I spent my spring break volunteering in Bambu, Costa Rica with Tropical Adventures. On the flight over, I was nervous and excited because this was my first time travelling out of the country by myself and excited to meet everyone in Bambu and experience Costa Rica. When I arrived in San Jose, I was greeted by Manuel who drove me to my hostel, Casa Yoses. The hostel was both clean and friendly, and I enjoyed my night there. The next day Manuel picked me up and drove me to the bus stop where I caught a bus to Puerto Viejo. Isaac picked me up in Puerto Viejo, and we ate lunch and discussed what volunteering in Bambu would be like. His biggest piece of advice was to "go with the flow," and it turned out to be excellent advice.   

Bambu was like nothing I had ever experienced before. I stayed with a family, which really added to the experience. During the days, I volunteered at the retirement center and the school. The people at the retirement center were really appreciative of the volunteers, and it was great spending time with them and getting to know each individually. The school was fun too, and the children were very excited for their English lesson!

After volunteering, it was great to return home to my family and eat lunch with them. After lunch, I either participated in a tour or spent time with my family. I did the Panama Waterfall Tour on my first day in Bambu, and it was a great introduction to the week. Ito and I took a boat ride out to the waterfall and spent a couple hours swimming there. It was beautiful!

I was sad to leave my family at the end of the week, and I would love to return one day. I only spent a week in Bambu, but the people were so friendly and open, that by the end, I felt as if I belonged there. Likewise, I was very happy to volunteer through Tropical Adventures because they really took care of me. Susan practically organized the whole trip- all I had to do was book my flight! Tropical Adventures booked my transportation, housing, and meals; they made it easy for an outsider to get an inside look at Costa Rica.  

 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!”

The following was written by Colleen Donahue, a Tropical Adventures volunteer who joined us on a volunteer vacation recently. She was accompanied by her niece and they taught English at the elementary school in Cocles, which is near Puerto Viejo on the Caribbean side of Costa Rica.(Click here and read more about this fun project!)

My niece (14 yrs) & I recently returned from our 8-day fun & adventurous volunteer vacation to the Cocles Elementary School teaching project in the funky beach town of Puerto Viejo. In addition to working with the elementary kids (K-6) each day, we had time to explore the beach town, take the zip-line tour, go white water rafting, take the sloth & chocolate tour, visit Manzanillo beach town, eat some great meals, and meet some fantastic people!

I can’t say enough good things about Tropical Adventures organization and our project director Isaac. Isaac was fantastic and took care of us our entire trip. THANK YOU ISAAC!! He works tirelessly to take care of the volunteers in addition to the many hours he spends at Cocles Elementary with the kids. I would also like to thank Susan and Alice for helping me formulate my plans and ensuring that our arrangements / logistics (and our changes to those!) were taken care of. Thanks to all, our trip was extremely smooth!

I would definitely consider another Tropical Adventures volunteer vacation, and probably select another project so we could experience more of what beautiful Costa Rica has to offer! I will forever have great memories of this trip :-)

    When you are a young European, about to leave your country to spend a couple of months in Central America, you feel anxious, overwhelmed and uncomfortable. After spending 3 months here, the feeling which predominates is sadness. Indeed, Costa Rica is a pleasant country where you can easily think about not going back home!

There are too many attractive aspects to Costa Rican lifestyle to ignore them, even if you are deeply attached to your native country. To take the bus from a point A to a point B is just like sightseeing. Every landscape you see is just amazing. Every person you meet is a new testimonial of happiness.

During my time here, I had the chance to travel around Costa Rica thanks to Tropical Adventures and because of a craving in discovering a new culture and country. Before coming here, I knew that this trip would be different from what I have experienced so far. I could not imagine how far I was from the truth. I learned here how to respect the environment, to not size up anyone because of his appearance and to adapt myself to a lifestyle. I met people that I will never forget, even if I’ve just spent a couple of days with them.  There is a wisdom and kindness about the world you had not noticed before. They helped me to feel more concerned about basic issues regarding the natural and human aspects.

To see someone saying “thank you” to the bus driver once he gets off the bus seems weird to our occidental habits, but it does make sense actually. There is a special behavior here which is to consider the other person. We lost that mentality when we decided that a successful life meant to be professionally successful. It is not the case here where family values are deeply established in their way of life. I felt very comfortable with all “ticos” that I have met.

Every time I went to visit a place in Costa Rica, I left it with a tear. There are so many things to see, and so little time…I’m not out of the country yet and I am already thinking about when I’m going back here!

I want to thank Tropical Adventures Foundation for the opportunity they offered me and their help in my adaptation. My experience here wouldn’t have been the same without them.

Thank you and see you very soon!

Romain

     Hello everyone, this blog will be dedicated to our past volunteers, who we have a great news for!

Indeed, Tropical Adventures has decided to offer a special discounts for all of you who came to visit us, at least once. Yes, we miss you so much that we want to see all you again at any price!

Thus, we offer a 35% discount for all our regular one week projects, you should jump on it now!

People concerned by this discount and interested in coming back just get in touch with our office at info@tropicaladventures.com.

Hope to see you very soon!

