Diving can be performed on both the Pacific as well as the Caribbean coast of the country. In addition, an island called Isla de Coco is a famous destination for the more experienced divers. Other famous islands include the Bat Islands and Catalinas Islands. Wherever you are in Costa Rica, you are more than likely very close to a diving school where you can dive for fun, but also study and obtain diving certificates. In the Guanacaste region alone, located on the Nicoya Peninsula and part of the mainland, there are more than 60 diving locations to be found.

Generally speaking, the visibility in Costa Rican waters is good, with an average of 12 meters. Throughout the country, however, it ranges anywhere from 3 to 35 meters. Visibility largely depends on the time of the year and the spot where you are going to dive. It may be a good idea to check about this when contacting a local diving school to be sure you can make the most of your diving experience. The temperature is also important to take into account. It can range from 23 and 29 degrees Celsius. In some places, the temperature might be a little lower which means you would need an extra thick wetsuit.

But, even importantly, what is there to see? The rich waters of Costa Rica are filled with manta rays, turtles, bull sharks, moray eels, seahorses, fan worms, trumpet fish, parrot fish and so much more. There are also different species of dolphins which frequent the Costa Rican coasts and in certain spots, during certain times, divers may even be able to observe the gigantic humpback whales. Costa Rican waters also host a beautiful assortment of coral. You will find all colors of the rainbow in every kind of figure, structure and size.

For those of you who don’t like to get yourself wet, there are plenty of other options to experience the marine wildlife in Costa Rica. One popular option is to volunteer with sea turtles such as in one of our turtle projects such as our Montezuma Sea Turtle Program. Here you can stay on the beach among beautiful flora and fauna while assisting the workers and learning about the process of Sea Turtles in egg laying and hatching, and much more. Also, we could help you to get on a dolphin boat from where you will be able to see the playful intelligent mammals jumping out of the water.

If you would like to get to know the diving culture in Costa Rica, we are more than happy to help you. For more information, send an email to bram@tropadvent.org.

Last weekend, our community development intern, Guillaume, and I hitched around the central valley in Costa Rica. With the help of locals and tourists, we reached the sights and villages we wanted to visit. Moreover, people who gave us a ride told us about places we did not yet know about. When we got a ride to Poás Volcano, our 50-year old Tico (Costa Rican) driver with a typical moustache told us that we should actually also check out a very nice laguna and showed us some beautiful photos. He even invited us to come and visit him in another weekend, so he could teach us how to fish in these areas. After exchanging phone numbers and getting dropped off, we still had a couple kilometres to go to the entrance of the Poás Volcano park. Within minutes, a middle-aged Swiss couple gave us a ride all the way up to the top. We shared our Costa Rican travel stories with them and they taught us about the Swiss way of life.

For our next ride we did not even have to use our thumb. We met two guys from Washington and New Jersey in the park who were willing to take us back down. Around 3pm, we felt that we would have to start looking for a place where we could stay overnight. Instead of hitchhiking, this time we chose to opt for a bus which would take us close to the place we wanted to visit the day after, Juan Castro Blanco National Park.

A local student in the bus told us we should definitely stop by a small village called Zalcero. In this rustic rinky dink town, which is famous for its organic farming life, we pitched a tent on a hill with a view over the town. The sympathetic local student guided us all the way up the hill where the three of us -Guillaume, the local and I- consumed a beer while learning about the farmer culture in this town.The hill was part of the meadow and, every once in awhile we would be confronted with the cow staring at us, only a couple meters away.

The next morning we met a cowboy, with a lasso in his car, who gave us a ride to the national park. The vaquero (cowboy) loved to acquaint us with the cowboy way of life in Costa Rica. His tall tales made us almost forget the scenery we were driving through. On the way back from the national park, this scenery was even more miraculous as the fog started to encircle the road as well as the tall trees. When looking down the valley, we could see nothing but one big cloud. We sure would not have seen nearly as much as we would have visited the places using only buses or our own car. At no point did we have to wait longer than one hour and we made use of more than 10 rides. By and large, Costa Ricans are very hospitable people who are pleased to help the tourists out. Therefore, I consider it as one of the best places to hitchhike.

