Last Night Pics

Hole everyone. I want to apologize I could not find the camera that had the pictures for the party the last night. Here are some pics and I wanted to thank everyone for following the blog. It was great fun to post and nothing but excellent comments from Jonathan every night. Thanks again for everything and if you want to send your address to info@crrtravel.com and become a fan on our facebook page "Costa Rican Resource" then we reward our followers with a free bag of coffee. Looking forward to giving more interesting info on this amazing country! Also keep in mind when you read this that our company CRRTravel.com puts together some of the best Costa Rica adventure packages for families of all ages.

Drive to Central Valley and Waterfall

Well I know Im a day late on this entry but I promise to make up for it today. I will be sending some pics of the farewell dinner we had last night which I hope everyone enjoyed. You should have been able to talk on the phone last night as I saw the vonage phone go around the room. If they told you the same they told me (which I hope they did) then they had a good time here in Costa Rica. Yesterday was a day that in my opinion is a very relaxed day but involves one of the most beautiful waterfalls in the country. It is not the largest waterfall but it is at the base of the Arenal volcano, surrounded by lush rainforest, and crystal clear water. The hike is around 500 steps to the bottom which also means 500 steps to the top. Everyone made it no problem and then it was back in the bus for the 3 hour drive to the Central Valley. Jonathan the guide had the idea of stopping at a local market on the way back to the Central Valley which was great because it gave the kids a look at the farmers market and how many make a living in the rural areas. After the visit to the market they made their way to the Central Park of Barva which was actually a stop so we could finish getting things ready for the party and then around 4:30pm they arrived to the house for the evening of just food & fun. See next entry for details on the party. Hope everyone is well and have an excellent morning! The other picture here is from the hotel pool on the last night. As you can see the kid are having fun and if you want your family to experience a similar trip take a look at some of our Costa Rica family adventures!

Done!!!

These kids can scratch off rappeling off a 160ft fall off their bucket list. They all did great. We are working on the pics and will have them soon. They are talking about the hotel Embassy Suites so I will keep you posted on that. More to come...

Morning at the School

It was a great morning at the school and the group is still there. It was about 30 minutes from the hotel and like most places we got a free massage on the way there (that means it was a bumpy road in the bus). The first class we visited was the English class and we paired up 3 local kids with a George Flamson student and the first team to win their crossword puzzle won. The crossword puzzle was parts of the body in English. It was fun and the kids really enjoyed it. The students were ages 9 and 10. Then after visiting the English class we had the chance to visit the little little ones ages 5 and 6. They were adorable. These visits to local schools are just as fun as trips like the rafting. If you are interested in making this a part of a Costa Rica Family Vacation we can make it happen. The whole country public or private everyone is in uniforms. We actually got a game of duck duck goose going on in Spanish. The rest of the morning will be spent playing with the kids and then it is off to the rappel. I know the kids are going to love the rappel. It is an amazing tour and they will visit one of the most beautiful canyons you can imagine. I forgot to mention las night we had all the kids crowd around the computer as we ate pizza and they read the blog comments. Hope all are well and thanks for reading!

Zipline, Organic Farm, & Shopping!!!

It was a great day. The volcano is a little cloudy at the moment but that did not stop anyone from hanging on a cable 700ft above the rainforest. The zipline was the start of the day and if you drink coffee or not it is definitely one of the best ways to wake up in the morning. Just a reminder when we plan a Costa Rica Adventure Package the zipline is almost always part of the itinerary as all groups love it. Everyone did the zipline and nobody backed out which is something that not every group can say. After the zipline they made their way to the Organic Farm for a great lesson on how one family survives off 2 acres and everything is organic. This place happens to have one of the best meals for lunch you can imagine. After the Organic farm it was in to town for shopping. With a group that has this many girls I figured shopping would take up some of the time in the trip. After the shopping they headed to La Parada which is a pizza place in the center of town and enjoyed a few slices of pizza which they all deserved after having the first few days of rice and beans. They will arrive to the hotel around 7:30pm and I can imagine all are tired. Tomorrow will be a visit to a local school where we plan to put the kids in class for a bit. Your kids dont know it yet but we have planned for the local school kids to put on a show for us when we arrive. Here are some pics of things that have been happening. These are not from today but you should still like them. Enjoy and stay tuned. We love seeing your comments and the kids love hearing them!!! PURA VIDA!

Their Spanish...

