We’re so proud of our participants this week for embracing the “Pura Vida” lifestyle. They’ve been fully immersed in the culture of Costa Rica and Panama, building relationships with locals, fellow coursemates, and instructors, and gaining lifelong skills. Check out each group’s latest adventures below!
Summer Courses 14-18
Caribbean Scuba & Service (Session #2)
Last Sunday morning, our CSS participants had an early wake up call to head to the Costa Rica–Panama border bright and early. After crossing into Panama, the group took a boat taxi to their picturesque island homestay in the archipelago of Bocas del Toro. They spent the week learning about dive techniques from Jim Rowe, OBCR’s founder and executive director, who serves as our lead scuba diving instructor. On Thursday, all of the students passed their scuba tests and are now NAUI open water certified! To celebrate, they experienced the magic of a bioluminescent night dive. Today, the group has begun their sea kayaking journey. They’ve learned the basics and have started venturing out to different islands in Bocas del Toro to volunteer on service projects.
Surf, Service & CPR (Session #2)
The SSCPR group packed up for the Pacific coast early last Sunday as well! After setting up camp on the beach, they wasted no time diving straight into an afternoon of learning the basics of surfboard selection, beach safety, paddling techniques, and standing up. This week the boys have been eating, sleeping, and breathing surf. They’re doing an amazing job getting out into the water and improving their skills. Speaking of skills, getting CPR certified is next up on the group’s agenda — they start their training this weekend!
Girl Scout Destinations
Catching Waves (Session #1)
The waves were a little rough at the beginning of this week, but our Catching Waves girls have been nothing but positive! They’ve hiked a waterfall at Playa Dominicalito, drank out of fresh coconuts retrieved by Jordy (a member of their host family), and shared their last sunset on the beach together. Yesterday they zipped through the Costa Rican canopy before visiting an artisan market in the capital city of San Jose. As we speak they’re rocking it on the Pejibaye River on a whitewater rafting adventure!
Scuba and Sea Turtle Adventure (Session #2)
Our SSTA group has been soaking it all up this week, from cultural experiences to thrilling adventures and everything in between! They’ve hit the streets of San Jose for a city tour and learned how to make “hojaldre,” a typical caribbean breakfast in Panamá, from their host family. They also donned their headlamps for a bat cave swim, ziplined through the rainforest, tried kneeboarding, danced with local girls, built sandcastles, studied scuba diving theory, and more! We greeted them back on base yesterday, and today they’re venturing into our rainforest nature reserve for hiking and a tree climb.
Service Challenge (Session #2)
On Wednesday, our Service Challenge students returned to base after making a difference in Alto Katsi and San San Pond Sak! They lent a helping hand by painting a school and participating in sea turtle conservation. On Thursday, the group visited Campamento Oikouemene and completed community service projects painting fences and feeding farm animals. They came back to base covered in paint and smiling from ear to ear.
Check out some precious photos of the participants holding baby sea turtles and goats on Facebook!
Today and tomorrow will be action-packed days full of whitewater rafting, ziplining, and shopping at an artisan market in San Jose. Then they’ll celebrate with a final dinner before saying ‘hasta luego’ to their new friends and heading to the airport.
Just in case you missed the previous groups...
It's not too late to join us on a Summer Course!
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