Costa Rica Summer High School Programs with Rustic Pathways

I did two programs in Costa Rica. The first one was Surf & Service, which I chose because I had always wanted to learn how to surf and I wanted to help out the community. I had a lot of fun at this program, made new friends and created unforgettable memories. the second program I did was the Maleku Experience program. This program was truly very rustic but fun. I learned new things about the Maleku Tribe's culture and traditions. I recommend both of these programs to anyone who is interested in surfing or learning about new cultures.

The goal of this trip was to help save sea turtles. We helped in the hatchery carrying bags of sand and leveling out the sand. We also went on LATE/LONG night walks. We stayed in a beach hut. it was very humble no a/c but a nice chef. We went ziplining and horse back riding as well as white water rafting and surfing. I wish we did more optional activities. There was alot of free time which was spent napping because we didnt sleep at night because of the night walks. Over all it was an awesome experience i would definitly do again in a heartbeat.

I felt very involved during the community service hours. I could feel myself making a difference. The optional activities were super cool like river kayaking to a waterfall. Also being able to talk to the locals really got you to see what life is like there.

This trip was honestly the best experience of my life so far! The community service projects were definitely hard in the hot environment but it felt very rewarding. I loved teaching English to the kids who seemed go enjoy every minute of it and were very eager to learn. The ziplining and white water rafting were extremely fun and adventurous! Even just relaxing at the base house was great, talking to friends, playing soccer, and going in the pool. I met so many amazing people on this trip who will be my friends for life. This trip was an amazing opportunity that I am very happy I did!

I just returned from Heart of the Jungle and the trip was two of the best weeks of my life. We travelled around Costa Rica, saw many parts, including Corcovado National Park, the Osa Peninsula, Puerto Jimenez, and Uvita, did extreme adventure activities, like rappelling, rafting, zip lining, hiking, and kayaking, and service- and all was with great friends!!! The leaders were incredibly enthusiastic, knowledgable, and fun! And the kids on the trip were also amazing!

This summer I participated in two Rustic Pathways programs in Costa Rica: Summer Camp Leadership and Turtle Conservation. I think that i got lucky with SCL because the group of people I met there will be my lifelong friends and the program was so much more fun with them. My TC group was not bad in the sense that I did not like them, but I definitely did not connect with them as much as the SCL group. Maybe this was partially because I did TC after SCL and I was still reminiscing over my great time, but the group dynamics definitely had an impact on each of my experiences. Aside, both trips were amazing in different ways. The SCL trip allowed me to explore the kind of community service I am interested in (working with kids) while also being able to explore the country of Costa Rica and the awesome adventure activities available there. The TC camp was much more service based, considering that we only had a week to pack in 30 hours of service along with a rafting trip, zip lining, and surfing. It was incredibly rewarding to be able to see a sea turtle actually make her nest and lay eggs. I felt like we were really contributing to saving the turtles by protecting their eggs and cleaning the beach. Before I got to Costa Rica, I was expecting to spend my first night in a hotel. I wasn't anticipating anything super nice, but I definitely was surprised when we arrived to a hostile on the first night and were not fed dinner or anything. To say the least, Rustic Pathways lives up to its "#sorustic" promise from the onset of the trip. I stayed in 7 different locations throughout my 3 week stay in Costa Rica and many were cramped, dirty, buggy, communal, and slightly uncomfortable. However, this (along with the constant rice and beans) would probably be my only complaint about this trip. Although the locations we stayed in were super rustic, they allowed us to experience the "real" Costa Rican lifestyle. Overall, I would definitely recommend Rustic. I would recommend going on only one program (whether it is 1 or 2 weeks) for your first time with Rustic because for me, the switchover was very hard.

I had an excellent experience on this trip, and I got everything I wanted out of it. It was so cool to run the summer camp for the Tico kids, and it was great to know that you were making a difference in their lives. Since they only speak Spanish, I was able to really improve my conversational skills. Finally, I had so much fun (rating, ziplining, the beach, etc.) and I made great friends that I keep in touch with. I would recommend this program to anyone (but it is helpful to know some Spanish before you come)

I went to Costa Rica for the this summer and it was amazing! The volcano trip is a little more than half community service and half adventure. There is a bit of driving to the adventure activities but the zip-lining and rafting were worth it! I had a medium sized group and we all got really close over the course of the trip! The leaders are amazing and I wish there were more activities we could all do together. The service projects can get pretty strenuous especially with the humidity but it was very rewarding.