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Participant, CLF 2022-2023 Director, CLF 2023-2025 Harvard College Class of 2029
June 19, 2025
June 7, 2025
Gain valuable leadership and collaboration skills and help enrich the lives of local community members as you develop a summer camp for kids in Costa Rica.
Gain valuable leadership and collaboration skills, and help enrich the lives of local community members as you develop a summer camp in La Fortuna. Start your journey with an exhilarating rafting trip followed by the start of your camp planning. Design a six-day summer camp in small teams, then meet the children you’ll lead in sports, arts, and other recreational activities throughout the week. Zip line, kayak, soak in natural hot springs, and boat along the picturesque Costa Rican coastline.
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Summer Camp Leadership in Costa Rica
Arrive at the Rustic Pathways Hub airport where you’ll meet your Rustic Pathways Flight Leader, who will help get you checked in and through security before traveling with your group to Costa Rica. Get acquainted with fellow Rustic travelers before boarding your flight. Arrive at San Jose International Airport (SJO) and meet your Program Leaders who will be with you for the duration of the program. Join the group for an orientation discussion about the week ahead, expectations for your adventure, and an introduction to the local culture.
Settle into your hotel for the first night in San Jose, relaxing after your long flight. You’ll share rooms with your fellow Rustic travelers with private bathrooms.
Start the trip with an exciting whitewater rafting challenge on the Pacuare River. During this two-day trip, get to know your group and leaders with activities at the river lodge at night.
Enjoy your first glimpses of this spectacular country along the Pacuare River. From its rainforests to its volcanic peaks and its two coasts, Costa Rica is one of the most beautiful nations in Central America. Home to some of the most biodiverse swaths of land and sea on the planet, Costa Rica is famed for its natural environment – and it’s commitment to that environment! Costa Ricans – or Ticos, as they’re called here – are intensely proud and protective of their country’s natural beauty, and have put their country on the map as the world leader in ecotourism and environmental protection.
You’ll spend the night in an eco-friendly lodge. Share rooms with private bathrooms.
Yesterday, when you reach the river’s end, we’ll drive to Sarapiqui for a two-night stay at the beautiful property of a former traditional ranch house. Enjoy this peaceful retreat set on the banks of the Sarapiqui and San Rafael Rivers with amazing access to the surrounding nature.
Spend the mornings and afternoons learning about camp structure, join intensive leadership training and planning the camp schedule for the next week with all activities that will make the summer camp a success! In your downtime, you’ll be able to hike trails and explore natural areas around the lodge.
You’ll share rooms with 2-6 students of the same gender, with private bathrooms.
Head to the base camp in Arenal, where you’ll stay for the duration of the camp you run. First, head to an organic farm for a cultural demonstration. Learn about Costa Rica’s rich history and traditions, and all about where your food here comes from. Then head into town for some brief exploration before finally arriving at the base house to settle into our home for the next week. It is also your last day of planning, and in the evening you will decorate camp and put the final touches on the camp plan.
Spend the next 7 nights living and sleeping at the summer camp base house. Shared rooms with shared bathrooms, separated by gender.
On the first day you’ll kayak in the beautiful Lake Arenal at the foot of the volcano. The next six days will be a dream come true for the Costa Rican children joining what for some may be their first-ever summer camp. Wake up early and have breakfast with your fellow counselors, before receiving the Tico kids every day at around 9:00 a.m. Spend the day with the children, running various games and activities, coordinating lunch and snack times, and then saying goodbye to them at around 3 p.m. each afternoon. You’ll build special relationships with these energetic and warm-hearted kids, and put your leadership skills into practice.
On some days after the camp, you may have the chance to participate in different activities in the La Fortuna area. These activities include meals out and exploring La Fortuna town and a visit to the natural hot springs.
In the evenings, you will evaluate the day with your team and prepare for the next one. Eat dinner together and enjoy a relaxing evening.
Today is about adventure. We will go on a zip line through the rainforest near the volcano. Then we will have lunch at a local restaurant near the volcano, do souvenir shopping and take a private bus to head to the beautiful Manuel Antonio town on the Pacific coast.
