Travel For Teens: Costa Rica

To begin with, I would like to express my gratitude to the Travel for Teens program for providing me with this incredible opportunity. Costa Rica was an amazing adventure where I met many new friends and made many wonderful memories. My favorite activities during the trip were rafting, surfing, and taking advantage of the fantastic beaches. In addition, the Coulsners did an outstanding job managing our group and ensuring that everyone felt welcomed and included. I am looking forward to going on yet another Travel for Teens adventure this summer in order to create more memories that will last a lifetime and connect with people from all over the world. Thank you!

I was lucky enough to spend a second summer in a row on a Travel for Teen Trip. It was hard to imagine that summer of 2022 could be as great as the first trip that I took in the summer f 2022. But it ended up being even better! I spent three weeks in Costa Rica, a beautiful country where I traveled; took part in many adventures, and had the great opportunity to engage in several community service projects. All the while, I made a great group of new friends with whom I remain in touch with. There are so many amazing things i could highlight from both the tours that i have completed with Travel for Teens. Some of the best parts include the extraordinary places that I visited; the wonderful communities and people that I learned from; a great group of new friends from all over the world that I gained; and community service that was totally enriching.

This past summer I had the opportunity to travel on the "Costa Rica Spanish Language and Immersion (22 Days)" trip with TFT. This experience was the most eye opening and life changing adventure I have ever been on. From the Spanish lessons to the volunteer work to relaxing on the beach, I have never been so overwhelmed with joy. This trip allowed me to see the world through a different and more exciting lens. In addition to the amazing culture we explored, I was able to become friends with other travellers that I am still in contact with months later. I constantly find myself scrolling back in my camera roll and going through pictures from the trip and they never fail to make me smile and reminisce. It is impossible to put into words how eternally grateful I am for Costa Rica and the memories I will carry with me forever, all thanks to TFT.

I had the most wonderful experience when I went on the Costa Rica Ultimate Adventure & Service trip last summer.
I was nervous at first, being an international traveler and not having English as my native language.
All my worries disappeared when I met my group and I discovered how nice and welcoming everyone are! As the days passed, I made so many friends and got to know each of my amazing travel peers, we stay in contact to this day.
The staff were amazing as well, they were all very friendly and always made sure that everyone is safe and happy.
Throughout the trip I was grateful enough to have many amazing experiences like Kayaking, Ziplining, tubing, white water rafting, learning how to surf, visiting amazing beaches and volunteering. I also got to try local Costa Rican food which I never tried before!
This was an unforgettable summer and a life changing experience! I can only recommend everyone to go on this kind of trip, I am sure this is not my last travel with TFT!

