, the number one project for the park was to make it nice and to prepare everything for the big celebration in August (National Parks Day). That meant we had to dig a lot. Since they were expecting lots of rain -- and rainwater in masses destroys the street and especially the sides of the street -- we had to place 70 centimeter cement pipes on the side of the road near the main building to keep the water from eroding the street.

In that week, I must have sweat out my own weight a couple of times. This all sounds probably like too much work. But it wasn't at all. The work hours were usually only in the morning from 9 to 12, and the rest of the day we were free to do whatever we wanted. For example, the town of Nicoya is only a 400 colones bus ride away (less than 50 cents), and it provides all that I wanted and needed. And then there was enough time to spend at the pool from the nearby Barra Honda Hotel and to enjoy a good book.

Monkey Park was originally going to be my last project. It is an animal rescue center. It's a nice place to see animals that live here in Costa Rica which would usually be hard to see in the wild. The stay in the park was nice. They provided a very good home, and the food there is delicious. I got "gordo" (fat)!

Like at all the projects, nearly at all times a project coordinator or Isaac (one of the directors) himself was present, or came on a regular basis, if for nothing else than just to see that we we’re all okay and to bring us some snacks. The women (the number of them seemed to change on a daily basis) who were responsible for the project at Monkey Park really work hard to make the place what it is. And having been part of that is a nice memory.

One of my jobs was to transfer the caterpillars out of the Butterfly Garden every morning so that they could not feed on all the plants faster than the plants could grow in there. So for that purpose there is an assigned place called, “the feeding house.” And then I had to check if there were some larvae hatched and then bring them back as "butterflies" to the "Mariposarium." This is one place where someone like me goes literally photo crazy!

The next 2 weeks I went to travel on my own to Panama. I needed to be in Panama City at a certain time. And that’s where the team of Tropical Adventures really helped more than I could have expected. They helped me with my hotel, and even delivered my bus tickets to me. The many small things they did for me made my trip easy and enjoyable and were just examples of how dedicated these people are to the work they do. It also made me feel really appreciated. I felt like I was in the best hands possible here, so I decided to come back for six days after my Panama-trip to do some more volunteering.

So now as I write this, these last six days here in the La Flor Project are nearly over. I’m super happy about my decision to teach English in a tiny agricultural community. I feel completely welcome and like I'm doing something worthwhile. After a few days here, I get recognized on the street from everyone; I’m not at all a stranger.

I can’t possibly fit all my experiences and feelings in these few words, but to everyone who enjoys traveling, some adventure and meeting endless amounts of friendly people, I say, "come and experience it for yourself!"

In the end, it was all the small things that made my trip with Tropical Adventures so priceless. (Geesh, I hope not to sound too much like the MasterCard commercial!)

Pura vida!

Markus Berres

My name is Cassandra Dawn. I am 25 years old from Tucson, Arizona. I arrived to the project in Camaronal approximately two weeks ago. When I came here I brought along many expectations of what the people, the area and the experience would be like. All of those expectations went out the window very quickly but in such a positive, life changing way. I had no idea coming here that would I make so many new friends, people that I could easily call family and that I would have the opportunity to teach English to children and various people in the region.

I have never met such warm people who are beyond eager to learn English. I grew very close to  all of the students and very attached to having the honor of teaching them every day. I wasn’t simply their teacher, I was and always will be a friend and I can only hope that they will welcome me back in a few months to teach and spend more and more time with them. Every day I created lessons which incorporated a vast amount of vocabulary and verb usage. Aside from teaching the students, I spent my time assisting in improving the area so that Domenica and Julian (Directors of the Camaronal Project) will have a successful project that will continue to flourish. Furthermore, I assisted in cooking, cleaning, and helping with a large group of students that came to the project during my stay.

What I have learned through this experience is priceless. It has made me a better person, though it may sound cliché, it’s true. I have felt the sheer happiness that spawns from selflessness. I completely submerged  myself into the costarican culture, and I now have a new found respect for the people and the country, a place that is held together with peace, tranquility, and love. Here at Camaronal, that is all that there is.

On another note, my Spanish flourished quite rapidly. I learned of new foods and common cultural practices and most importantly, the mission of this project. Which is to educate the community protect the turtles, maintain their population and protect the environment. Domenica and Julian are two of the most inspiring people I have ever met, along with Jacqueline (the cooker) and many others. Upon returning home I will continue to help support this project and provide donation.

Thank you for everything, for touching my life, for helping me see the world in a different light. I love you guys.

Pura Vida.

Cassandra Dawn. Arizona, USA.