You’ll sleep in a hotel with students sharing a room, separated by gender. Private bathrooms with hot water.
Welcome to the Pacific Coast! We’ll take a catamaran tour to enjoy the stunning sea, do some snorkeling, and enjoy a beautiful Pacific sunset!
At the end of each program, students reflect on their experiences and the issues they engaged with, and talk about how to apply this new understanding to their own worlds. During or after their closing discussion, groups participate in Rustic Ties, a unique and powerful activity that allows students to capture the memories and learning moments of their program to process and share with their communities back home.
After packing to leave the hotel, spend the morning at the beach, walk around Manuel Antonio town, visit the souvenirs and local markets. Reminisce about the camp you’ve just completed, and spend time enjoying the company of your team before heading back to San Jose for the night.
Spend your final night in a hotel with shared rooms with private bathrooms.
Your Program Leaders will take you to the airport for your flight home or to your next Rustic program as you say goodbyes and reflect on your adventure.
If you’re staying in Costa Rica, your Program Leaders will take you to your next accommodation to meet your new group. If you’re continuing on to another Rustic Pathways destination, you’ll board a connecting flight to that country.
Packing the right gear (and the right amounts) is the first step to an incredible travel experience. Follow these tips to pack like a pro:
Travel light. Pack only the essentials. You’ll need less than you think! Bring the right clothes. Pack clothes that are culturally appropriate for your destination and acceptable for service projects. This means bringing long shorts (think Bermuda and basketball shorts), t-shirts with sleeves to cover shoulders, and appropriate footwear. Leave your valuables behind. While traveling, it’s easier for things to get lost, stolen, or damaged. Keep any prized possessions safe at home. Check with TSA. Make sure your luggage complies with TSA regulations, especially your carry-on. Useful tip: Pack an empty water bottle and fill it up after security. Extra paperwork? If you need additional forms filled out to get credit for your service hours, no problem! Bring these forms with you so they can be completed in-country.
A school backpack or similar sized bag is ideal.
A 50-70 Liter duffel bag or backpack is ideal.
Clothes
Toiletries
(Travel size bottles in Ziploc bags)
Optional
Hotels Students will stay at various types of locations including a jungle lodge, a ranching hacienda turned into a hotel, and a beach hotel. The jungle lodge is a fairly rustic location, while the hotels have more modern features. All toilets are western style.
Basehouse Students have beds in shared rooms, separated by gender. Shared bathrooms with flushing toilets (but hot water is not always available).
The service project is creating and running a summer day camp for rural Costa Rican children. The first part of the trip will focus on the actual set up of the camp, planning the logistics and details of the day to day schedule. Then students will run the camp for 6 days, about 6 hours every day with time to reflect, improve and plan for the following day.
This program requires students to work well and work hard together as running a summer camp is no small feat. Students spend a lot of time reflecting on the experience and discuss the impact they are having both on their lives and the local community. However, because of this hard work and the amazing interaction they have with the local students, it is one of the most rewarding experiences they can have! On this program, students will be able to practice their Spanish while interacting with the local kids and our staff, but will have no formal instruction.
This program involves adventure and service activities that require students to be physically active
For most of the program, students will be eating traditional Costa Rican such as rice & beans, salad, beef, fish, chicken, pork or veggies and other local specialties. At the base house, we will have our own in-house chef who will prepare all our meals. When away from the base, they will be eating at local restaurants and will have a variety of meals to choose from.
Dietary Requirements/Food Allergies – We can easily accommodate vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free and other common dietary requirements on this program. Please make sure to include this in your medical form so that our staff can prepare and we recommend bringing along some of your own favorite snacks!
Through the vast majority of the country, water is safe to drink from the tap and has the same standards of purification as in the US. For this reason, we ask students to bring reusable water bottles in order to reduce plastic usage. For the hotel we stay in on the coast, tap water is not recommended to drink but Rustic Pathways and the hotel will provide potable water at all times.