If my above experience did not impress you enough, below I listed the most important reasons why one should hitchhike:
- You make new friends
- You get to visit places you did not know
- You learn a lot about the local culture
- You get to improve your knowledge not only the countries language but also many other languages, when getting a ride from tourists from another country
- It is very, very cheap (free)

Clearly, there is not one side to hitchhiking. Therefore, I also listed the most important things you should take account when you are gonna raise your thumb.
- You don’t know the people who give you a ride, try to always hitchhike in couples.
- Check out hitchhike experiences on the internet per country. A good tool to use is hitchwiki.
- Hitchhiking might be a lot more time consuming compared to using public transport or your own car.
- Don’t hitchhike when it’s dark.

If you have the time in Costa Rica, I can only recommend to take some rides, improve your Spanish and learn about the culture by putting out your thumb. Lastly, but certainly not least, it is common in Costa Rica to ask the driver if he needs some small money for the ride. You will soon find out that the driver in 99% of the cases will wave your offer away. And don’t forget, keep always smiling!

Please share your hitchhiking experiences with us! bram@tropadvent.org


For those who are interested in taking such a trip from Costa Rica, beware that the bus drive from San Jose to Panama lasts for around 16 hours. Included in this ride is the tiresome border crossing process. For those people who have a little more to spend and have a greater desire for comfort, the only other way to travel that I could recommend would be by plane. We spent the first night in the capital of Costa Rica – San Jose, as we had arrived too late to catch our bus to Panama City in time. The next day, we were ready to travel down for some life-changing adventures in the country of rum, yellow cabs and beautiful hidden beaches. After a weary bus ride that started at noon, we arrived in Panama City around 3 o’clock am. We immediately took a taxi to our hostel from where we started planning our further trips the next morning.

Panama City, and Panama in general, gained world fame in 1914 for its location adjacent to the Panama Canal. Nowadays, almost 100 years later, Panama City is also famous for its reputation as expat city, hub to backpacker hotspots (San Blas, Darién Gap) and Central-America’s largest banking center. Panama City is referred to by many as “The Miami of the South”, except for the fact that more English is spoken here than in Miami itself. This was a saying we could not quite agree with at first, when merely strolling around in Casco Viejo – the colonial, historical part of the city.

After, we walked towards the skyscrapers we noticed how many races and cultures are represented in this Latin concrete jungle. It would be an understatement to say that Panama City is a place of diversity. Casco Viejo is a very tranquil neighborhood with nice restaurants and shapely colonial edifices. Other parts of town reveal the typical underdeveloped Central-American streetscape with cheap markets, sloppy ceviche stands and dowdy beggars. At some street corners, due to the contribution of monumental skyscrapers, luxurious hotel chains and shopping malls, you might believe it if told that you were walking around an American or European city. Unfortunately, due to lack of sleep, we did not get a chance to judge Panama City’s nightlife, which will be a reason to return.

All in all, Panama City -or Ciudad de Panamá- is a bustling multicultural city in which you could easily spend a couple of days. 

Although Panama City certainly appealed us in many ways, with its cigars and good rum, we had only two days to discover this city while traveling to Panama’s upcoming paradise. In many hotels and hostels you’ll find brochures and leaflets about trips that head to The San Blas Islands. The San Blas Islands is an archipelago, which consists of exactly one island for each day of the year. An interesting remark is that the islands are not owned by the government but by indigenous peoples called The Kuna. We booked a trip for two nights at ChiChiMe, supposedly one of the quietest islands in the archipelago.

ChiChiMe is the kind of island you expect to see on desktops, in travel magazines and at travel fairs. White beaches, a crystal clear sea and bright green palm trees that embrace the sea breeze. The indigenous which inhabit this island ask only 20$ per night including three meals. Again, if you are a more luxurious kind of traveler I’d recommend to visit another island as most of the huts of this island merely offered hammocks to sleep in.

We also visited some other islands on day trips to snorkel in water. One of the snorkel hotspots is Isla de Perro, as it has a nearby shipwreck which is home to hundreds of magnificent colorful fish. From Isla de Perro, it’s only a stone’s throw to Isla Diablo, again a paradise like island you are likely to dream about every once in a while.

When coming back from Isla de Perro and Isla Diablo, we consumed some local beers on the beach of ChiChiMe island. What happened at that moment is something I won’t forget anytime soon, if ever. A playful dolphin swam by just 10 meters offshore.  Unfortunately, we could only see the dolphins for seconds and the Kuna did not tell that this was a daily ritual and that we could have seen the dolphins more often if we would have told we wanted to.