Barbara asked how the kids are doing with their Spanish? I talked to Fressy last night on the phone who happens to be incharge of the homestays and gets the show done in the village. She said: "Tom send us more groups like this because it was great hearing them all speak Spanish". They stayed pretty strict to the rule of no English. It is a great experience for the village to have kids of this level of Spanish. We have had groups of almost no Spanish and it is still a good experience but believe when the kids know Spanish like your kids do it makes for a much better time in the village. They got to the hotel around 7pm last night and all are good. They said they laughed themselves to sleep last night because of Jonathan's jokes. Their guide Jonathan is quite the man for telling jokes. He has an endless amount of jokes which makes good for long bus rides. Hope all are well today and will be sending more pics so stay tuned! PURA VIDA

On their Way to the Arenal Volcano

They will be in the bus for the next 4 hours. There is nothing wrong with long bus rides in Costa Rica because the views are always beautiful. The river was at its finest today with the sun coming down on the crystal clear water and the 18 miles of rafting surrounded by the Virgin Rainforest. All of the guides said all the kids did their part in rowing and made for a great trip. Take a look at some of the pics and more to come so stay tuned. I hope all our well and thanks so much for following the blog. I wanted to let those of you know that asked for the addresses of homestays to send thank you cards that Costa Rica does not have addresses. It is actually quite amusing but when you send something here more times than not you will use land marks, building colors, and any nearby structure to explain where something goes. This goes even more for the villages like Sitio de Mata where if you try and send something there the chances of it getting there are pretty slim. What we have done in the past is just have students send to the Costa Rican Resource PO Box and we deliver the letters. The mailing address for this would be PO Box 359-3011 Barva de Heredia, Costa Rica Central America. Well I hope this helps and will be posting soon!

Day of Rafting!!!

Well today was the day of rafting. Everyone made it off the river at 2pm with nothing but smiles and a little bit of sun. It was a huge success and now the long road trip to the Arenal Volcano. I will be posting pictures later this evening with more details on the day so please stay tuned.

If you do decide to plan a Costa Rica Eco Adventure with us for your family you can almost guarantee we will take you on the river. We even offer an overnight trip for families and student groups.

Great Day of Community Service

Keep in mind when reading below that we can plan a Costa Rica Vacation and include some of these activities for your family in the package if you find them interesting.
Last night was a great night and Delaney's Birthday was celebrated to the fullest. We got a cake and ate it all. During the party the kids also learned how to dance salsa and merengue. I have to say that they all have some natural rythm and everyone was very impressed. During the party after a little latin dancing Garreg got out on the floor and did a his show on break-dancing. The kids also went on a nature hike yesterday where they had the chance to see sloths. After the fun of last night the kids woke up this morning and were put to work. They visited a school called Silencio which is about 5 minute drive from the village and they built recycle bins. The recycle bins work out great because they build them and then get the local kids excited about recycling. Alex actually got the nickname "Clavo Boy" because he was the guy passing out the nails (Clavo means Nails). When they built the recycle bins we split them up into 3 groups and each group worked on a project. The groups were Monos = Monkeys, Lapas = Macaws, and Toucans. Once each group had their parts done it was just a few more nails to put the three together to have a beautiful finished project.

Good Morning

I hope all are well. Here are some messages from the group:

Nicole: First of all we arrived safely. The people from town invited us to take part in Easter Festivals. The game was 5-5 and we won on penalty kicks.

Kayle: Hey mom, dad, Mark, and Tor I hope you are having fun. I just thought would let you know I arrived. Having a great time. I am bunking with Michaela in our new family. Have a Happy Easter, I love you miss you Mucho!

Micheala: Hey mommy, dad, & Mitchell I am here safe in Costa Rica we played soccer the first day and won in penalty kicks. Having lots of fun with all my friends but weird not being with you guys as I travel. I miss you and love you all.

more to come stay tuned...

ESPN SPORTCENTER

What a great game. The score was 5 to 5 so the game was decided on penalty kicks. Team USA won on penalty kicks. They played the villages girls team. They are now getting ready for an evening activity. Don't worry we won't get them to bed too late.

Arrival and Welcome to the Village

I can imagine how long of a day it was for these kids and most of you reading this were probably at the airport at an odd hour yesterday. Well I can assure you that the memories the kids take from the village will make it all worth it. I just talked to Fressy who runs the show at the village and she said the group was EXCELLENTE! They did the welcome show at the "Casa del Arbol" which is like an open hour ranchito we use to get everyone together. They saw the typical dancing, music, and of course they got some food. One thing for sure is that they will not go hungry while staying in the village. Jonathan was excited for the group as it is not a full load which is great for the kids and Jonathan because it allows for the trip to be more personal instead of having a COACH bus filled with 50 people. After the welcome in the Casa del Arbol everyone headed to their homestays where I think they are going to try and get some nap time before the big game. It turns out that they have a soccer game planned at 4pm. This will be quite the game Ticos vs. USA. Please turn your TV's on to ESPN Espanol for highlights. I will keep you posted with stats from the game and more info on the George Flamson group. Hope everyone is having a great weekend and thanks so much for following the blog. Please feel free to leave comments we would love to hear from you. If you want to say anything to the kids just let us know and we can relay things through the blog. Stay tuned coming up is the kid's quote of the day!

We take almost all student groups to the village but we can organize a Costa Rica family vacation also if you are interested in experiencing these type of activities.

Welcome George Flamson to Costa Rica

This blog is set up for parents and relatives to follow this amazing adventure through Costa Rica. We will update it daily to keep everyone informe and we would love to see your comment. Thanks for following and PURA VIDA!