CSUF: Costa Rica (2024)

Bienvenidos a Costa Rica!

After your flight arrives at the SJO International Airport in Costa Rica, travel to our hotel in Heredia. After getting settled into our hotel we will head out for an evening tour of the city and a welcome dinner.

Today after breakfast we will head to Colegio Nueva Generación, an IB school that offers elementary through high school education. Here we will get a crash course in Spanish as well as a lecture from a local expert on the cultural norms of Costa Rican life. After a light early lunch, we will work with high school students on their IB CAS project as well as learn about how schools work in Costa Rica and how the system differs from the United States. After this first glimpse into the Costa Rican educational system are in for a real treat as we head off to dinner at a local family home who have graciously offered to host an event in our honor!

This morning we will tour the Museo del Oro Precolombino. The Pre-Columbian Gold Museum reimagines the museum experience and displays the history and artifacts in a new light. The gold collection dates from 300-400 BC to 1550 AD. It also uses modern exhibition design experience thinking and interactive technology to create a new and intriguing educational environment.

Afterward, we grab lunch and then head to Botanica Chocolate. Here we enjoy an edible history of chocolate in one of the oldest and most beautiful buildings of San Jose, which was built in 1886. We will experience the different flavors and textures of chocolate, from the fruit to the bar and its different gastronomic combinations

Today is a fantastic opportunity for students as they get to visit and work at Caspari Montessori School in Heredia helping to coordinate and run a full one-day camp. We will also meet with the principal and administrators to learn about how the Montessori and Cognia methodologies are implemented in this particular school. After the visit we head to the hotel meeting room and discuss the learning institute we visited from the traffic and crowds of the daytime.

Today we visit Colegio Metodista. Founded in 1921, it was Costa Rica’s first bilingual school and offers K-12 bilingual education. Staff and teachers from the school will meet with us in the morning and then we will get to work with the population on language skills. After the visit we will discuss the learning institute we visited at the hotel meeting room.

We will spend the day at the La Paz Waterfall Gardens. La Paz Waterfall Gardens Nature Park is the most popular nature tour in the San Jose Area featuring Five Famous Waterfalls and the largest animal sanctuary in Costa Rica. It is by far the best place to see wildlife in Costa Rica.

This morning we start early and head to Jaco. Once we arrive we check-in to our hotel. After a bit of rest we head to the beach and head out for a 5-hour cruise to bring in the sunset.

Today we will meet with teachers and staff at the Jaco Public School. This will be a full day immersive experience. The Jaco Public School caters to many expats as well as local families and our students will have a chance to learn how the students from different cultural backgrounds learn while attending the same school. The school will set up extracurricular activities that we will help oversee, allowing students to work alongside teachers from Jaco

This morning, we will get picked up early from the hotel. We board a catamaran and start our journey to Tortuga Island, a deserted island located just off the coast of the Nicoya Peninsula, a paradise like no other. Breakfast will be served on the catamaran today. We spend the day at Tortuga Island snorkeling, watching the sea life and relaxing at the beach.

Today we visit Peces del Mar, a local nonprofit foundation that supports a high-need & lowsupport area of town near Jacó. In the neighborhood, many families live without power and some without running water. Peces del Mar provides school supplies and uniforms, food, basic living supplies (“diarios”), and also fun social activities for the children. Our students will have the chance to work with the organization and run fun activities for the local children. Afterward, we discuss the learning institute before heading back to San Jose.

Today we will visit Cafe Britt, Costa Rica’s premium coffee plantation accompanied by a local. The tour will include learning how gourmet coffee is cultivated and graded by experts, a stroll through lush gardens and a delicious buffet lunch and a sampling of their coffee beverage, paired with chocolates made by Café Britt.

After the tour we head to the airport and start our journey home.