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INTENSIVE SPANISH CLASSES
LEARN TO DANCE SALSA
EXPLORE LUSH RAINFORESTS
RAFT JUNGLE RIVERS
PRACTICE SPANISH
BOAT THROUGH WETLANDS
OBSERVE NESTING SEA TURTLES
SUNBATHE ON PRISTINE BEACHES
LEARN TO COOK LATIN CUISINE
FEEL A THUNDERING VOLCANO
MEET INTERESTING PEOPLE
RELAX IN NATURAL HOT SPRINGS
EXPERIENCE LOCAL CULTURE
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12 day\ 11 night tour
Cost: $1995
Based on 12 students minimum(1 chaperone goes free!)
With 20 paying students (2 chaperones go free!)
Tour Includes:
11 nights of lodging
Meals from Dinner on day 1 - Breakfast on day 12
Spanish Classes
Special Classes
Transportation in Country
Professional Full Time Guide
Resident Guides(certain locations)
Guest Lecturers
Special Tours
All Fee's and entrances (national parks, reserves, etc...)
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An Unforgettable Experience!
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Day 1: Arrive in San Jose where you will be warmly welcomed by your guide and chauffer and escorted back to the school for a brief orientation. Time permitting you will have a chance to relax and take in the local sites. You will then be introduced to you're "home stay" family where you will have dinner and spend the night.
Day 2: In morning we will be adventuring out to Poas volcano. Intensive Spanish classes in the afternoon. You will have dinner with your "home stay" family and then return to the school for Latin Dance classes in the evening.
Day 3: Visit the Butterfly Garden in the morning. Intensive Spanish classes in the afternoon. In the early evening you will have free time to explore, relax and chat with neighbors. You then return to school for a cooking class on local cuisine, making your own dinner.
Day 4: Intensive Spanish classes in the morning. Travel to Arenal where we will enjoy breath-taking views of the thundering Arenal Volcano, Costa Rica's most active volcano, where we are sure to enjoy some of nature's fireworks. Great photo opportunities!
Day 5: In the morning we will hike through the National Park at the foot of the volcano. Here we could see monkeys and Coati-Mundis bounding through the forest, while Toucans call to one another from the canopy above. This is also a good spot for seeing the brightly colored eyelash viper (an arboreal snake). After lunch we will venture down to a cascading waterfall nearby. Bathing suits required! We will spend the remainder of the afternoon soaking in the hot springs surrounded by lush gardens. With the weather on our side, we will take in spectacular night views of the volcano with red lava streaming down its peak.
Day 6: Travel by boat to Tortuguero National Park on the Caribbean. Here we will explore the rich labyrinth of waterways which will afford us excellent wildlife viewing. The area boasts 320 bird species, including Tiger Herons, Agami Herons, White-fronted Nunbird, and all six species of Kingfishers belonging to the Americas. Along with birds, we may also see sloths, cayman, iguanas, poison-dart frogs, fresh-water turtles, basilisk lizards, the Honduran White tent-making bats, and three species of monkeys that frequent the banks. After lunch we will visit the Turtle Museum to gain background information for our evening excursion. Some time after dinner (depending on the tide) we will venture out along the beach to look for the Green Sea Turtles, who come up to nest June-October. With luck, we will spot The Giant Leatherback Turtles who nest on the Tortuguero beaches from mid-February to July, and perhaps get to view the Hawksbill turtles nesting there during July as well.
Day 7: After an incredible morning boat ride through the forest-lined canals of the National Park, we will spend the afternoon hiking at the foot of the only mountain in Tortuguero.
Day 8: Travel to Selva Verde Lodge in the tropical lowlands of Sarapiqui. After lunch, explore the wildlife-rich riparian zone along the banks of the Sarapiqui river. This lowland rain forest region at the base of the Caribbean slope is well-known for hosting the greatest diversity of tropical flora and fauna in the country. This is the most likely spot on the trip to see the Great Green Macaw, an endangered species that depends on the Dipteryx tree for feeding and nesting. This is one of the emergent trees commonly found in Sarapiqui. Also lurking in the forest are two- and three-toed sloths, 3 different species of monkeys, and peccaries. In the afternoon we will visit the butterfly garden and enjoy a talk about the local plant-life by Orlando Orlich, a Botonist from the area. After the talk, he will take us into the jungle to practice plant identification techniques that he will be teaching us.
Day 9: Spend the morning at La Selva Biological Station run by the Organization for Tropical Studies (OTS), clearly a highlight of the tour. The station is among the four most famous tropical research facilities in the world. We will see an outstanding abundance of wildlife. The station is home to more than 420 bird species, more than 500 species of butterflies, 55 species of snakes, and 120 species of mammals. A vast variety of different species of trees can be seen in the arboretum. Animals here are not camera shy, so there will be ample photo opportunities. Peccaries (wild pigs), agoutis, coatis, sloth, and monkeys frequent the area. All of which makes for an unforgettable experience.
In the afternoon we will meet with local students for a cultural exchange, playing games and participating in a hands-on workshop given by a local artisan on traditional handcrafts and souvenir-making from the area. In the evening a member of the Great Green Macaw Conservation Project will come to talk with us.
Day 10: After breakfast we will gear up to go rafting down the beautiful Sarapiqui river. In the afternoon we will visit a nearby Banana Plantation, characteristic to the Caribbean zone.
Day 11: On our way back to San Jose, we will visit the Waterfall Gardens bordering on the Braulio Carillo National Park, where we will enjoy the extensive butterfly and hummingbird gardens. Up to 12 different species of jeweled hummingbirds visit the garden. Then, we will walk along the river, experiencing close-up views of 5 spectacular waterfalls. Upon arriving in the San Jose area, we will enjoy a farewell dinner with time to look back upon our rich experiences and share in a final evening together.
Day 12: Flights back home.
Some additional information: Throughout our journey, Spanish is the primary language with English interpretation as needed. Students will come in contact with many local people and have continual exposure to the Spanish language and therefore ample opportunity to build their Spanish language skills. Travel time on the bus can be utilized to learn Spanish songs and games etc…depending on individual group wants and needs. Students will leave our country with a better grasp of practical Spanish and an insight and hopefully appreciation for the Costa Rican environment and culture.
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