We enjoyed our stay at the islands to the fullest but to our own amazement, there were also some points of improvement we would like to point out. Due to the fact that the Kuna on the islands, for a large extent, have only been in contact with tourists with the outside world for about four years, they are far behind in their environmental and sustainable manners. On one of the islands we saw a monkey on a leash with a little sign which said ‘1$ for a photo with the monkey!’. We can only spread the word to fellow travelers about never taking such photos in return for money so that the indigenous, at some point, will understand that the current-day tourist will not spend money on such undesirable and harmful money-making activities. On a final note, the Kuna throw their garbage a few hundred meters off the coast without giving it a second thought. When asked about it, a local simply explained that the trash would float over to the other island. So, if you are traveling to the islands, try to take at least your own garbage, and, if possible some of their garbage to the mainland.

The three of us agreed that the 4 days on the islands were definitely among the craziest days of our life. For everyone who likes remote paradise, go and visit the islands before the crowds come.

I would like to take this chance thank our new Argentinian father and future employer Gonzalo, our German friends and future colleagues Tillman and Johannes and all the other people on ChiChiMe island and in the Panamericana hostel who helped making this Panama experience etched in my memory.

My journey started on Wednesday morning, when my boyfriend and I left Hojancha at 5:15 am to get to Nicoya by 6 am, and then took another bus from Nicoya to Liberia at 6:30 am. The bus ride was uneventful, but it is a lot hotter in Liberia than in Hojancha. We arrived in Liberia, where the bus to the border town Penas Blancas (aka ‘La Frontera’), leaves. We decided to spend a day at a nearby beach, called Playas del Coco, before crossing to Nicaragua. We got an early start Thursday morning in order to get to the border before it became crowded. The bus to Penas Blancas lasts about an hour and a half, and by 8:30 am, we were already at the border.

The best way to describe the border between Costa Rica and Nicaragua is chaotic. The bus drops its passengers off right next to the Costa Rican customs office, and outside of the bus there is a mob of people waiting for you and yelling to get your attention. Among the crowd are official money exchangers to exchange your colones or dollars into córdobas, which is the official currency of Nicaragua. Others are there to help you fill out the customs forms. Of course, everyone always expects a tip (you can decide how much to give), and truthfully, you can go fill out the form yourself in the customs office, no tip required.

We waited in line for about 10 minutes to get into the office, which is no time at all! Once in there, we filled out our customs form, talked to the agent, then got our passports stamped with our exit stamp from Costa Rica. After completing the process, it is only about a five minute walk to the entrance to Nicaragua, but your bags must be searched and passports checked again by the Costa Rica police, and Nicaraguan immigration as required by governmental safety regulations. If all is in order, they let you walk into Nicaragua. It is about another 5 minute walk down a gravel road to the Nicaraguan customs office. On this side of the border, there are locals who are willing to help foreigners get through customs, and they rush over to anyone who doesn’t look like they belong. Some of these guys are official government workers, while others are just locals who hang there and wait for tourists to pass by. All of these guys expect a tip at the end, around $5-10 dollars, but it is your decision how much you would like to tip.

When I entered the immigration office in Nicaragua, the first tax you must pay is a $1 fee to the town, just because. Then I got in line to get my stamp into Nicaragua. I paid the $12 entrance fee into Nicaragua at the border, and  received my entrance stamp. For foreigners, even those  who are just looking to renew their visa, it is required to wait within the Nicaraguan border for 6 hours before you can leave the country again. At the border crossing, there are a few shops and a duty-free store, along with locals selling handmade goods, including handbags, shoes and jewelry. There’s also a place you can grab lunch or a snack while waiting to leave the country.

Upon leaving Nicaragua, I had to (again) pay the $1 fee to the town. I filled out my customs form, payed my $2 exit fee, then got my exit stamp. The procedure to enter Costa Rica is the same as to exit, so I met the police and customs agents again. The police officer happened to remember me, so he let me pass without searching my backpack. I walked back to the Costa Rican immigration office, filled out my customs form, and got back in line. Luckily, I only waited about 5 minutes before reaching the immigration officer, but waits of 3-4 hours are not uncommon, especially during the busy times of the day.

It is much more difficult to enter Costa Rica than it is Nicaragua. In order to enter the country, foreigners almost always have to have proof of leaving the country again. I had to show them my flight itinerary to prove I wasn’t going to stay in Costa Rica indefinitely. Although my flight is not for another four months, I told the agent I plan on leaving in another 90 days to renew my visa. The customs officer accepted my explanation, gave me an entrance stamp, and renewed my visa for another 90 days.

