Costa Rica (Lonely Planet, 9th Edition) - Matthew Firestone [489]
Although many travelers in Costa Rica are extremely keen to learn and/or perfect their Spanish, you can give a lot back by teaching English to kids and adults of all ages. With that said, once class ends and you’re outside the school, your students will be happy to swap roles and teach you a bit of Spanish along the way.
Amerispan Study Abroad (www.amerispan.com) Offers a variety of educational travel programs in specialized areas.
Cloud Forest School (www.cloudforestschool.org) A bilingual school (kindergarten to 11th grade) in Monteverde offering creative and experiential education.
Sustainable Horizon (www.sustainablehorizon.com) Arranges volunteering trips such as guest-teaching spots and orphanage placements.
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Forestry Management
Despite its relatively small size, Costa Rica is home to an impressive number of national parks, a good number of which protect some of the most pristine rainforest on the planet. If you’re interesting in helping to save this threatened ecosystem, and perhaps gaining a valuable skill set in the process, consider a placement in a forest-management program.
Bosque Eterno de los Niños (Children’s Eternal Forest; www.acmcr.org) Volunteers are needed to help manage this remarkable achievement – a rainforest purchased by children who raised money to buy and protect it.
Cloudbridge Nature Preserve (www.cloudbridge.org) A private reserve where an ongoing reforestation project is being spearheaded by two New Yorkers.
Fundación Corcovado (www.corcovadofoundation.org) An impressive network of people and organizations committed to preserving Parque Nacional Corcovado.
Monteverde Institute (www.mvinstitute.org) A nonprofit educational institute offering training in tropical biology, conservation and sustainable development.
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Organic Farming
The entire world is going organic, and Costa Rica is certainly at the forefront of this highly admirable and sustainable movement. Home to virtual living laboratories of self-sufficient farms and plantations, Costa Rica is perfectly suited for volunteers interested in greening their thumbs.
Finca La Flor de Paraíso (www.la-flor.org) Offers programs in a variety of disciplines from animal husbandry to medicinal-herb cultivation.
Punta Mona (www.puntamona.org) An organic farm and retreat center that is based on organic permaculture and sustainable living.
Rancho Margot (www.ranchomargot.org) This self-proclaimed life-skills university offers a natural education emphasizing organic farming and animal husbandry.
Reserva Biológica Dúrika (www.durika.org) A sustainable community that is centered upon a 75-sq-km biological reserve.
HOW TO KNOW IF A BUSINESS IS REALLY ECOFRIENDLY
Ecotourism means big business in Costa Rica, and sometimes it can seem like every hotel, restaurant, souvenir stall, bus company, surf shop and ATV tour operator is claiming to be a friend and protector of Mother Earth. It’s certainly easy to dupe your average package tourist with business cards printed on recycled paper and a bunch of tree-frog stickers plastered on an office wall, but sometimes in Costa Rica it’s difficult even for the discerning traveler to know whether a business is truly ‘eco.’ Sure, you didn’t cut down a single tree when you built your canopy tour, but can you explain why your gray water trickles down the hillside into the stream below?
The guiding principle behind ecotourism is striking a balance between the positive and negative impacts of tourism, specifically traveling in a manner that is sensitive to the conditions of your destination while simultaneously minimizing negative impacts on the environment. Unfortunately, the problem is that it is becoming increasingly popular for destinations to label themselves as ‘ecodestination,’ yet there are no universal guidelines dictating exactly what it means to be ‘eco.’ However, there are various environmental, economic and sociocultural aspects of running an ecofriendly business that every traveler should be aware of.
Since most ecotourism