We are a family of 3: myself, my wife, Jen, and our 6 year old daughter, Alex.  My daughter is off from school for 2 months each summer and this year we wanted to take a trip together for the duration. Given the length of the trip, we were looking for something that would give us a chance to work and learn together instead of a traditional tourist-style vacation.  I thought we needed more stimulation than that to entertain a 6 year old for 2 full months. Before we had our daughter, I had enjoyed longer submersion-type vacations and I had been waiting eagerly for an opportunity to take one again. Now that she had reached the age of 6, we felt we were at a stage that she could contribute as much as she could learn and we were anxious to try to make it work. After months of coordinating the time off work and the prepayment of household bills, we set off on a trip that would last the length of our daughter’s summer vacation and would end up exceeding all of our expectations.

We flew into the country and were greeted by one of the Tropical Adventures drivers. This was the beginning of a major transition for our family and Manuel , the driver, provided just the kind of greeting we needed. He was warm, reliable, and sincere and would be our first indication of the careful screening done by Scott and Isaac, the founders of Tropical Adventures. Manuel drove us to our first volunteer activity in La Flor, a small agricultural community in the mountains in-between Paraiso and Cervantes. We were to stay in this town for a full month so I was very nervous about our homestay there. From the moment Manuel drove us by our family’s house the evening we arrived, we knew our concerns were unfounded. We had arrived late but our family had stayed up waiting to greet us and show us to our home. Since there were 3 of us, they had us stay in a detached home just down the street from their own in order to give us more space and privacy. Their son used to live in the home but has since moved on and this environment would prove to be perfect for us. It gave us space when needed but also allowed us all the interaction with our host family we had so been looking forward to.  

Our family in La Flor would prove to far exceed our expectations. They were unbelievable.  From the meals they cooked to their seemingly endless desire to include us in all of their family’s activities. We couldn’t have hand selected a better family to stay with and we would miss them dearly after we left for our next projects. They were a large family with only a single remaining 18 year daughter left living at home. To make things better, they had several grandchildren living close by with whom Alex would grow very close with over the 4 week period we spent there. Alex played with their children like they were siblings and this made our integration into their family and culture all that much easier. They genuinely enjoyed having us there and we enjoyed being a part of their lives, if even for a short while.

Our volunteer activities in La Flor were mainly focused around teaching English both in a nearby school in El Yaz as well as a late afternoon class to the children in La Flor. For a family of 3 with a 6 year old daughter, this proved to be a wonderful activity for us. Our schedule during the week consisted of waking around 7, making our way over to our family’s home for breakfast around 8 and then the 3 of us began our 20 minute walk down the mountain to El Yaz to teach 2 English classes there. The classes in El Yaz were sometimes a challenge as not  all of the children there were anxious to learn English. But this proved to simply be one of the many obstacles we would face and overcome as a family. By the end of our month in La Flor, we had worked with the director of the school to change the class from being compulsory to being voluntary. At that point, the only students who attended the class were ones that were willing and anxious to learn and the classes there would turn out to be ones we looked very forward to each morning.

After our classes in El Yaz we headed back up the mountain to La Flor. This usually proved to be too long of a hike for our 6-yr old daughter and she usually wound up riding on top of my shoulders. But I never minded because at least we were together. At home Id be working and she’d be at school but here we were together, all day, every day. 

The children from the classes lived all along the road up to La Flor and many of them would accompany us on our walk back. They were enamored with Alex and her with them. Our daughter has never been very shy and she engaged almost every child we encountered from  the day we arrived in La Flor, including the students. From the moment they met, the children played together like old friends even though they didn’t speak a common language. It was incredible to watch. And as the weeks went by, we could see the changes in her comprehension of the language. In the beginning she knew very little more than please and thank you and by the end, she was playing games with the children in Spanish and responding to questions asked by our host families. This is a wonderful foundation for an education in Spanish.

We arrived back into La Flor after the walk back from El Yaz by 1:00 or so and enjoyed a lunch with our host family. We would then often have some afternoon Spanish lessons before beginning our next English class in a building just down the street from where we were staying. This class was comprised of about 20 to 25 children ranging in age from 5 to 13. This class was always a lot of fun for us, as well as our daughter. Here we would often play games in English to help the children learn the sounds and Alex would sing them the alphabet or teach them English songs. She was our biggest asset with this class and when the children saw her speak, they responded to her. Like with many things, children learn most quickly from other children and they just loved having Alex in class. When the children saw Alex speaking English, it suddenly seemed more attainable to them. When the students did exercises on their own, Alex would go around with my wife and check on their progress. We were a team when we taught and everyone had a role. 

After our class in La Flor, we usually spent some time playing games outside the building for a  while which gave the kids a chance to run and play around. They had a lot of pent-up energy after sitting through the hour and a half English class. This also gave Alex more time to build friendships with the children in town. After only days in La Flor, we couldn’t walk up to the nearby Pulperia without the children recognizing us and running to greet us. It was an incredibly friendly town and we would miss this when we spent time in the larger cities.