Tropical Adventures

Today, we all live in a world full of new technologies and everybody is fond of progress. All of us are looking forward to a brand new car that we can’t afford anyway, just to have  it. We all think that you could not live without the Internet or even without a computer any more.

All of us? Not exactly. If you are looking for a remote place, where 13 years old kids don’t have a cell phone and don’t even care about it, Bambu is the perfect place for you! In Bambu, the only worry will be about what game we can play, who is coming to visit us today or if you will catch a fish! Of course, the absence of these technologies mainly comes from their lack of money, but I can guarantee you that these people are happy the way they live. Their way of life is just different. After an immersion in Bambu, you won’t see life the same way and you will acknowledge that we live with much more than we actually need. That’s why all our volunteers love to go to Bambu. They find peace, calm and friends for life.

 Here are a couple of interviews of kids from Bambu, they answered the question:

Que se acordara más del tiempo pasado con los voluntarios?

(What will you remember of your time with volunteers?)

-“Me gusta mucho encontrar nueva gente y me gusta mucho la clase de francés con Romain, aunque sea muy difícil! Y la muchacha Chloe me enseñó nuevos juegos de manos muy graciosos que podré ensañar a mis amigas de la escuela!” Yerlin, 10.

-“I love to meet new people and I really like Romain’s French class, even if it was very hard!

And the girl Chloe taught me very funny new hand games that I will teach to my friends from the school!”

-“Me gusto mucho la clase de inglés, ya puedo traducir a las canciones de Michael Jackson! Jugamos al futbol y corrimos por todos lados! Además, les ensené como bailar reggaetón! ” Héctor Jafeth, 4.

-“I loved English class, now I can translate Michael Jackson songs! We played soccer and ran everywhere! I also taught the volunteers how to dance raggaeton!

-“Jugamos con todos los niños de Bambu y ganamos a los voluntarios al platillo! Somos más rápidos!” David Josué, 7.

-“We played Frisbee with all kids from Bambu and we won against the volunteers! We were faster than they were!”

-“Nos fuimos a un tour a ver la catarata con Romain, Chloé y mi tío Héctor y Romain me tiró en el agua! Cogimos un bote y comimos sandía cerca de la catarata, la pasamos muy bien!” Steven, 13.

-“We went on a tour to the waterfalls with Romain, Chloe and my uncle Hector. Romain threw me into the water! We traveled in a boat and we ate watermelon, we had a great time!”

Bambu must be the most relaxing place in the world and people there, the nicest people ever. There is no reason for you to not come and find out by yourself! You can decide to come for a week on a project, or to come for the Holiday Project 2009, of which a part will take place in Bambu too! Either way you will be welcomed! Hope to see you soon!

Tropical Adventures

When anyone goes on vacation and leaves for a special place, there are two goals.

The first one is to enjoy time on holidays, get a tan and feel trouble-free during vacation. The second goal is to be able to tell about the amazing time and how beautiful the country was. We all do that. Only problem, all our friends will get bored easily because they have heard it all before. Beaches, palm-trees, waterfalls and sun. Pictures and memories are common and nothing special, unless you want a different holiday this time.

That is what “voluntourism” is about.

Holidays where you are going to learn much more about others and about yourself.

Holidays where you are going to teach much more to others about people and about yourself.

Voluntourism is a combination of being useful to the environment or to a community and having fun during your vacation time. Indeed, this type of holidays seems to be the best way to challenge your culture, your knowledge or your language. Voluntourism is about education and fun, about feeling helpful and caring.

Being volunteer is a demanding activity.  People will have expectations from you (and I’m certainly not talking about tips…) you will have to be open-minded and curious at the same time. Shyness is forbidden and forget all you think you know about life, it is a brand new experience that you will face. The best part of it is the new person you are going to become, proud, grateful and above all, aware.

Once you return home, you will definitely generate envy and curiosity. You will certainly make a hit to your family and your friends. You will love this feeling, just like you loved the experience.

Tropical Adventures

If you want to join us in Costa Rica but you can’t afford regular airfares, please click here, there are some amazing offers!

Once in Costa Rica, we take care of everything!

Tropical Adventures

As you already know, our annual event is planned for  Chicago, IL, in the US this year and our guest of honor is Danilo Layan Gabb, who some of the past volunteers already know. Danilo is a member of the Bri Bri tribe living in Bambu and is a famous element of Tropical Adventures family.

We have been waiting anxiously to know whether Danilo would be able to come with us to the event or not. To do so, he needed to get a visa from US Embassy, not an easy task for a Costa Rican who has never received any visa to the US before.

This morning, Danilo had an appointment at the US Embassy for his visa interview. Scott went with him and they waited for hours to get the answer, and it was yes. How relieving it was! You can imagine how excited Danilo is now. It is so rewarding for him and it would have been so unfair to see a refusal from the Embassy.

Now, Danilo is definitely going to Chicago and will enjoy his first travel to the US. We are all proud and excited for him. This kind of story gives hope and reason to fight. Never give up and do your best.

Danilo will be in Chicago for the annual event on August the 14^th and the 15^th, what about you?

We really hope you will come and join us in Chicago!

Tropical Adventures