Community Program

Would like to donate your time, energy, talents or personal resources to help others? Our Community Program is always looking for dedicated and motivated people like you… At the same time you will have the opportunity visit a beautiful country like Costa Rica

Day 01 Arrival – San Jose :
Arrival in San José. A representative from Costa Rican Trails will meet you at the airport and take you to the Hotel Villas Tournon.

Overnight at Hotel Villas Tournon, standard room.

Day 02 San Jose - Tortuguero :
Early morning pick up for the drive through Braulio Carrillo National Park. Have a quick stop at the Restaurante in Guapiles to have a complete breakfast and then continue to the Caño Blanco Dock. On the way pass through a banana plantation where you will have an explanation of the banana processes.

Later on you will drive into Tortuguero by boat (approx. 2 hrs). On arrival at the lodge enjoy a welcome cocktail and a homestyle lunch. Explore with your guide the lodge attractions such as the butterfly farm, frog farm, ranarium, aquarium, bio-digestor, and gardens.

Free time to enjoy the pool, jacuzzi and surroundings or simply relax.

Overnight at the Mawamba Lodge, standard room, all meals included.

Day 03 Tortuguero :
After breakfast, get ready for cleaning the beach of Tortuguero… This beach is not a beach to swim!!! Lunch at the lodge. In the afternoon tour by boat through the water canals of the Tortuguero National Park.

One of Costa Rica’s most popular eco-tourism destinations, the canals and rivers of Tortuguero National Park are a study in rainforest, freshwater and marine biology. The park and small town of Tortuguero can only be accessed by boat or small aircraft. Considered one of the world’s major nesting sites for the Atlantic green turtle, you can see these great creatures between July and October.

Tortuguero is one of the wilderness areas with the greatest biological variety in Costa Rica. It has 2,000 plant species of plants and 400 tree species; along with 57 species of amphibians, 111 species of reptiles, 309 species of birds, 30 species of fresh water fish, including the Gar, considered to be a living fossil; and 60 species of mammals.

Overnight at the Mawamba Lodge, standard room, all meals included.

Day 04 Tortuguero - Sarapiqui :
After breakfast, boat and bus transfer to the Restaurante in Guapiles, where you will have lunch. Afterwards continue to the Sarapiqui area.

The Sarapiquí region, named for the river that drains this area, lies at the foot of the Cordillera Central mountain range. To the west is the rain forest of Braulio Carrillo National Park, and to the east are Tortuguero National Park and Barra del Colorado National Wildlife Refuge. In between these protected areas lie thousands of acres of banana, pineapple, and palm plantations. It is here that you can see the great contradictions of Costa Rica.

In the afternoon, you will have a guided walk through the trail to end it up at the vegetable garden where you can harvest some of what Costa Ricans have and then you will do a cooking workshop where you will learn about the properties of each one of the vegetables and you (staff and guests) all participate cutting, boiling, frying, or whatever is needed to prepare a dish for dinner. In the meantime, we try some other things that we cook while there.

The area for cooking is a beautiful big thatched roof building next to a pond in the trail.
The main dish we usually prepare is a heart of palm dice or a green papaya dice and the snacks we try while cooking are tortillas, fried yuca, fried bread fruit and pineapple.

Overnight at La Quinta de Sarapiqui, stadanrd room, breakfast included.

Day 05 Sarapiqui - Arenal :
After breakfast, get ready for your planting a tree activity. The lodge has assigned an area of La Quinta for reforestation. Since the beginning they have been inviting the guests to plant a native tree in order to cooperate with the restoration process of the native flora. You will specially plant “Almendro de Montaña”, to improve the habitat for the Green Macaw.

After the check out, departure to the Arenal Volcano area.

One of the most active volcanoes of the world, cloud forests, a lake world-famous for windsurfing and an incredibly diverse population of wildlife is what you will find in this area. The flawless silhouette of Arenal Volcano, its loud rumblings and frequent explosions of lava and ash are a sight not to be missed by any visitor to Costa Rica. But by no means these are the only attractions of this area. Bass fishing, windsurfing, hot springs, waterfalls, hiking and Caño Negro Wildlife Refuge make this an ideal stop for many travelers.

In the evening get ready for your relaxing experience at Ecotermales la Fortuna Hot Springs. The spa has 4 different pools with different temperatures the coolest one is 91 degrees Fahrenheit and the hottest one is 105 Fahrenheit, one of the pools has a cascading waterfall for a natural soothing back massage.

Overnight at the Hotel Arenal Paraiso, standard room, breakfast and dinner included.

Day 06 Arenal – Rincon de la Vieja :
After breakfast, get ready for your community service with the Scouts of La Fortuna… Depending of the needs you will clean streets, visit an elderly house or a school.

The Rincón de La Vieja presents a large diversity of habitats due to the differences in altitude and precipitation, the volcanic eruptive effect and the type of watershed. In the lower parts the most common trees are: the laurel, the guanacaste, the aceituno, the ardillo, the naked Indian, the bitter cedar and the capulin blanco.

Overnight at the Buena Vista Lodge, standard room, breakfast & dinner included.

Day 07 Rincon de la Vieja :
After breakfast, get ready for your community service at the school of Cañas Dulces where you will help with the children needs such as painting, repairing or just having time with the children.

Then get ready for the Buena Vista – Mega Combo tour which allows you to enjoy a great variety of activities in one place surrounded by nature and the tranquility of the area.

11 platforms and 10 cables, gliding through the top of the trees of the semi-humid tropical forest enjoying the adrenaline to the maximum. While the visitor is traveling on the top of the trees it can enjoy a diversity of flora and fauna as birds and howler, spider, and, white faced capuchin monkeys.

Enjoy this totally refreshing experience with your family sliding down the longest mountain water slide; 400 meters of pure adventure and excitement in the middle of the Tropical Forest. This is done with all the necessary security equipment.

Then enjoy you will be transfer by tractor to the Hot Springs… And if you are very adventures you can ride a horse to there… Or combine the activities!!!

Overnight at the Buena Vista Lodge, standard room, breakfast, lunch and dinner included.

Day 08 Rincon de la Vieja – Central Pacific :
After breakfast, get ready for your trip to the central pacific.

The Central Pacific region encompasses almost everything that attracts visitors to Costa Rica: exuberant tropical forests, green hills, vibrant sea and pristine beaches. This region offers some of the most attractive beaches and terrain that the country offers. The vegetation changes dramatically from transitional forest in its northern section to pure rainforest in its southern part.

Overnight at the Hotel Punta Leona, selva mar room, breakfast included.

Day 09 Central Pacific :
After breakfast, get ready for cleaning one area of the beaches located at the mouth of the Tarcoles River.

The adventure takes place on the Tárcoles River, one of four rivers flowing out into the Nicoya Peninsula, and home to one of the world’s largest crocodile populations in the wild with individuals up to fifteen feet long. In addition to the crocodiles, over fifty different kinds of birds can be seen on site, including the very rare scarlet macaw and a great variety of resident and migrant waterfowl. Iguanas and Jesus Cristo lizards are very common as well. On the way downstream, the boat heads along the Estero Guacalillo, a most awesome mangrove ecosystem that features four different species of mangrove trees.

Overnight at the Hotel Punta Leona, selva mar room, breakfast included.

Day 10 Central Pacific - Departure :
After breakfast, transfer to airport or take advantage of one of the many beach extensions available.

Enjoy nature and help the environment taking a green tour in Costa Rica.