Costa Rica

COSTA RICA

Conservation and reforestation

Costa Rica is one of the most biodiverse countries in the world. It contains about 5 % of all biodiversity on the planet. It was also one of the most forested countries in the world, with about 60 % of its land mass covered by forest. It is therefore the perfect place to teach future generations of nature lovers how to conserve and care for our planet.

Joining the Costa Rica trip means making a commitment to our planet, and that starts before you even get on the plane. The teaching focuses on how to live, travel and exist sustainably. Our first commitment will be to offset our environmental footprint during our trip, i.e. flights, fuel consumption, etc. This will be done in various ways while we are in Ranum and Costa Rica, by planting trees, collecting trash and other environmentally friendly activities.

While in Costa Rica we will also focus on responsible travel as we are not only traveling as tourists but also to help promote social and environmental programs in the country. We do this through volunteer activities with our partners in Costa Rica. A typical day of travel will include a volunteer activity in the morning followed by a fun/learning experience in the afternoon. For example: conservation trails in a cloud forest followed by ziplining.

We all know that we can't continue with the ways of the past, and that goes for travel too, if we want to continue to see the world as it exists today, we have to commit to preserving it.

Academic programmes

In our teaching, we focus on how to live, travel and exist sustainably. Our first commitment will be to compensate for our environmental footprint while travelling, i.e. flights, fuel consumption, etc. (which is around 10kg/CO₂/pers). We will therefore focus on how you can help reduce this.

We will also focus on the country and its history, geography and wildlife in preparation. In addition, we will work to establish contact with the young people at the school we will visit when we arrive in Costa Rica, so they learn a little about each other before they meet. Therefore, we will also prepare a presentation for the school visit in class.

TRAVEL

The journey will primarily take place in the large rainforest areas, where we will hike through these to small farms and villages. Here we will meet local indigenous people who, through our guides, will tell us about their lives and way of life. We will help work on local farms with banana palms, pineapples, coriander and coffee beans. We will also help with restoring and planting trees on the steep slopes.

Our tour will take us from the Pacuare River rainforest to the rainforest in the south at the Osa Peninsula. Two different types of rainforest and wildlife. We will work on hiking to volcanoes and crossing rivers - well not over bridges but through them, to give an experience of the magical nature as in the footsteps of an explorer.

We will witness first-hand the large amounts of plastic that are constantly washing up on some Pacific beaches and help clear them of plastic and rubbish.

On a school visit to a large school where they will give presentations and visit smaller high schools where they will try to communicate with the locals. This will end with a joint football match.

ECONOMY

The journey: 15,000 kr

Pocket money: 1.000kr

VACCINATIONS

Tetanus

Diphtheria

Hepatitis A

DURATION

13 days

REQUIREMENTS FOR THE JOURNEY

Passport only needs to be valid for the duration of your stay

In addition, you need to be reasonably fit as the tour requires some hiking in hilly terrain

TEACHERS

	Steen M. Thomsen smt@ranumefterskole.dk

	Maria Snapes msp@ranumefterskole.dk