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!

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.