By: Scott Pralinsky
Tourism on the Rise
May 16, 2008Despite a US economy that seems to be headed downhill quite quickly, Costa Rica has managed to see an increase in…
Read MoreAncient Traditions
April 17, 2008For over 4,000 years, the art of ceramics have, in one way or another, stayed with the Guanacaste people since their…
Read MoreSusan’s “Tropical Adventure”
April 3, 2008Susan was a volunteer with Tropical Adventures back in October of 2007 on the Talamanca Indigenous Reservation. She worked with the…
Read MoreVideo of Class in El Yaz
February 2, 2008We took this video back in October of one of our fabulous and wonderful volunteers, Jane, while she was teaching an English class at the El Yaz Elementary School. This is one of the two schools which are part of our La Flor volunteer program here in Costa Rica in the Cartago Province.
Read MoreRetirement Home Holiday Party
January 8, 2008On December 18th we had an amazing celebration with the residents of the Bambu Retirement Home. Four Tropical Adventures Foundation staff members (Scott, Isaac, Mauro and Elizabeth) attended, as well as the following hard-working volunteers:
Read MoreFundraising Ideas
January 6, 2008Many times volunteers really want to come to Costa Rica and participate in our programs, but they say they can’t afford it. Why not think about doing some good old fashioned fundraising to help pay for some — or all — of your costs?
Amanda Rose Kessner and her friends paid for 100% of the costs of their trip to volunteer in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, including their airfare. And she says it was easy! In this article, Amanda shares her tips with us on how to do it…
La Flor Holiday Party
December 14, 2007On 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…
The Grinch
December 12, 2007It’s funny the kind of assumptions I find myself making in life sometimes. Not consciously, of course. Somehow I’ve found myself buying into subconscious little misconceptions of reality that have later led me to disappointment later in life.
At its core of many of misconceptions I think is, “If I’m a good boy, people are going to like me.” Ha ha ha! Now that’s a seriously messed up statement!
I’ve seen many volunteers make that wrong assumption and try to warn them about it when they arrive here in Costa Rica. For instance, one assumption volunteers make is thinking that just because they work hard to help others, everyone around them will shower them with love, appreciation and thanks.
Often, especially in Costa Rica, that is the case – but not always. And when faced with ungrateful people, it often comes as a shock and a surprise. And it hurts!
I fell into that same trap yesterday thanks to Amanda, otherwise known as “The Grinch” around our office now.
We sent out our end-of-year newsletter yesterday, which we were very excited about. We had an amazing year and wanted to share about all that we accomplished and what we were looking forward to for the next year with our friends, volunteers and supporters.
When we saw our first response come in we were very excited. We mistakenly thought it was going to be a “good for you, congratulations and keep up the great work” kind of response. But much to our surprise, we opened the email and found this:
What a Year!
December 12, 2007Warm holiday greetings to you and your loved ones from all of us in Costa Rica at Tropical Adventures!
As we prepare for our year-end holiday activities and begin to implement our exciting new 2008 projects, I thought it only fitting to look back and share with you our accomplishments and learnings from the last couple of years and thank you for your generous support.
Growing Together 2007
December 9, 2007Tropical 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.