Programs Abroad

COSTA RICA - Environmental Conservation in Cloud Forest

	Project: Wildlife and Nature Booking Nº: CR109 Country: Costa Rica + Location: Monteverde Minimum Stay: 3 weeks Start dates: Year round Price: 3 weeks, from 680 USD
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Task

Working in the tree nursery and gardens
Maintaining trails and facilities
Environmental teacher assistant

Volunteer's play an invalueable role in keeping the natural reserve’s facilities both beautiful and functional. A volunteer’s day may include working on the reforestation project, caring for plants in the greenhouse or gardens, maintaining trails, painting buildings or assisting in environmental education classes. Volunteers may also be asked to help with the special education programs.

Volunteers mostly work with the local Costa Rican manager who has a few years of experience placing volunteers and appreciating their projects! Though flexibility is important, through coordination of personal interests between volunteers and ground staff, the reserve´s goal is find work for volunteers that is both useful and enjoyable. Past volunteers have helped to network the computers, taught music lessons, yoga classes, made brochures and films for the school or painted beautiful murals on the campus. The school is happy to accommodate any skills that a volunteer would like to share with the students and staff.

Accommodation

Homestay with local families
Private rooms
Laundry service
Three meals per day

The homestay program is an important part of our project in

Costa Rica

as living with a family creates the full immersion experience. The vast majority of the host families have children currently enrolled in the school you will be working at. Most former volunteers say that their homestay experience was one of the best aspects of their time in

Costa Rica

and that they learned more Spanish by being fully immerged in the homestay rather then attending a Spanish school. Further, having a successful relationship with your host family is all about being receptive to new ideas.

We use the same host families year after year, which means that they have an understanding of culture shock, homesickness, communicating with Spanish students, and are sensitive to other cultures. Our host families have been carefully screened to support you improving your language skills and make new friends. You will experience a natural home setting with the hospitality for which Costa Ricans are known for. You are accommodated in your own room and you’ll receive 3 meals per day. The host family will also care for your laundry. Bathrooms might be shared with family members. With advance notice the host families can meet special dietary needs, including those of vegetarians.

Requirements

Language:
English native. Basic level of Spanish.

Skills:
Experience working with kids. Travel experience, hopefully in a Latin American country. Willing to work in the gardens and forests.

Age:
18+ years, graduated from High School.

Vaccination:
Hepatitis (A & B). Additionally, please ask for medical advice in your home country.

Insurance:
Full travel & medical insurance for Costa Rica.

Visa:
Usually, tourist visa is fine for stays up to 90 days. However, we recommend consulting the Costa Rican Embassy of your home country.

Details

The school is located in the province of Puntarenas, in the Tilarán Mountain range in north western Costa Rica, about 3 ½ hours drive from San José, half of which takes place on a scenic, bumpy dirt road. The community sprawls over a distance of about six miles of ridgeline and is composed of several different neighborhoods. There are roughly 6,000 permanent residents in the zone with thousands of tourists passing through annually. The roads are very hilly and often muddy and stretch far between towns. It is very common to have to walk nearly one hour to travel between towns, supermarkets or a friends house.

High season (dry season) tends to run from February to May and low season (rainy season) is from about June to January. The dry season has light winds, sunny days and misty evenings. The rainy season grows in intensity around September and Octover where it may actually rain all day every days for weeks. When the rainstops, you will be treated with breathtaking rainbows in the day and moonbow´s at night! Nights are always cool (especially during transition seasons) though day time temperatures are moderate year-round, peaking during the dry season.

In the 1980's loads of biologists, ecologists, and other scientists were attracted to the area for its unique ecosystems and rare plant and animal life. Around this time, the area began to change rapidly to accommodate a rising flood of expatriate scientists, writers, and artists, as well as a huge influx of eco-tourists. The current economy of the province is very dependent on the tourism industry and efforts are underway to reforest and conserve the land that was once deforested for agricultural and pastoral purposes.