The Summer Camp Leadership program takes place in a rainforest region, a very green, humid, and “wet” area of the country. Students should be prepared for hot, humid weather, 80-90 degrees Fahrenheit during the day, and daily rain showers. However as you will find, a little downpour doesn’t stop anything in a country used to rain. In the evenings, the temperature can cool down to 60-70 degrees Fahrenheit.
Flights – Direct flight from Los Angeles (LAX) or New York (JFK) or Newark (EWR) to San Jose (SJO) (East Coast hub depends on dates. 6/13/23 starting programs use EWR, all other program dates use JFK). This program does not have any internal flights. The advertised dates for this program include travel time from the USA. Students from the USA will depart on a Tuesday afternoon and return on a Wednesday afternoon. The program within Costa Rica runs from Tuesday to Wednesday. Please refer to the itinerary for further details.
Visa –There are no visa requirements in Costa Rica for students traveling on United States passports. Students traveling with Rustic Pathways on passports not issued by the United States are responsible for determining their own visa requirements. Please check with the appropriate consulate or embassy.
Internal Travel – You’ll travel to a few core places while traveling every 3-4 days. This will offer a chance to know a few places well. Traveling to your destination internally can require several hours on a bus ride with the group.
Students are allowed to bring phones on their Rustic Pathways program, but must abide by our cell phone policy. Students will not be allowed to use their phones during community service other than taking some photos, nor at any other time where it is disruptive to the group dynamic. Students will have access to wifi for three days while planning camp, a couple of evenings while running camp, at the last two hotels we stay in. We understand many students come with international cell phone plans, and we ask that parents discuss responsible cell phone use before the trip and direct any major communication through Rustic Pathways so students can immerse themselves in the “Rustic” experience.
All activities in this itinerary are included. Checked luggage fees, personal gifts, laundry and snacks are not.
Students will have the chance to visit a couple of gift shops, grocery stores and free time in La Fortuna town center. We recommend $150 per week to cover souvenirs and incidentals.
Laundry is available once during camp and the cost is $10-$20 depending on the amount of clothes. Those that will be connecting to another program may have access to another laundry service in San Jose at the end of their program for a cost of approximately $10-$20.
Students will be very active throughout this program, so we recommend bringing lots of comfortable athletic wear, preferably that can dry quickly. Please note that we will be working with young Costa Rican students ages 6-12 so students should set a good example with the types of clothing they wear; reasonable length shorts, no spaghetti strap, low cut tank tops or “muscle” tanks, appropriate logos/no foul language or depictions. Additionally, we will spend a lot of time in the sun so clothes that sufficiently protect students from the stronger UV rays of Central America are recommended.
Ensuring the safety of your teen as they travel with Rustic Pathways is a top priority. Please review our Health and Safety measures.
Our Travel Protection Plan helps protect our participants, their belongings, and their travel investment in those unforeseen circumstances that may arise during travel. Learn more about the plan offered through our partner.
Please know that your service contribution is an essential part of achieving the development goals we have established in collaboration with our partners and no donations are required.
If you do wish to bring donations, we are collecting donations of basic school supplies that will be distributed through a local organization to Costa Rican students with limited resources. In order to ensure what is brought is most useful and easily able to be distributed, we ask that you only bring a “school supply pack” as listed below. There are two types of packs needed, please select one and bring all the items on that list bundled together in a simple grocery bag or similar.
School Supply Pack Type 1
School Supply Pack Type 2
2-3 notebooks
1-2 packs of construction paper
1 geometry set
Scissors
Box of pencils
Set of pens
Glue
Set of color markers
1-2 packs 3-hole-punched lined paper
Box of coloring pencils
Pack of erasers
Pack of pencil sharpeners
Set of whiteboard markers
Box of crayons
Didactic learning games for kids
Please be aware that we are unable to accept donations sent by mail after your program ends. If you are interested, please bring them along with you on your program (and be mindful of baggage allowances).
Our Costa Rican staff will collect any donations from you on your arrival day. Thank you for your contribution!