Spanish Immersion and Service

Dominican Republic: US citizens do not need visas for a stay of less than 90 days. You will need to purchase a tourist card upon arrival. Bring a $10 USD bill for payment. 

Costa Rica: US citizens do not need visas for a stay of less than 90 days. You will need to show your return plane ticket or confirmed flight itinerary upon arrival. 

Peru: US citizens do not need visas for a stay of less than 90 days. A tourist card will be issued for free upon arrival.  

Dominican Republic: Santo Domingo, Jarabacoa, Sosua, Consuelo, Bayahibe

Costa Rica: Guacimo, La Argentina, Turrialba, Irazu, Uvita, San Salvador, San Jose

Peru: Lima, Cusco, Sacred Valley, Santa Teresa, Aguas Calientes, Ausengate, Puerto Maldonado, Tambopata Reserve, Lunahuana, Huancaya, Paracas, Huacachina

There will be 3-4 internal flights during this program. Flights and travel arrangements are subject to change. 

Each program will have leaders who are certified in First Aid and CPR. Some of our program leaders are also 
certified as Wilderness First Responders, Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs), Wilderness EMTs, or Life Guards.

Rustic Pathways either purchases bottled water or uses sterilization techniques to ensure that all drinking water for students is potable and safe to drink. We ask students to bring reusable water bottles in order to reduce plastic usage.

You may bring your cell phone, but be prepared to limit the time you spend using it. Your program leaders will ask you keep it off and out of sight for portions of the program, so that you don’t miss out on opportunities to get to know your fellow students, make friends with locals, and immerse in your locations.

The Dominican Republic uses the same voltage as US outlets. 

Outlets in Costa Rica are 110 V, with standard US two prong plugs (or three prong if grounded). Students from Europe will need an adapter. (Adapters are very difficult to find in Costa Rica. Don’t forget yours at home!). 

Peru has 220V outlets as opposed to the 110V outlets in the United States. The plug shape is usually the same, so be careful not to fry any of your electronics. These days, most common electronics like cameras, phone chargers, computers and mp3 chargers have built in adapters and can be plugged straight into the wall. For all other electronics, you will need to make sure to purchase a converter. Please make sure to check all electronics before plugging them in!

Dominican Republic and Costa Rica: Students should be prepared for hot, humid weather in the 80s and 90s during the day with a daily afternoon rain shower. At night the weather will be in the 70s and 80s.

Peru: Peru has 3 very distinct climate regions; the desert coastal region, Andean Mountain regions and the Amazon Basin. Students will visit all three. While at Machu Picchu, students will be in the cloud forest which is considerably more humid and hot than the villages in the Sacred Valley. Students need to be prepared to adapt to the rapid temperature changes that occur in mountain environments. Please make sure to refer to the packing list when preparing for this program.

In the Dominican Republic, students will stay mostly in guesthouses and hotels with one night at a homestay.

In Costa Rica, there will be a four night homestay in the La Argentina community, a two week homestay in Turrialba, and the rest of the time in guesthouses, hotels, or base houses.

Accommodation in Peru ranges from camping to hotels. While performing community service projects in the Sacred Valley, students will be in homestays in rural villages and camping on an overnight adventure. In Lima, Cusco, Ollantaytambo, and Machu Picchu students will be staying in 2 and 3 star hotels. For the majority of the Amazon expedition, students will be staying in a jungle lodge. Hot water will be unreliable for most of the program. 

Students will be eating traditional Dominican and Costa Rican food prepared by local cooks, homestay families, or at restaurants. Breakfast may include plantains or toast with eggs, fruits, and cereal. Lunch and dinner will be typical dishes, which consists of rice, beans, salad and a meat/seafood dish or veggie dishes.

In Peru, most of the meals will be centered on traditional Andean food, with a lot of potatoes and grains such as quinoa. In addition, vegetables, beans, and meat such a chicken or trout are found in most meals. For those that choose, there may be the chance to eat cuy (guinea pig) and alpaca which are staples of rural Andean diet and culture. If you would like to know more about Peruvian diet Wikipedia has a nice summary.

The families are carefully screened either by Rustic Pathways or our service partners. Most families have been working with Rustic Pathways for many years and they are used to working with our rules and guidelines.

All the places where we stay have bathroom facilities with running water, American style toilets and showers. Hot water will be unreliable for most of the program.