All in all, I enjoyed the experience of going to another country. For novice and experienced travelers alike, one should have no fear of walking across the border. Of course, it is important to be aware of your surroundings while crossing, but travelers should always remain vigilant when in a foreign country.  For travelers whose spanish language skills may not be that developed, or for those who prefer the convenience of someone assisting them through the procedure, there are many private bus companies that take a bus from San Jose to Managua. These companies will guide you through the procedures of customs, baggage check, and make sure you cross the border. These are usually more expensive than the standard bus companies, with a one-way ticket costing around $50. However, for some of us, the extra fee is worth the convenience of having your travel arrangements taken care of. In 90 more days, when I need to renew my visa once again, I may return to Granada, Nicaragua. Its beautiful natural surroundings and beautiful historical sites are fascinating and exciting. If you have any other experiences at Costa Rican borders, feel free to share those with us!

Written by Allison Fees, Community Program Intern

First of all, we won’t be able to give a clear answer on this question in this blog. Merely will we provide examples which might help you to develop your own opinion.

Let’s take a look at the rather unconscious motives to volunteer. One philosophy states that, at the end of the day, everything humans do in life, they do for their own benefit. Even when giving a present to a good friend, it makes one feel good and therefore benefits the giver. But that does not, to a large extent, make every gentle action a selfish action.

When asking volunteers for recommendations and feedback, many times we hear that they enjoyed it a lot because the all children in town knew their name. This could certainly be seen as a rather selfish side-effect of volunteering but it does not take away from the hard work and aid they bring the the community. It makes the volunteer feel good, that the children know their name and like to play with them and it makes the children feel to good to have a new friend and role model.

Another reason we find a lot when reviewing surveys of former volunteers is that they liked the contact with the locals they befriend. Not only the locals have a good time meeting the volunteers, this would be equal or maybe even a more exciting experience for the visitor – in this case, the volunteer. On top of this, studies have revealed that volunteering is good for your health and volunteers are in higher spirits compared with people who do not volunteer.

Also, let’s look into the matters of which the volunteers know it will help them in their future path – whatever they might explore. These are mainly reasons which volunteers tell us before starting with the projects. For example, it can improve their language skills. Moreover, when someone can’t find a job, volunteering is a great way to not sit still and meanwhile boost your CV.

But we cannot forget the other side to this debate. Obviously there are also many reasons volunteers give which don’t have anything to do with themselves. “Through the volunteers, many more sea turtles were able to hatch” and “the children in town did learn the basics of the English language in a relative short time” are good things we hear not seldomly. Many people elect volunteer over a vacation because they truly desire to do good in the world and help others.

Anyhow, it should be mentioned that volunteering is not just beneficial for the project but also for the volunteer. The volunteer stands to gain experience, foreign language skills, a good feeling of one’s self, a stronger CV and much more. We believe it’s hard to say whether volunteering is a selfless or selfish thing to do. We do believe however that it is a combination of the two. But even if it would help the volunteer as much as the beneficiaries, that would only make it a richer experience, for both parties. Tropical Adventures, however, is an organization which consists of employees, interns, and volunteers who perceive themselves as helping communities and conservation programs but is also an organization that empowers volunteers to gain experience in a array of working fields.

Have you ever thought of volunteering from this point of view? What are the main reasons you choose to volunteer? Do you think that volunteering is a selfless or selfish thing to do? Or a combination of the two? And if there is a selfish component to this, should that be considered bad?

Written by Hanna Menefee & Bram Voets

Semana Santa is considered to be one of the main important holidays on the Catholic calendar. Many festivities are organized in every town of the country. Imagine some bullfights, rodeos, fireworks and parades and locals wearing their cowboy hats drinking beer and you have a pretty clear picture of what the landscape looks like during Holy Week.

Most ticos, as well as expats, take a few days off at the end of the week to celebrate the festivity with the ones important to them. Banks and businesses are closed on Thursday and Friday and also public transportation time schedules can vary from the normal ‘horario.’

For the one who like the typical Costa Rican rum, unfortunately it won’t be able to get liquors from Wednesday until midnight on Friday. It’s called the Dry Law. If you do like to drink some liquors however during these days don’t feel embarrassed to get it just before the week starts as many locals do the exact same thing.

