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Isabella on the Pura Vida Service Program in Costa Rica

UPDATED November 13, 2026 · 2 MIN READ
Kayla Anzalone
WRITTEN BY Director of Parent Experience
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Program
Pura Vida Service, Costa Rica
Traveled
Summer 2024

In this first-person account, Isabella looks back on Rustic Pathways’ Pura Vida Service program in Costa Rica in summer 2024, with photos from the trip.

Isabella describes whitewater rafting and ziplining on the group’s excursions, seeing the impact of the group’s service projects, and the people the trip brought into Isabella’s life.

Pura Vida Service in Costa Rica: students from Isabella’s group taking a selfie at a lookout above a green valley, with an inset of five students at a railing over a lake
A collage of students from the group, a cone-shaped volcano at sunset beyond a garden, and students clearing branches from a muddy stream
A collage of students feeding sugarcane through a hand-cranked press, a student making a heart sign on the bus, and students with red face paint
Students from the group making heart signs with their hands on the bus
Photos by Isabella, Costa Rica, summer 2024.

Isabella’s Excursions and Service in Costa Rica

Hi! My name is Isabella. My favorite part of the trip would have to be the excursions we did like white water rafting and ziplining, as well as just getting to see the impact we were making from service on projects.

What Isabella Took Home From Pura Vida Service

This was an experience I will never forget and I’m so grateful for all of the people it introduced me to!

Isabella describes the people met along the way and an experience never to forget. The memories concern the summer 2024 session, and Isabella first shared them on the Rustic Pathways Instagram account on May 16, 2025.

The program still runs as Costa Rica: Pura Vida Service. It runs 8 days for students ages 14–18 and includes about 16 hours of community service near Arenal Volcano, helping improve local schools and maintain park trails, along with ziplining through the rainforest and whitewater rafting. See the program page for the current itinerary, dates and activities.

Explore Costa Rica: Pura Vida Service

Keep reading: Dottie’s story from Costa Rica

More Rustic Pathways alumni stories from Costa Rica

Rustic Pathways has served 155,829 individual alumni since 1983. Read all Rustic Pathways alumni stories.

About the Author

Kayla Anzalone
Kayla Anzalone
Director of Parent Experience

Kayla Anzalone is Director of Parent Experience at Rustic Pathways. She is the point of contact for families before, during, and after a student's program.

Kayla oversees Rustic Pathways programs in Portugal, including local partners, logistics, and student safety planning.

Kayla led Travel For All, a Rustic Pathways initiative to open educational travel to more students. She also launched the Global Perspectives Scholarship, a 1,000 USD essay scholarship that helps high school and college students pay for college tuition and books.

Kayla writes about the questions parents ask most: travel documents, health and safety preparation, packing, and what daily life on a program looks like. Her guidance draws on Rustic Pathways' experience running student programs since 1983 in 38 countries.

Kayla has traveled across the Americas, Europe, Asia, and the South Pacific.

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