Where to begin! I'll start on pre-departure. Travel for Teens has been excellent in aiding people complete their paperwork/sign ups for trips including me. I had many questions and they helped me fully comprehend what I needed in order to make my trip happen. They are also very prepared and have everything covered for a minor that is traveling alone outside their state/country. I was unable to complete my payment by the deadline but because I was communicating with the awesome understanding staff I was able to pay off my balance after the deadline free of charge. Before your trip, information about the other teens in your group will be emailed to you. One of the people in mine emailed us and got our Instagrams so we got to connect before our trip. During the trip they also use the "Whatsapp" app for communication between your group. I actually really loved the people on my trip because we had good chemistry and rarely had problems, our trip leaders were literally THE BEST and if we had anything at all to tell them they were very supportive and expressed how this trip was for us and if they could do anything to make it better they were there to listen and help. We called them our temporary mom and dad but we really were like a family by the end of the trip. A couple times during the trip we had complications with arrivals and activities but they were solved and made up for. Many people might see the price of the trip and get disencouraged like I once did. After experiencing one I'm proud to confidently say it's worth it 100%. The costs covered the living space, activities, volunteering, travel(other than flying) and food. The reason I included volunteering was because at the Jaguar Rescue Center they take their work very seriously and require you to pay in order to be able to volunteer for them to guarantee only the most reliable people to help them, plus all the profit they make goes back into the center and the animals. I went on the Costa Rica Animal Rescue Service and it was an amazing experience that many don't get to do. Especially people under 18. The "Jaguar Rescue Center" only takes volunteers over the age of 18 but have exceptions for this one unique trip that only Travel for Teens offers. On my trip we collected a total of 80 hours of volunteer rain or shine and let me tell you it was no easy job. Like I said the staff take it really seriously so you have to be dedicated to pushing through hard labor in order to care for these animals. At the center there were insects, snakes, birds, monkeys, otters, rats, felines, sloths, deers, turtles, a porcupine (my favorite) and an alligator but they take in any animal brought or found. On our first day we had a tour and for the next three weeks on the weekdays we were working. During my time volunteering there I cleaned the enclosures of sloths, monkeys, horses, rats, macaws and a porcupine top to bottom and replaced their "enrichment" (trees, branches, leaves, flowers;etc). To get enrichment we were supplied with machetes and had access to the jungle to collect it. I also painted parts of wood that they needed to update the center. I did laundry, dishes, cleaned the pathway for the classic tour and on my last 2 days went all the way and collected ocean water for a sea turtle by myself from the beach to the center which was 700 feet one way so 1,400 feet there and back and went back and forth a good 5-7 times carrying a barrel filled with water. On a volunteer day we would have to be up and ready by 6 am for breakfast in order start our work by 7. We would work for 6 hours then have lunch at 1. The rest of the day we would choose between relaxing at our hotel while others ventured out into the "town" just to explore or to buy stuff or we would go to the beach. For weekends we would have fun activities planned. We went ziplining that ended with an educational tour on the jungle and animals inside of it, surfing, went to a chocolate museum where we took a tour and made chocolate, visited a native tribe (Bribri) where they educated us on their sovereignty and made us lunch while we got to make more chocolate and even hot chocolate, white water rafting and horseback riding. Unfortunately our day trip to Panama Dolphin Bay was canceled due to covid and restrictions at the border but everyone was reimbursed. Since me and another girl on the trip were vegan we had limited options but our trip leaders were good at making sure to accomodate for our needs, same went for my severe allergies to nuts and bees. The place we stayed was lowkey and perfect walking distance to the beach and venders. We all had separate rooms adjacent to one another with roommates. Cleaned daily. Each one had 2 little rocking chairs outside of each room and towards the back had a small pool. Leaving was so sad because no one wanted to leave but departures were very easy and we had no complications at the airport. For parents during the trip the trip leaders email them daily about a summary of the day and what's next along with uploading photos taken with a canon on waldo (photo viewing site). Next year in late January I will be going to NYC to visit people from my trip! Overall I would rate my trip a 10/10!!!! I can't wait for my next one.

Traveling with a group, especially a group of strangers, is never easy, but with Travel For Teens my experience in Costa Rica was unforgettable. I started looking for a summer camp a few months ago when travel limitations were still enforced due to COVID. When I was actually able to participate in a camp and step foot in another country, it felt surreal. I was in Costa Rica with the TFT Animal Rescue program volunteering at the Jaguar Rescue Center (JRC). From hard work tasks like cleaning enclosures to smile worthy tasks like sitting and watching a baby sloth, I did it all. At times the work we did was exhausting, but never unbearable because the thought of our work helping so many animals was always in the back of our minds. Even though I thoroughly enjoyed working with the animals at the JRC, I also loved our weekend activities – surfing, white water rafting, chocolate making, touring the BriBri community, and lots of swimming. The warm water, silky smooth sand, and new friends made me look forward to our water activities everyday. My experience with TFT wouldn’t have been the same without my amazing counselors, Jenna and Aaron. They deserve the biggest praise. I am so glad I went on this trip and definitely recommend it to anybody interested in experiencing all that Costa Rica has to offer.

I loved this trip so much and recommend it to anyone who loves adventure! I was super nervous at first, and have never gone on a trip by myself before, but as soon as I met everyone at the airport, my nerves went away. It was an amazing trip, and we did so many fun activities, including: ziplining, canyoning, tubing, hiking, snorkeling, and my personal favourite... surfing! I loved how each day we had a different activity planned, but we still had enough down time to either go swimming, shopping, or rest time, so that we did not tire ourselves out too quickly. We even went on a personal boat ride to an island where we did some snorkeling, paddle boarding, and swimming. We also had lunch on board as well! I totally would recommend this trip!

What an amazing experience! This trip was truly 3-weeks that changed my life and perspective forever. Spending this time in Costa Rica will be the best choice you will ever make, I know it’s the best choice that I made. Expect to join a group of teens that are also interested in exploring the world and helping out animals. I still stay in touch with these friends 2 years later, and even have made trips across the country to New York City to visit my Costa Rica pals! The best part of the whole trip to me was the animals and working at the rescue center. Learn the proper care for these exotic animals and work with other volunteers from all over the world who share the same interests as you. Some of the amazing experiences I had were babysitting the baby sloths, taking a baby anteater into the forest, or feeding the young monkeys. Outside of working at the rescue center I tried so many things that were out of my comfort zone, a night hike in the jungle, salsa dancing in front of a whole restaurant, and ziplining through the jungle. I recommend this trip to anyone who is interested in immersing themselves into a new culture, and not afraid to get dirty and work hard to help this animal sanctuary.