The region is of course also known for its beautiful and rare cloud forest, a special type of high altitude tropical rainforest that is characterized by high amounts of mist, clouds, humidity, and rain. The result is a habitat with nearly unprecedented biodiversity. Beautiful birds, butterflies, mammals as well as lots of interesting creepy-crawlers and snakes! Although the insects will take some getting used to, they are a part of the lives here. Learning to live in harmony with this extreme climate is crucial to being happy and comfortable here.

School Life

The school currently enrolls close to 230 students from grades Preschool (Kinder) through 11^th grade. They begin English immersion and environmental education at the Kinder level and continue with both disciplines until graduation. The school’s philosophy promotes progressive education in the form of child-centred learning, positive discipline, constructivist mathematics, reading and writing workshop, etc.

They rely on volunteers to help teachers maintain a high quality of creative, bilingual education in the classroom environment. This dependence on English instruction means that only about half of the teaching staff is Costa Rican, while the other half is native English speakers. Free Spanish classes after school are offered to all staff and volunteers who are interested. The school has 106 acres that include open fields and trails, secondary forest, and primary forest. They have an active reforestation project, several native plant gardens, organic vegetable gardens, compost and a native plant greenhouse. Although all of these areas will be explored in weekly Environmental Education classes, they try to integrate the outdoor aspect of the school into the academic curriculum whenever possible.

Prices

Duration	in USD
3 weeks	680.-
4 weeks	890.-
5 weeks	1,100.-
6 weeks	1,310.-
7 weeks	1,520.-
Additional week	210.-

One time registration fee 75 USD.

What’s included:

Accommodation
3 meals per day (breakfast, lunch, dinner)
Orientation kit
Local support
24h-Emergency Number
Laundry service
Daily transfer to work site
Free internet access at school
Excursions
2 weeks Spanish course

What’s not included:

Flight
Airport Pick-up
Medical Insurance
Visa (if necesary)
Personal expenses

Country

Country information Costa Rica

Costa Rica stands as one of the smallest countries in Central America with approximately 19,000 square miles and a coastline of 810 miles. The country borders Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the south and the Pacific and Caribbean Sea on either side. Costa Rica is home to 4.5 million people with upwards of 350,000 people living in the capital city of San Jose.

The Costa Rican climate is commonly humid and warm year round, although temperatures in the highlands are typically colder and cloudier. Incredibly, 23% of an already small amount of densely populated land remains protected territory by National Parks and/or private reserves. This protected land is home and host to a wide variety of exotic plants, animals and social/environmental projects to ensure the protection and conservation of the tropical habitat. When walking the streets of Costa Rica, make sure to ask Costa Rican natives, who typically know heaps, about their national treasures.

Further, Costa Rica is the most politically stable country in Central America, with a disbanded army for more than sixty years and a relatively high standard of education. Tourism is one of the main economic income sources for Costa Rica. With over 2 million tourists exploring Costa Rica each year, the country stands as the most visited nation in the Central American region. Through eco-tourism programs, (which CR was one of the first countries offering this type of programming), range of activities and year round tropical weather, the country attracts tourists from all over the world.

Aside from protected land, the true jewels of Costa Rica are the surrounding islands with serene beaches and breath-taking nature. This country offers beautiful landscapes for dream vacations of beach lounging, surfing, snorkeling, hiking volcanoes, zip-lining, rafting, bird watching, fishing and/or exploring rain forests.

The dry season of Costa Rica is between December through April, though like most Latin countries, schools are closed, beaches full and finding hotels may be tricky at last minute notice. A second peak season arrives with the Europeans and North Americans during June and July. As the off-season arrives in May, so does the green with the rainy season. Lastly, Costa Rica encompasses year round possibilities for surfers, fishing enthusiasts and wildlife lovers alike. Depending what coast you want to surf, what fish you want to catch and what bird you hope to see, there are some variations on ideal months to further research.

Finally, Costa Rica is a perfect place to learn Spanish, as the Spanish spoken here is typically slow without strong accents and layers of slang. The Costa Ricans are very friendly, energetic people and rarely without a smile!