The tradition is to eat seafood during Holy Week, complying with the practice that eating meat on Good Friday is prohibited. Among popular dishes are rice and shrimp, ceviche and fried fish.

Another important aspect about Semana Santa – and Costa Rican holidays in general – is that there always is a significant rise in voilent deaths, varying from drowning to car accidents. 20,000 officials including police offers, firefighters and council officials will be working to keep the country as safe as possible. On top, an amount of 800 Red Cross workers will be dealing with the whole range of safety issues. Other precautions you could make yourself are to go to less touristy destinations, not being on the road on Thursday or Friday and always be surrounded with people you trust.

Unfortunately, for tourists, many of the hotels are fully booked months in advance due to the fact that many relatives of the Ticos are visiting the country, along with many international tourists . The best thing to do is to book your stay way in advance or maybe to couchsurf with a local to also experience the family Semana Santa experience.

One thing is guaranteed, whether you’ll be celebrating at beach off the beaten track, at a cozy Costa Rican house or at one of the major tourist destinations; Semana Santa will be an experience you won’t easy forget.

If you could not make it this year to Costa Rica for Holy Week but if you would like to celebrate it next year, consider to celebrate Semana Santa with Tropical Adventures. For more information, send an email to bram@tropadvent.org.

Written by Bram, Marketing Intern

In a survey carried out by the Unimer Firm to over 1200 locals, there were three main concerns for the locals in Costa Rica: employment, insecurity and cost of living. Lesser primary concerns were corruption, the economy and poverty.

Let’s first take a look at employment. 21% of the respondents considered employment to be their highest concern. Tropical Adventures educates children through distance learning programs and local cross-cultural activities. Moreover, we teach English to adults and organize language interchange evenings to improve their English language skills. We carried out a survey among 50 locals in Costa Rica ourselves just this month, with the question of what drives people to study English. 41% of the respondents answered that a higher English level would help them in their current jobs, or help in finding a better job.

The second main concern is insecurity. 18% of the respondents considered insecurity to be their main problem. However, back in 2009, more than 40% of the people did regard this as their main problem. We hope this significant, positive drop, will persist.
People who are, or those who feel like they are inadequately guarded or protected, are likely to live a unblest life. As you might know, safety is already on the second stage on Maslow’s triangle which represents the hierarchy of needs. By organizing various cinema nights, education programs, craftwork activities, camps and other activities we give the children, youngsters and adults the possibility to do things with and learn about and from others.

Lastly, ranked third with 17%, the main concern for people in Costa Rica is the cost of living. Prices in Costa Rica are still raising and as 21% of the respondents perceived employment to be the main problem we could draw a connection here. We feel that, if we keep on continue to educate the people they are likely to find better jobs and thus be able to live a financially more comfortable life.

Tropical Adventures does the utmost to help to drop these percentages. However, for the majority of things we organize, we need volunteers to help us. Help us drop the rates and come volunteer with us! For more information, please check our volunteer programs or send an e-mail to bram@tropadvent.org.

The word actually derives from someone who “offers himself for a military service” by M. Fr. Voluntaire. Later, in 1630, the word was first used in a non-military context. Before the 19th century, there were few  formal charities to assist people in need of help. In 1844, the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) was started in London, which aims to promote developing a healthy body, mind, and spirit. A few years later, the YWCA was founded. The Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) is a movement of women working for social and economic change in the world. Currently, the YWCA is based in Geneva, Switzerland.

During the Civil War, women volunteered their time sewing and making supplies for the soldiers.
In the first decades of the 20th century, many volunteer organizations were founded all around the world.
In 1940, 28 cities in America had volunteer bureaus. After World War II, people started to help people not only from their own country but also in neighbouring countries or even overseas. A major organization which did this was the Peace Corps, which was founded in 1960. The U.S. Peace Corps is considered one of the first organizations which had a large focus on what nowadays is called voluntouring (travelling and volunteering).

Between 1960 and 1970, the movement of traveling and volunteering became very popular. Now, a few years later, more than 55 million Americans have participated in a voluntouring program and more than a 100 million would be interested in taking a volunteering vacation. More than 89 million Americans  do volunteer work without traveling.