Our time in La Flor was invaluable and even allowed us a few weekend getaways and a tour hosted by the Tropical Adventures staff to a nearby volcano. We were very well taken care of by the staff and were checked on frequently. At one point, our daughter had contracted a stomach infection and the Tropical Adventures Staff responded very quickly by coming to pick us up and taking us to a wonderful physician’s office in a nearby town. We were amazed by the care she received and always felt safe and secure, regardless of where we were in the country. We were always given the space we needed to grow from our experience but if we were ever in need, Tropical Adventures was very quick to respond.

After 4 weeks in La Flor, it was time to say goodbye to our host family and friends and transition to a new project. Argentina, the mother of the host family with which we stayed very much enjoyed painting. In the afternoons, she spent many days enjoying her hobby.  As it turned out, she had been making a painting for us and gave it to us just before we left. It was an incredible gift and will always remind us of the generosity this family had given us. We had developed strong relationships with our host family in La Flor. With Argentina, our host mother and her Husband, Jose-Annival. With their children and grandchildren as well. Saying goodbye would turn out to be very emotional and although our Spanish had come along well, finding the proper words to adequately express our feelings was difficult.  Our experiences with this family will change our lives for a long time to come.

We transitioned from La Flor to Monkey Park in Guanacaste late on a Sunday afternoon. The park was closed on Mondays so we had the day off and we took a quick public bus ride to the coast for a day at the beach. We began work on Tuesday in the park which was a shelter for injured and abandoned animals. Here we worked as a family to plant new gardens, trim trees and work on trails. Compared to the work in La Flor, this work was much more  physically demanding and was an enjoyable change from the teaching.  Isaac, from Tropical Adventures, checked on us frequently and always brought snacks. The sight of his car pulling in became a beacon to stop work for my daughter and she would always run to his car to greet him. She so much enjoyed his company and waited anxiously for him on days she knew he was to come.

When the physical demands of the work exceeded the abilities (or the attention span) of a 6 year old little girl, she would often roam the park checking on the animals or even retreat to our home there for some afternoon card games. It was a very accommodating environment for a family such as ours and at the end of the week, we really felt like we had accomplished something and were proud of what we had done. This was exactly the feeling we were looking for when we began this trip.

After transitioning out of Monkey Park, we headed south to Hojancha to work in the Monte  Alto National Park. Here we had another homestay with a wonderful family just outside the town center. They had a 2 year old daughter and this proved to be yet another fantastic experience for us and Alex. Here we would wake up at 6 each day, eat breakfast and be in the town center by 7 for a ride into the park.  In the park, Jen and Alex worked the week in the kitchen with the park cook helping to create the meals for the park guests and staff. They both seemed to really enjoy this time together and felt very useful. Cecilia, the park cook, worked very long days and seemed to genuinely enjoy the help. Jen would help cut up meats and vegetables and Alex would help make the bread and serve the meals. On the other side of the park, I worked on reconstructing and painting benches as well as building a new seating area under a gazebo below the park office. But with all the work, we still had an opportunity to take time for ourselves and tour the park. We hiked all of the park’s trails including the longest of the trails which took us up the side of the mountain to a beautiful lookout in a 4 hour loop. Our work volunteering has always been very well mixed with time enjoying ourselves and experiencing this beautiful country. 

Two months ago, before we left for this trip, I had many concerns. I had called references given to me from the staff and the words from these references comforted me enough to commit our entire summer vacation to doing volunteer work for Tropical Adventures. But this was an enormous obligation and I was still taking my family, complete with a young daughter to another country and I couldn’t help but feel responsible for the outcome. Two months later,  I’m proud of the outcome. We have been humbled more times than I can count and we have met and befriended more people than I could ever hope to be able correspond with. We are incredibly lucky to have had this opportunity together and the dedication of the Tropical Adventures staff made it possible. This has been a summer we will never forget and the things we have seen and done here will in many ways change the course of our lives. 

Michael Schell, Arizona US.

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

Sitting here on my last day in Costa Rica it’s incredible to think back to the beginning of my trip. After two plane rides and a five-hour bus ride, I found myself in the pitch dark being greeted by four strangers, climbing in an Xterra and taking a half an hour drive down a bumpy, potholed road. Exhausted and nervous I spent the ride thinking about all the reasons why this trip could go terribly wrong. There I was, a seventeen-year-old girl stuffed in a car with four men whose names I had already forgotten, heading towards an indigenous reservation where I would be spending the next two weeks. As I soon found out, my worrying was for nothing. My time spent in Bambu was some of the best I’ve ever had.                                                                                                                                               

The four strange men turned out to be Isaac, one of the cofounders of Tropical  Adventures, Mauro  our project coordinator, Ryan a 23 year old from Canada, and Markus a 35 year old from Switzerland, all of whom were great and extremely easy to be around. Together, we spent the next two weeks teaching English, working at a retirement home, and being immersed in the beautiful culture of the Bribri people.

