The students from Hurricane Island Outward Bound School just returned from their rafting phase on el Río Pacuare and have plenty of memories!

“Whitewater rafting and dealing with inflatable kayaks was the best part of the course, especially working on swift water rescue. Learning to read the river and being comfortable to work on the river in the end was a blast,” said Sam A. from Oberlin, Ohio.

“I really enjoyed guiding the raft and being more independent. We were taking ownership of what we were doing and relying on each other,” added Flora D. from Connecticut.

” We are just back from our rafting phase. It was really fun to commit to being a group and have some real team-building happening, ” said Ashley F. from Florida.

Besides rafting, they had the chance to stay in a homestay where they tasted fresh hot Costa Rican meal and harvest their own sugarcane using a traditional trapiche, a machine used to crush sugar cane in order to extract the juice

“The homestay was also great, “added Ashley F.

During their courses, the instructors have seen the group grow and evolve and are particularly proud of them all: “It is a real joy watching them learning while supporting each other. They are always sharing knowledge and accomplishing tasks as a group,” commented Kelly K. one of the instructor of the program.

In the next days, students will embark on a two-week sea kayaking expedition around the archipelago of Bocas del Toro in Panama to sea kayak and scuba dive around spectacular tropical coral reefs. During the course, they will be able to earn their scuba certification from NAUI Worldwide.

Discover how and why some of these students decided to join us by watching the video below!

Be sure to visit our blog for more student updates and go to our Facebook for more pictures of our students.