Phone and internet service are often readily available to our students. However, there are portions of our programs during which students will need to go up to two weeks without access to phones or internet. We encourage students to limit communication with their parents to a phone call or message no more than once per week. This ensures group cohesion, the building of trust among students and leaders, and allows for the most culturally immersive experiences. We suggest that students and their parents create communication plans that set clear expectations around the frequency of and reasons for contacting each other. In urgent situations, students and parents have access to our 24-hour emergency line, which they can call for immediate assistance.

Laundry services will be available every one to two weeks. In some locations there will be coin operated machines, and in others there will be a paid laundry service for approximately $10-15 depending on the amount of clothing.

In Costa Rica, Peru and the DR, you cannot flush toilet paper down the toilet. In the DR and Peru you cannot drink tap water.

Students will be moving to a new place every 3-7 days over the course of three months. Some transfer days will require 4-5 hour van rides between towns, and there is expected to be about four internal flights. 

Rustic Pathways hires private buses/vans/4×4 SUVs to transport our students to different program locations.

Discuss your travel plans with your physician prior to travel and consider visiting your local travel clinic well in advance of your program. Print the itinerary from the program website and show it to a travel doctor or clinic, so they can suggest vaccines and preventative medications for the regions where you’ll be traveling. Be aware that some immunizations require multiple injections spread out over several weeks and plan accordingly.

As this trip covers a lot of territory in each country, there will be times when we are quite close to healthcare, and other times when access to healthcare will be over an hour away. In cases where a hospital is not close by, program leaders have a response plan in place for emergency situations that may involve helicopter support or expert outside assistance.

Rustic Pathways can cater to most dietary needs on this program. There will be ample access to fruits, vegetables, rice, beans, and grains for those who are vegetarian. Vegan diets can be accommodated, but with a little more foresight and planning as this is not a diet commonly encountered in Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, or Peru. Please know that while we are happy to accommodate alternative diets, many of the special diets common in the United States are not common in other parts of the world and travelers must be patient and understanding in having these needs be met.

In Dominican Republic and Costa Rica, yes, there are bugs. It isn’t unbearable, but we do require students to wear bug spray, preferably containing DEET, and to bring light layers to cover up during dawn and dusk. In Peru, due to the altitude, most bugs are not an issue, but it is still advised to bring lightweight long clothes for the time spent in Lunahuana and the Amazon.

None in Dominican Republic or Costa Rica. In Peru, Bungee Jumping and slingshot (reverse bungee jump). Slingshot is the opposite of a bungee jump in which you are put into a harness and shot straight up into the air. Each activity costs around $70.00. Zip-lining will also be an optional activity for about $50.

We recommend that you bring $350-$600 per month, plus money for any optional activities that you want to try. Students tend to use spending money for personal gifts, internet, phone calls, laundry, snacks, visa or medical expenses.

Rustic Pathways works with local community leaders and organizations to identify and prioritize the needs of each community so projects may vary. For this program, students will work mainly on infrastructure and environmental projects with our major partners in each country. In the Dominican Republic, students will also plan educational camp sessions for local children. In Peru the group will work with the Sacred Valley Project, a girl’s education initiative that provides access to education for girls from rural indigenous communities.

Students will receive formal instruction from professional Spanish teachers. Students will also have multiple opportunities to practice conversational Spanish skills with their guides, the local community, and their host families. Previous knowledge of the Spanish language is not required. 

This program is not overly strenuous, but students should be in at least average physical condition. Activities include hiking, white water rafting and mountain biking. The service work that is conducted can be fairly strenuous as well and students should be prepared to carry adobe bricks, dig trenches and do other physically active work.

The short answer in most cases is no. The degree to which students experience altitude symptoms though are very dependent on the individual and students should expect to experience some of the symptoms associated with mild altitude sickness during their first couple of days of acclimation. Symptoms can include headaches, nausea, shortness of breath, and/or decreased sleep. We have structured the trip to not be strenuous during the first couple of days and ensure students drink a lot of water to help alleviate these common symptoms of altitude. Students will also have access to the local remedy of cocoa tea which is very effective in alleviating many of symptoms of altitude sickness. In the unlikely case that a student does show symptoms of severe altitude sickness, local medical care is available and equipped to deal with these situations.