The words volunteerism or voluntourism are relatively new but the core of what it is has an interesting and extensive history.Tropical Adventures is an organization which has its focus on volunteering and empowers individuals to grow personally and to expand their global vision as they participate in different environmental, cross-cultural and educational projects throughout Costa Rica. If you would like to know more about our projects feel free to check them out on our website, or send an email to bram@tropadvent.org.

Only $1,449 per adult!

Children 12 to 15 – $279

Children 11 and under – $199

Costa Rica is known for it’s natural beauty, however the true beauty lies within the hearts of those who live here. Come join us for a special program this summer. Our children will be on their school break, and we have some special events planned to make this a vacation they will not forget.

This is a great opportunity to travel to the beautiful country of Costa Rica and not only appreciate the natural beauty, but to give back in a meaningful way. This itinerary is a blend of cross-cultural exchange, volunteering, and immersion into the Costa Rican lifestyle with the focus being on traditions, environmental conservation, adventure, and personal discovery.

This very special itinerary includes:

• All ground transportation
• 21 Meals
• 2 nights of hotels in San Jose
• 5 nights in Hojancha with a host family
• 1 night in the lodge at the Monte Alto Natural Reserve
• Chance to truly get to live with and get to know many local people
• A full day at one of Costa Rica´s most beautiful beaches
• All-day Hojancha “Campesino” Tour
• Wine and Cheese Sunset Picnic
• The opportunity to see lots of wildlife
• Tons of fun!

Day 1, June 29
Most participants will arrive to San Jose today. Manffred, our driver, will pick everyone up and deliver them safely to their nearby hotel, Adventure Inn. Tonight, those who have already arrived will get together for dinner.

Day 2, June 30
Today, after our included, tropical breakfast, we will make our way the approximate 3-1/2 hours to the town of Hojancha, stopping along the way for lunch at Tres Hermanas BBQ Restaurant. We’ll also pop across the street to see the variety of deer, macaws, toucans, iguanas, and other native animals at the Mi Pueblo Restaurant.

Once we arrive to Hojancha, we will get you settled in with your host family. You’ll enjoy dinner and the rest of the evening, getting to know your new family.

Day 3, July 1
This morning we will wake up early and participate in Hojancha’s new “Campesino Tour.” We have formed a cooperative and collaborative group of town members, and together we’ve created a great local tour. The purpose is twofold: It’s a great way to show off to our guests how life is in rural Guanacaste; and secondly it’s a way to bring in a bit of extra income to many local families.

We’ll begin by going to the Chon Zuñiga farm to milk cows, feed baby cows with a milk bottle, learn how to make cuajada (curd) cheese from the fresh milk they just extracted from the cow, learn about fresh fruits that grow in Costa Rica. Afterwards we will enjoy a delicious breakfast, which will include the cheese we just watched being made.

Next we’ll be visiting the Jose Campos pig farm where we’ll also meet their rodeo bulls, horses, egg production hens, as well as the hens they grow to sell as poultry.

Also, we will pass by a bee farm where honey is produced, followed by a  mouth-watering lunch at the house of Nila Venegas. We’ll eat under the trees by the river as we listen to (and participate in) live, traditional marimba music by Manuel Venegas and his family members.

After lunch we will watch a presentation by one or more of the members of “Hojarte,” a group of women from Hojancha who have been making jewelry for nearly 10 years out of natural seeds they find in the area.
The tour also includes riding horseback between certain parts of the tour and to see incredible views of the surrounding area and the Gulf of Nicoya.

Day 4, July 2
Today we volunteer in the local botanical garden! Some of us will plant, while other will do trail maintenance. There will also be some painting and other types of maintenance, such as wooden bridge construction or repairs. Late in the afternoon we will travel to an overlook and enjoy a bit of wine & cheese while we watch the sun set over the Gulf of Nicoya.

Day 5, July 3
Beach day! We’ll all pile in the bus and head to Playa Tamarindo for the day! Optional zip line tour and surfing lessons for those interested.

Day 6, July 4
Today we will all pitch in and help with Hojancha’s monthly recycling campaign in the park. It’s a great way to meet some of the great people from town. Afterward, we will take the younger kids (ages 5 to 11) on an overnight trip to the nearby Monte Alto Natural Reserve.

During the day we will have all kinds of activities, including a hike, a fun environmental education workshop, art class, and some friendly games of competition. At night we’ll have a BBQ dinner, some live music and a movie! All of us will spend the night in the very cool lodge onsite.

