Costa Rica Service Programs | Putney Student Travel

I will never forget my time spent in Costa Rica through Putney. I very much expected to learn more Spanish and make new friends, but I had not expected to create such longlasting bonds that would affect me for the rest of my life. Biolley is a beautiful village in Costa Rica that helped me become a better me. The people treat you as their own and push you to become a better member of any community you may be a part of. I suggest that any and everyone consider being a part of this amazing experience.

My trip to Costa Rica was fantastic. It was an absolutely beautiful place with the most amazing people.

I travelled to Miami, Florida to meet up with with all the other students in our group. Sure, it was awkward for the first day or two, but by the end of the trip, we were all sobbing our eyes out when it was time to leave. I talk to these guys often, so our friendship didn’t break when the trip was over. We even plan to meet up sometime soon! The staff was also fantastic, they were there for the students and to make the trip overall more enjoyable. My two leaders, kept us laughing, together and healthy through everything. I truly miss them.

However, the community service aspect was phenomenal. The people opened their homes to us, without hesitation, cooked for us, cleaned for us while we worked. Throughout this, we became super connected to the village and their way of life. We experienced their culture firsthand and became family. I now have a village in the mountains of Costa Rica, that I will have never forget.

Fantastic trip. Thank you Putney.

I went on the Community Service trip to Costa Rica with Putney. Overall, the experience was one in a lifetime and thoroughly recommendable.

I live in the UK and travelled to Miami to meet with the group who were made up of two leaders and 13 kids. The other kids were mainly Americans, with the addition of two French boys and a girl from the Netherlands. The mix of people worked really well and we made lots of progress with our community service project. I was away for a well-structured month which consisted of working weekdays and 'vacation' excursion trips on the weekends to explore the vast activities that Costa Rica has to offer. During the weekdays we stayed in the remote village of Biolley. Here there is a small-scale coffee plantation where we helped out by mixing and laying cement, moving and making coffee beds, weighing and bagging coffee and lots of other general jobs around the ecolodge. We also helped out with the cooking which allowed me to bring home new recipes to cook for my family. We got to know the villagers very well and were even invited to do homestays for a night. On the weekend excursions, we went to various parts of Costa Rica to do activities like surfing, horse-riding , zip-lining, white-water-rafting, plunge-pool jumping and swimming in waterfalls. On top of this, we got to see some incredible animals including sloths, toucans, tarantulas, crocodiles, monkeys, iguanas and parrots.

All in all, if you are looking to go to an amazing country to meet some amazing people, both local Costa Ricans and fellow group members, then you should choose the Putney Community Service trip to Costa Rica.

This was one of the best experiences in my life. Going into this trip I expected nothing, all I knew was that I was going to Costa Rica with my twin sister. We did not know anything else about the trip, we did not know a single person. Now when I look back at the trip I would not have spent my summer any other way. I meet some of the most interesting and fun people I have ever met, everybody came from a different place and everybody had different stories. But we learned to grow as a family. I look back and think of the people in Costa Rica as my second family, they will always be there for you and care for you. Even though the work was hard, it was all worth it in the end. Seeing all of the local peoples faces once we finished our projects was one of the happiest moments in my life. Every single day everybody woke up with a smile on their face and they were ready to work. And of course we did not only work every single day, we also had time for the group just to bond and enjoy each others company. The costa rica trip that Putney provides is a great learning experience, it also gives you the feeling of a second family. I strongly recommend this program for teenagers because it is mind blowing and you learn a lot, you also get to meet some amazing people.