People to People Moments

• Give back to local communities by planting trees, painting schools, and lending a hand to other local service projects.
• Learn to cook Costa Rican cuisine with guidance from a local expert.
• Immerse yourself in Costa Rican culture and customs during a home stay with a welcoming family.
• Spend time with the children at a local orphanage or hospital.

Enhance Your Education

• Rainforest flora and fauna
• Eco-tourism and its importance to Costa Rica
• Natural resources and conservation education
• Anthropology

Top Program Activities

• Explore ecological trails near active volcanoes, and relax in soothing mineral water hot springs.
• Soar through the rainforest canopy on a zipline with professional guides.
• Experience the thrill of white-water rafting.
• Crash the waves during a surfing lesson at a pristine Costa Rican beach.
• Discover fascinating nocturnal animals during a night hike with a biologist.
• Give back to the local communities with 24 hours of service throughout the program.

San José, Costa Rica

• Visit a local orphanage or children's hospital to spend time with the children.

• Travel to the Caribbean side of the country to experience the incredible beauty and adventure of Veragua Rainforest.
• See amazing exhibits of live butterflies and snakes, and visit the world's largest nocturnal frog exhibit.
• View the lush rainforest canopy from high above during an aerial tram ride, and keep your eyes peeled for the sloths and monkeys that fill the rainforest!
• Visit a spectacular waterfall, and then stop by Costa Rica's National Institute of Biodiversity's biological station to see researchers discovering new species.
• Explore the rainforest at night with your experienced guides, and watch for nocturnal mammals like the opossum, owl, and kinkajou.

• Plant trees or paint a school as you work alongside local citizens during a half day of service.
• Explore EARTH University, a private, international, nonprofit university dedicated to education in the agricultural sciences and natural resources.
• Enjoy a multicultural barbecue with some of EARTH's students.
• Learn about sustainable agriculture at EARTH's banana farm.

• Learn to cook traditional Costa Rican dishes at a cooking class with local community members—yes, you can eat what you make!
• Sleep beneath the rainforest canopy in the rugged luxury of a tent suite at Pozo Azul.
• Discover your inner scientist when you participate in exclusive activities at Tirimbina Biological Reserve.
• Soar through the tropical canopy 60 to 90 feet above the rainforest floor during a zipline cable adventure with professional guides.
• Make a difference in the community by working alongside local citizens during a day of service.

• Refresh your body with a soak in the volcano-heated mineral waters of Eco Termales Hot Springs.
• Hike through tranquil scenery to the confluence of the two rivers that create the mysterious sky blue waters of the Celeste River.
• Journey deep into the jungle, and then excavate healing mud from ollas, or openings in the earth, for a mud bath before submerging your tired body in the area's natural hot springs.
• Hike nearby ecological trails, and take in the sights of Tenorio Volcano.
• Visit a local school to donate school supplies, read, and dance with the local students.

• Immerse yourself in the daily life and customs of Costa Rica when you spend leisure time and two nights with a friendly and welcoming local family.
• Compete in friendly competition with local citizens at the area's recreation park.
• Learn some Latin dance moves with your home-stay family.

• Carve up the famous Costa Rican waves during a surfing lesson with experienced instructors.
• Enjoy the beautiful scenery and incredible sunset over the ocean.
• Hop aboard a white-water raft with experienced rafting guides for an exciting adventure on an intermediate stretch of white-water river.
• Help with reforestation, clean beaches, maintain trails or prepare hatcheries for turtles in a service project at Playa Hermosa Wildlife Refuge.

Note: Highlights featured represent past programs. Your program may differ slightly in some areas due to scheduling conflicts, unforeseen changes, and the arrival of new opportunities. Your program's schedule of activities will be provided as confirmed, closer to actual travel.