Welcome to Costa Rica & White Water Rafting

Leaving home behind, we fly together to the first country of our semester, Costa Rica, where we are welcomed by our local partners and jump right into our in-country orientation to Costa Rican culture, customs, and understanding of the “Pura Vida” lifestyle. We also begin to map out our itinerary setting both individual and group goals for the duration of the program and jump into our curriculum, brainstorming ideas for our individual Capstone Passion Projects, and identifying points in the semester where each of ARCC’s global themes will be present.

After a day exploring San Jose, we head to the world-renowned Pacuare River for three days of exploring the rainforest and navigating the river’s famous whitewater. Floating our way through the pristine forest canopy, we discover hidden waterfalls and natural rock slides. Making our home at a river lodge set back amongst the huge leaves of the Sombrilla de Pobre (“Poor Man’s Umbrella”), we use this area as a base to explore and adventure.

Mountain Ranch Stay

Leaving the serenity of the river behind, we wind our way into the mountains to a rural farming community that ARCC has been working with for nearly 30 years. Settling into a group stay, we are immersed into the community and jump right into our work helping out with a variety of environmental projects that might include work in the greenhouse, fence-building, working on the farm, and cooking meals with our local hosts. We also explore the rainforest surrounding the village, venturing out to waterfalls and refreshing pools, and spending time with our new friends playing soccer, sharing laughs, and forging connections.

Surfing on the Pacific Coast

Our first glimpse of the Pacific Ocean is in Uvita on Costa Rica’s Pacific Coast. For the next two days, we spend our time atop Costa Rica’s amazing surf breaks. After a few lessons from local surf instructors, we feel confident catching the friendly beginner waves and quickly improve our ‘hang ten’ skills.

Sea Turtle Conservation Project

Heading north, we travel onto the Nicoya Peninsula to the small town of San Miguel where we delve into the Environment and Conservation theme with a sea turtle conservation project. Working alongside a local grassroots organization, we help monitor the nesting activity of the Olive Ridley turtles. Since 1998, volunteers have protected 2,618 nests and released 129,529 baby turtles and we can only hope to do our part in the protection efforts. In addition to patrolling the beaches at night and learning about turtle conservation during the day, we participate in community outreach educating the local youth on the importance of the Olive Ridley turtles and why these protection efforts are important.

Language School and Homestay by the Beach

Leaving San Miguel behind, we continue north to the charming beach town of Samara and the site of our Spanish language school. For the next week, we sharpen our Spanish skills, taking classes taught by native speakers and practicing what we learn during our homestays with local families. Outside the classroom, we may choose to participate in a variety of activities, such as yoga, surfing, Zumba, or local cooking classes.

Wildlife Conservation in the Costa Rican Jungle and Arenal Volcano

Deep in the mountains, we are welcomed into a wildlife sanctuary working diligently to rehabilitate and conserve various endangered species and rescued animals including birds, mammals, and reptiles. Our primary projects at the animal refuge are assisting in the building and reparations of habitats for the rescued wildlife and preparing food for the animals. We also take a couple of days to explore the neighboring town of La Fortuna where, if we’re lucky, we get views of the towering and spectacular Arenal Volcano. Whether we choose to soak in the natural hot springs, sample La Fortuna’s excellent cuisine, or head out onto the many beautiful mountain trails, our time in this region is sure to create memories we’ll take with us for years to come.

Pop Up Clinic in Bocas del Toro

Experiencing the adventure of a land border-crossing, we make our way into Panama and head to the archipelago of Bocas del Toro where we embark on our highly-anticipated project focused on Public Health. Partnering with a local grassroots organization, we spend a day acquainting ourselves with this organization through a thorough orientation covering their work providing health care to remote communities that otherwise would have to travel long distances to receive care. We then load up the boats and head out for our week-long project lending our hands at a remote pop-up clinic site where we assist with patient intake, in the pharmacy, and with the veterinarians. In between tasks, we have the opportunity to interview the traveling doctors and thereby gain a deeper understanding of the incredible work being done. After each workday, we enjoy refreshing dips in the ocean and then soak up the opportunity to glimpse rural Panamanian island life through community engagement over meals.

Bocas Exploration and Reef Conservation Project

Feeling fulfilled after a week of hard work, we enjoy a few days exploring the Caribbean town of Bocas, before jumping into a coral reef restoration project. Committed to addressing the concept of coral reef recovery from a holistic lens, our partner provides us the opportunity to lend our hands in a variety of projects ranging from assisting in the coral nurseries, to helping to build and install artificial coral reef structures, to cleaning the existing coral trees underwater.

Student Planned Module

After a meaningful experience in San Miguel we dive into our Student Planned Module. This section is completely planned, organized, budgeted and implemented by the students. We can’t wait to see what the group will do!

Panama City and The Panama Canal

The last stop of our Panamanian adventure takes us to the capital city of Panama City, where we wander the streets of Casco Viejo, the old city, where ruins date back to the 1500s when Captain Morgan burned the city to the ground. We then head to the famed Panama Canal, a unique historical talking point in Panama, and visit the Panama Canal museum where we dig more deeply into this contentious waterway with its close ties to the United States. In the evenings we enjoy our final favorite Panamanian dishes and meander along the city’s famous Malecon.

Belize Tropical Forest and Cacao Farming

A short flight takes us to the final country of our semester: Belize. We are met at the airport by our new hosts and begin the journey deep into the tropical forest for a week-long rural community stay, stopping off at the Belize Zoo, known as “The Best Little Zoo in the World,” along the way.

Over the next days, we learn from our passionate hosts about the discovery of wild cacao and their initiative to restore tropical forests using cacao agroforestry. We then have the opportunity to make chocolate from the bean to the bar, including roasting, winnowing, and much more. We also visit our partner’s breeding facility for the critically endangered Hicatee turtle. Our workdays are spent assisting in the plant nursery and on the organic cacao farms, and in downtime, we head out on sunrise hikes, enjoy refreshing swims, and relax in the many hammocks on the grounds.

Invasive Species Research, SCUBA Certification, and Conclusion

Saying goodbye to our friends, we make our way to the sleepy beach town of Placencia where we enjoy a few days enjoying our beach-side cabanas and access to the ocean. We then take a short boat ride to our small private island located on the Mesoamerican Barrier Reef where we settle in for our final week.

Our first few days here consist of SCUBA diving classes to obtain our PADI Dive certifications. Once accomplished, we partner with a local organization committed to eradicating the invasive lionfish. Using our new SCUBA skills, we dive the reef to help capture the lionfish underwater, then have the opportunity to dissect and study their biology alongside the researchers.

After an insightful final project, we spend the remainder of our time soaking up the crystalline Caribbean waters of our private island. With our semester coming to a close, we reserve time to present our Passion Projects to our gap peers. Sharing our new perspectives with the group, there is no question our living, learning, and traveling together will prepare us for the rest of our lives. We savor our last week together but are excited to head home to share our newly gained knowledge and insights from our firsthand look at Costa Rica, Panama, and Belize.

*Please note that the order of the countries and of the projects is subject to change depending on your group assignment.

Below you will find several Group Journal excerpts, written by ARCC students during their gap year with ARCC: