San Jose, Costa Rica

Sample itinerary for a special vacation with a reward
in Costa Rica’s capital, San Jose

Costa Rica offers you one of the world’s greatest collections of rain forests, wild rivers, unspoiled beaches, wildlife, mountains and volcanoes. With its unique combination of beauty and spirituality, it’s the ultimate refreshment for your body, mind and soul.

Enjoy this unique “Vacation with a Reward!”
Most of us look forward to our vacations and take a traditional holiday. But how much better would it be if you could combine great destinations, sightseeing, local cuisine and atmosphere with an opportunity to “give back?”

We are partnering with Costa Rican Humanitarian Foundation, an organization serving children and their families living in severe poverty. This is a combination of traditional touring with participating in CRHF’s new “Carpio Clean… Carpio Green… Carpio Healthy… Carpio Happy.”

La Carpio is a shanty town of 34,000 residents that sits between a trash dump and the Tobias Bolaños International Airport northwest of San José, where a splash of paint, a small toy and something green can go a long way. La Carpio is one of the poorest areas of Costa Rica, inhabited largely by Ticos from other parts of Costa Rica and Nicaragua who fled a bloody revolution in their home country, and later, a collapse of their economy, began settling in La Carpio in the 1980s.

We also will have our “Dream Program,” where you are paired with a local Costa Rican child and together discuss the student’s dreams for this art project.

Your Journey Includes:

• Round-trip international flights
• Round-trip transfers between airport and hotel
• Accommodations in the 1st Class BW Irazu Hotel in San Jose
• U.S. airline and hotel taxes
• Service charges at hotels
• Breakfast every day
• Additional meals included as per itinerary
• Local bilingual guides for sightseeing
• Sightseeing tours, as per itinerary, including entrance fees
• Pre-Paid Gratuities

Added Features:

• Special Tirimbina Rain Forest Tour
• A “Zip-Ride” over the forest canopy
• A Sarapiqui River Cruise
• Costa Rican Humanitarian Foundation service programs
• The “Dream Project” program
• Special Hygiene kits given to each child

Volunteer Projects in Costa Rica include:

• The Costa Rican Humanitarian Foundation is an organization serving children and their families living in severe poverty. The renowned service program you will be participating in is called “Carpio Clean…Carpio Green…Carpio Healthy…Carpio Happy.”

• The “Dream Program” pairs you with a child and together discuss the child’s dreams for this art project. We have found it to be a valuable opportunity in teaching children the value of dreaming: how important it is to have dreams, to wish for things, to have goals in life… and how visualizing one’s dreams in this way and keeping them near you while you sleep helps your dreams come true.

• There will be Gift-Giving to children of poverty. They have very little and are genuinely appreciative of even the smallest presents: pens, pencils, crayons, markers, storybooks or educational toys, etc. that are great motivators for the kids.

• We also will be giving special Hygiene gifts including toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap, nail clippers and more in an effort to teach better health and grooming habits.

TOUR ITINERARY
(B = Breakfast, L = Lunch, D = Dinner)

Day 1, Monday: US/San Jose (D)

Depart on our international flight to San Jose. Arrive same day. Clear Immigration, Baggage Claim and Customs. Meet our local tour representative. Transfer to our home base for this week at the BW Irazu Hotel. Free time. There will be an afternoon meeting with Costa Rica’s Costa Rican Humanitarian Foundation staff to discuss the service projects that we will be participating in tomorrow Welcome to San Jose Group Dinner. Overnight San Jose. Welcome dinner at our hotel.

Day 2, Tuesday: In San Jose – Volunteer Program (B/L/D)

To La Carpio. Upon arrival, today’s Volunteer program will be “Carpio Clean.” Painting the front of houses. Picking up trash and promoting recycling through talking with people and showing how to sort trash. It will be an opportunity to show how pleasant it is to have something to look at that’s not trash, not gray dirt, but clean. Working with the local youth of the community through the painting of a mural with this theme. An example is a mural painted over a flap of corrugated tin shows a tree reaching into a night sky.
12:00 pm Lunch (Box lunch will be prepared at the hotel & taken with you on your way to La Carpiuo.) After lunch, continue today’s Volunteer program. Pick-up at La Carpio back to hotel to relax and some R & R before dinner.

Day 3, Wednesday: In San Jose – Volunteer Program (B/L/D)

Back to La Carpio. Upon arrival, today’s Volunteer program will be “Carpio Green,” an initiative way to improve the crude caliches roads and haphazard constructions that visually define La Carpio and to make it into something prettier to look at. Building a sense of self-worth in a community requires it to look presentable. We will create and pass out bottles to start a Bottle Gardens – plants potted in modified plastic bottles – for residents who want to decorate their spaces with something green and sometimes edible. A chance to grow herbs like thyme, basil, spearmint, parsley and coriander, as well as potted cherry tomatoes, carrots and potato plants. Some plants you may be giving out are butterfly plants, the ones that attract butterflies. (Box lunch will be prepared at the hotel & taken with you on your way to La Carpiuo. After lunch, continue today’s Volunteer program.-up at La Carpio back to hotel to relax and some R & R. Meet for dinner at the La Gallera Restaurant.

Day 4, Thursday: In San Jose – Volunteer Program (B/L/D)

After breakfast, we return to La Carpio for Volunteer program for “Carpio Healthy and Happy”. We start by pairing up with Local children and youth of the community as they create their own “Dream Mat” program. which will be an opportunity to teach the children the value of dreaming: how important it is to have dreams, to wish for things, to have goals in our their hearts as they put their names on cloth (in Spanish of course). Each child will leave with two mats as a decoration that they can hang in their homes. So, bring your loving and creative self and give these children an experience that can affect them very positively for years to come.
This will be followed by passing out the hygiene kits you have put together and as they are given to the children, you will be interacting with them to practice hand washing, hair care, nail care.
Local lunch at Carpio, followed by a local handicrafts program and exhibit (also for purchasing items). Depart Carpio for San Jose and some time for independent exploration and shopping. Return to the hotel before dinner

Day 5, Friday – Touring to Canopy Rain Forest Tour and Sarapiqui River Cruise (B/L/D)

A day of fun and fantastic touring as we have the opportunity to view Costa Rica’s ever-changing panorama. Arrival at the Hacienda Pozo Azul, to start your ZIP-LINE (perfectly safe) tour of the Sarapiqui area rain forest. The tour will feature 12 cables (that you hook into) and 17 platforms that are build from 60 to 90 feet above group as you “fly” through a canyon and over the Sarapiqui River Continue on your full day excursion as boat your Rover boat and navigate through the Sarapiqui River, with its beautiful scenery surrounded by lowlands of tropical rain forests and quiet farmland. As the boat passes through green waters and lush vegetation, you will also see a variety of Costa Rican plants, animals and birds. Lunch will be served during the cruise. Return to the hotel where you will have some time to relax. Meet in the lobby for dinner at the La Gallera Restaurant

Day 6. Saturday: San Jose/USA (B)
Breakfast on own time. Later meet in lobby for transfer to airport.

NOTE: This is a sample itinerary for group tour leaders.

It is a suggestion to assist teachers, religious leaders, organization heads, authors, speakers and other leaders who are planning a travel program for their group.

Your organization could go on a tour like this.
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