Costa Rica: STEM, Sustainability and Biology

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Length

14 days

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Dates

TBD

Program includes

  • 13 Nights of Accommodation
  • Daily Breakfast & Dinner
  • 2 Group Lunches
  • Historical & Cultural Walking Tours
  • Ground Transportation
  • Travelers Insurance
  • Full Time Guidance & Assistance
  • National Park Tours

Program Highlights

  • Geothermal Plant Visit
  • Biomass Plant or Renewable Energy Company Visit
  • Solar Farm / Visit Coopeguanacaste Headquarters
  • Presa Sangregado Dam Hydro Energy Plant
  • La Ecovilla Sustainable Community
  • Ecolones Recycling Center
  • Sustainable Service Project Tree Planting
  • Bribri Educational Day
  • Nocturnal Wildlife Hike

Itinerary

Day 1 – Departure

  • Arrive in San Jose
  • Meet the Group at the Hotel
  • Program Orientation – The group will become oriented with their neighborhood, the public transportation systems, nearby pharmacies, markets, ATMs, etc. Additionally, an in-depth safety briefing will be provided for what to do incase of an emergency. 
  • Welcome Dinner – The group will be taken for an authentic dinner with a variety of menu options to cater all diets.

Day 2 – Guanacaste

  • Breakfast & Day Briefing
  • Transfer to Guanacaste (approx. 3 hours)
  • Rincon de la Vieja National Park – With volcanic steam vents, bubbling mud pots, and rainforest, Rincon de la Vieja National Park makes a great day trip when visiting northern Guanacaste.
  • Lunch Break
  • Geothermal Plant Visit – Learn about Geothermal Energy production
  • Group Dinner & Discussions

Day 3 – Guanacaste

  • Breakfast & Day Briefing
  • Forest Experimental Station Horizon 
  • Lunch Break
  • Biomass Plant or Renewable Energy Company Visit
  • Group Dinner & Discussions

Day 4 – Guanacaste

  • Breakfast & Day Briefing 
  • Solar Farm / Visit Coopeguanacaste Headquarters 
  • Lunch Break
  • Beach Excursion 
  • Group Dinner & Discussions

Day 5 – La Fortuna

  • Breakfast & Day Briefing 
  • Transfer to Arenal, La Fortuna (approx. 2.5 hours)
  • Presa Sangregado Dam Hydro Energy Plant – Presa Sangregado Dam is a high-earthen hydroelectric dam on the south-east shore of Lake Arenal. The installed hydroelectric capacity is 157 megawatts. 
  • Lunch Break
  • Rio Fortuna Waterfall – La Fortuna Waterfall is a thundering, towering cascade of water that hurdles down a steep canyon along La Fortuna river near the Arenal volcano.
  • Baldi Hot Springs 
  • Group Dinner & Discussions

Day 6 – La Fortuna

  • Breakfast & Day Briefing 
  • Arenal Volcano National Park Wildlife Tour – Arenal National Park contains a bizarre landscape of solidified lava flows, lush natural forest and tropical flora and fauna which includes howler monkeys, toucans and over 350 bird species. 
  • Lunch Break
  • Canopy Ziplining & Hot Springs
  • Group Dinner & Discussions

Day 7 – La Fortuna

  • Breakfast & Day Briefing 
  • Lake Arenal Pontoon Boat Tour (Lunch Included) 
  • Bus – Boat – Bus Transfer to Monteverde 
  • Children’s Eternal Rainforest – The largest private reserve sprawls across the mountains and valleys dividing Arenal and Monteverde: a mat of primary and secondary growth rainforest emulsified across 55,000 acres. The last of Costa Rica’s jaguars roam free under its canopies alongside 120 species of mammals, 440 species of birds and more than 700 species of butterflies.
  • Group Dinner & Discussions

Day 8 – Monteverde

  • Breakfast & Day Briefing 
  • Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve Wildlife Tour – The Monteverde Cloud Forest Biological Preserve of the Tropical Science Center is the first private area for the conservation of wildlife founded in Costa Rica in October of 1972.
  • Lunch Break
  • Eco Coffee Plantation Visit
  • Group Dinner & Discussions

Day 9 – San Jose

  • Breakfast & Day Briefing 
  • Transfer to San Jose enroute visit La Ecovilla Sustainable Community (approx. 3 hours)
  • Lunch Break
  • Ecolones Recycling Center – Current Guinness Book World Record Holder
  • Group Dinner & Discussions

Day 10 – Cahuita

  • Breakfast & Day Briefing 
  • Transfer to Cahuita, Caribbean Coast (approx. 3.5 hours)
  • Lunch Break
  • Surfing Lessons (Extremely safe, perfect for beginners) 
  • Sustainable Service Project Tree Planting Local Elementary School 
  • Dinner & Discussions 
  • Nocturnal Wildlife Hike – This is a great way to discover a big variety of nocturnal animals that live in the coastal tropical rainforest. At night is when this area really awakens. The darkness will give a very different feel to the hike and their eye reflex makes it easier to spot animals.

Day 11 – Cahuita

  • Breakfast & Day Briefing 
  • Cahuita National Park Wildlife Tour – Local Flora &  Fauna.The park was originally designated as Cahuita National Monument in 1970, and re-designated as a national park in 1978.
  • Group Lunch (Traditional Bribri Lunch included) 
  • Bribri Educational Day – Traditional Meal, Medicinal Plants, Chocolate Making, Sustaining Traditions, Discussions about Shamanism
  • Return to Cahuita – Free Time & Cultural Immersion 
  • Group Dinner & Discussions

Day 12 -San Jose

  • Breakfast & Day Briefing 
  • Jaguar Rescue Center – A unique experience to interact with wild animals from Costa Rica while, supporting a good cause. The Jaguar Rescue Center, is a non-profit Organization, that works on rescue and rehabilitation of wild animals, and its future release into the wild, always in protected areas.
  • Lunch Break
  • Gandoca Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge – The Gandoca-Manzanillo Wildlife Refuge protects almost 70% of the southern Caribbean coast and includes some of the area’s most beautiful beaches. The refuge officially begins at the Cocles River (one mile south of Puerto Viejo) and extends 19 miles south to the Sixaola River at the Panamanian border. The refuge protects beautiful beaches, coral reefs, lowland tropical forests and several of the country’s most endangered habitats including the only jolillo palm swamp in Costa Rica.
  • Punta Uva Beach

Day 13 – San Jose

  • Breakfast & Day Briefing 
  • White Water Rafting Rio Pacuare 
  • Group Lunch (included) 
  • Transfer to San Jose 
  • Souvenir Shopping Local Artisanal Market 
  • Farewell Dinner & Program Closing

Day 14 – Return

  • Breakfast & Day Briefing 
  • End of Program
  • Depart San Jose, Costa Rica for Home

All of our programs are 100% customizable

Is there an experience you would like to provide that isn’t included in our itineraries?
Let’s add it!

Are there sites that better fit your subject than the ones provided?
Let’s swap them!

Contact us to get started building a fully-customized itinerary.
Tell us your dream program and we’ll make it a reality!

All of our programs are 100% customizable

Is there an experience you would like to provide that isn’t included in our itineraries?
Let’s add it!

Are there sites that better fit your subject than the ones provided?
Let’s swap them!

Contact us to get started building a fully-customized itinerary.
Tell us your dream program and we’ll make it a reality!