  We would start out our mornings working at the retirement home, where the residents were sweet, hilarious, and ecstatic to have our company. After spending time with the residents painting, talking and just enjoying each other’s company, we headed over to the elementary school where we were teaching English.

We would spend an hour or more working with the fifth and sixth graders helping them to broaden   their understanding of English through writing, reading, talking, and arts & crafts. As with any class, in any country, there were a few students who seemed completely uninterested in what we had to offer, but the majority of the students loved the opportunity to learn.

Our afternoons were spent eating the delicious food Fulbia had prepared, sleeping in hammocks, and playing with the kids from the family. In the evening, the entire community was invited over to learn English. By the end of the two weeks we had a regular group of about ten that would come every night to learn. These lessons went great because they were small and very personal. Also, everyone who was there chose to be there and so they were very receptive and willing to learn.

Along with our work, we spent a great deal of time enjoying the incredible tours Bambu had to offer.  The most memorable was a six-hour hike into the mountains where we played in a nearby waterfall, learned about the life of farmers in Costa Rica, and slept in an open air room, staring at a sky filled with stars.

When we weren’t enjoying the incredible scenery, we would spend time with Danilo, the man who built the community center where we slept, as well as with his entire family, who I found to be some of the warmest, most loving people I have ever met. Even with the language barrier (I knew only a handful of Spanish words when I arrived in Costa Rica) we all bonded instantly. Taking long walks with Danilo at night, playing with Fulbia’s son Lucas, and laughing as we struggled to speak each other’s languages, the family made me feel as if I was just another member of their family who had stopped into town for a visit.

As hard as leaving Bambu was, I was excited to explore other parts of Costa Rica. When our two  weeks were up I said a very tearful goodbye and headed into Puerto Viejo for a night of relaxation and enjoying the nightlife. We then traveled to La Fortuna, where I spent two more nights relaxing and enjoying the Arenal Volcano. From Bambu we had traveled across the country, through the central valley and then headed over to the Pacific coast for our next project.

On the Pacific coast I spent one week working at the Camaronal sea turtle conservation project. Helping to build paths, tearing down the decrepit nursery, and walking the 3 km of beach in search of garbage, I was able to get a bit of physical labor in. Julian, Domenica, and German, the three rangers who work at the beach, were incredible hosts. Again, I enjoyed struggling to speak Spanish with them and loved the lessons they gave us about turtles as we did our daily beach patrol.

We spent 2 hours everyday during the morning, from 4 a.m. until 6 a.m., or in the evening, walking  along the beach in search of turtles that had come up on shore to lay their eggs. On our last night we had the honor of witnessing the entire process of egg laying; it was completely awe inspiring and certainly an event I will never forget. Camaronal was extremely isolated and was exactly what I needed to learn how to relax. Once again, when our time was up I was sad to leave Camaronal and the incredible people who work there.

For my last few nights in Costa Rica, I have been sleeping in the Monte Alto nature reserve, in a cabin placed literally in the middle of the rainforest. The park is gorgeous and the people who work there are extremely dedicated to their jobs. Monte Alto gave me a chance to truly enjoy nature, waking up to howler monkeys in the morning and falling asleep to the tapping of rain against our tin roof, and to once again get some physical labor in, digging up paths and moving stones to line the path we had created.

Overall, my trip has been life changing. The places I have visited and the people I have met along the way will stay with me forever. I’m going home with a greater knowledge of Spanish, incredible pictures, an obsession with travel, the ability to relax and enjoy my own company, and a complete admiration for Costa Rica and the amazing people who live here.

We recently had a family here volunteering with us: Jamie and her 2 children, Maya and Gabe. Volunteering as a family is a wonderful experience. And the children in Costa Rica love to meet kids from around the world.

While the Malik's were here, Gabe discovered a tiny, baby animal in the driveway of our volunteer center. None of us really had any idea what it was. The poor thing looked like it had fallen out of the trees and was in pretty bad shape. Maya was very concerned about this and decided to stay behind to care for the animal. We were all pretty convinced this fuzzy little thing was a baby kinkajou.

Maya kept watch and even fed the animal some milk. It finally started coming to life and then began playing with Maya. It was really cute! The next day I took our new buddy to the Sloth Rescue Center, Aviarios del Caribe. Everyone got all excited, started taking pictures and looking up info in books.

In the end, it ended up being a opossum. Who would have thought? They told me that opossums make great pets. Maybe so. But I decided to leave our new friend in their capable hands. You never know what you're going to run into here!

Many thanks to the Mailk family, especially Maya and Gabe for finding and caring for the opossum!