Day 7, July 5
After our delicious breakfast at the natural reserve, we will do a little volunteering with the park rangers at the park, and then we’ll make our way back to Hojancha in time for lunch. We’ll take the afternoon off as a well-deserved break, and to spend more time with your host family before saying goodbye!

Day 8, July 6
We’ll make our way back to San Jose today so that you can relax in the Adventure Inn Hotel one more night before flying out tomorrow. Enjoy the pizza party at night!

Day 9, July 7
Today you’ll fly home after having made a lot of new friends, and after having really gotten to know the “real” Costa Rica!

For more information, or to book your trip today,
please call 1-800-832-9419, ext 301 or +1 305-514-0154.
Alternatively, contact us via here.

Itinerary subject to change, based upon availability, weather and other factors

Costa Rican cuisine is known for being mild but flavorful, thanks to the many herbs used for cooking. Usually, Costa Ricans eat rice and beans in the morning, rice and beans with some meat in the afternoon, and again in the evening rice and beans are a popular treat. Right, rice and beans is considered to be the national dish. Often, Costa Ricans tend to eat their rice and beans with some homemade chileros, to make the food more spicy or flavorful. Another common desayuno – which means breakfast – is tortillas with avocado, cheese, natilla (sour cream) or something else. To add to your rice and beans or tortillas, there always is a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables readily available everywhere. Speaking about beans and vegetables, Costa Ricans love to eat sopa negra, which is soup with black beans and many vegetables in it. Try it! It’s yummy, except when it is too hot.

Costa Ricans love to barbeque, and whenever they would have a barbeque, they would make Carne Asada (literally grilled beef). Carne Asada is made from beef steak and can be marinated with olive oil and salt or with spice rubs like lemon, garlic or lime – and then cooked on the grill.

Coffee and bananas also form part of the Costa Rican cuisine, and are the main agricultural products. For your information: the flavor of the coffee in the country is so pure and tasteful! Bananas, to be honest, are not very different from the ones you will find in your own country. However, there are at least 11 different types of them here! One of them is even “cuadrado” – square shaped! They may even be found in your country, as bananas from Costa Rica are imported to other countries around the world.

In the evenings, Costa Ricans like to drink beer. Lots of beer! The beer offer could basically be divided into two main brands: Imperial and Pilsner. Just try ‘em both to see which taste you like better. Imperial also comes in the “Silver” form, which is a little more light and thus a good alternative during the day when it gets really hot. Must you fancy something stronger, try the rum. Ron Centenario is a very tasteful rum, which none of the connoisseurs would argue about. Besides beer and rum, wine is also widely consumed throughout the country. Non-alcoholic drinks the locals are crazy about would include water or milk with fruits such as watermelon, mango, blackberry, lime, passion fruits and many more.

For the ones who want to know what they can get with their budget, we subdivided the food in three categories:

Low budget ($1.50 – $6)
Outside of the capitals and tourist destinations, you are likely to find much more budget-friendly and local food. In the so-called “sodas” (cheap, local diners), you can enjoy some delicious food for the best prices. Well, delicious, if you like rice and beans. Rice and beans are served with almost everything you order. In the morning, the rice & beans mixed together is called “gallo pinto” or just “pinto.” Besides the pinto you can get yourself some eggs, chicken, fish and some salad. In most of the sodas, you won’t pay more than 2000 colones, which equals about  $4 USD for pinto. Furthermore, you can also get tacos, tamales (meat-filled cornmeal pastries), gallos (corn tortillas) and empanadas (turnovers) as a snack in the sodas.

Moderately priced ($6 – $15)
Of course, every now and then you just want something else besides another tico meal. There are many restaurants which offer pizza, cheaper pastas and much more in the Costa Rica. When you visit a restaurant by a mirador – which means “lookout,” the chances are better that you’ll pay more for a simple meal like pinto with salad. For a decent western meal with a beverage or beer you should pay no more than $10.

High End ($20 – $40)
Even in the best restaurants, uou are likely to not spend more than $60 per person including many drinks. In the High End restaurants, meals vary from delicious Costa Rican meals with a western touch to the genuine French cuisine. Notice that you will not behold these kind of restaurants in the more rural areas of Costa Rica.

All in all, for bargain hunters as well as big spenders the variety is sufficient for everyone. Of course, we would like to know what your favourite snack is in Costa Rica so that we can spread the word as well as try those ourselves!