{"id":7799,"date":"2018-04-25T14:46:09","date_gmt":"2018-04-25T18:46:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/?p=7799"},"modified":"2018-04-25T15:51:32","modified_gmt":"2018-04-25T19:51:32","slug":"explorica-expeditions-costa-rica","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/explorica-expeditions-costa-rica","title":{"rendered":"Explorica Expeditions: Costa Rica"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Molly McGee is a marketing manager in Explorica\u2019s Boston headquarters. She attended a Program Leader Training trip in Costa Rica this past January.
\n<\/i><\/p>\n

Read her story:<\/i><\/p>\n

Like many Explorica staff, I have always considered myself well traveled. But, despite having a few international trips under my belt I had never traveled to Central America. So, when Explorica offered me the opportunity to accompany a group of new teachers to <\/span>Costa Rica<\/span><\/a>, I was thrilled.<\/span><\/p>\n

Explorica Program Leader Trainings<\/span><\/a> (PLTs) are a great opportunity for new teachers to get to know Explorica. These trips offer teachers the chance to meet Explorica staff face-to-face, experience a real tour, and interact with other first-time travelers to get all of their questions answered. They\u2019re also a great opportunity for staff to get to know our teachers and our programs a little better. We talked all about the <\/span>benefits of taking a training trip with Explorica <\/span><\/a>on our blog back in February \u2014 be sure to check that out, too!<\/span><\/p>\n

Before leaving for Costa Rica, I had quite a few questions on how to prepare for my trip. Should I exchange money before I leave? Will I need an adapter? What\u2019s the weather like in January? Luckily, we answered all these questions for you, so you can read about <\/span>how to prepare for your own trip to Costa Rica<\/span><\/a>.\"\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Once I had everything prepared, I was so excited to travel south. Not many things can make a New Englander more happy than 70 degrees in January. I met my two colleagues, Erika and Laura from the San Diego office, at our hotel one day prior to the teachers\u2019 arrival. <\/span><\/p>\n

The next day, we met our amazing Tour Director, Andrea. The four of us headed to the airport to meet and greet all of the teachers as they arrived. This was a really fun way for us to meet the teachers and welcome them to the <\/span>beautiful country of Costa Rica<\/span><\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>A great thing about PLTs is the mix between training, learning and fun activities. On the first full day of the tour, we gathered in our hotel for a training presentation b<\/span>y one of our senior program consultants, Erika. Erika gave a great presentation <\/span>about Explorica<\/span><\/a>. She covered everything from <\/span>the support Explorica provides<\/span><\/a> leading up to departure, to <\/span>what to expect on tour<\/span><\/a>. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

After Erika reviewed these benefits, our very popular Teacher-to-Teacher mentor<\/a> Michelle took the floor. Our Teacher-to-Teacher mentors are all amazing, but Michele really c<\/span>aptivated the room with all of her tips for the new program leaders. Michele has led trips with\u00a0<\/span>Explorica every year for the last several years. Like a lot of first time Explorica teachers, many of her students have never traveled outside the country before. Michelle has spent many hours preparing informational materials for the students and the parents. Our new program leaders absolutely loved it. We had a great Q&A session that left the teachers feeling confident and excited for their upcoming trips.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>After that, it was time for the real adventure to start! We boarded our private coach bus with o<\/span>ur friendly bus driver Ricardo and headed from San Jose to Jac\u00f3<\/strong>\u00a0on the Pacific side of the country. We heade<\/span>d straight to the <\/span>Super Costa R<\/strong><\/span><\/a>ica Surf Camp<\/strong><\/span><\/a> where we had the opportunity to surf with the friendliest staff. We absolutely LOVED it! We had a great mix of experience \u2014 some had never surfed before and some felt like old pros. Regardless of the experience level, the instructors were patient and helpful with each of us to make the most of our surf time. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

We stayed at our hotel in Jac\u00f3 for 2 nights. This hotel was right on the beach, which made for a beautiful setting for our PLT. When we returned to the hotel after our surfing expedition, we had some free time to explore, which was great because our hotel location was perfect. We had time to swim in the pool and walk on the beach before our happy hour. This second night we were able to spend some quality time together during our dinner and happy hour. We even heard some live Costa Rican music from a few other guests at the hotel. <\/span><\/p>\n

The next day we had an early start to get to <\/span>Manuel Antonio National Park<\/a><\/strong>. I was very excited for this excursion, because, like many people, I was really hopeful to see a sloth! <\/span>(I had read all about them before leaving, memorizing the <\/span><\/i>\u20185 things to know\u2019 before heading to Costa Rica<\/span><\/i><\/a> blog post!) <\/span><\/i>Tip<\/strong>: Before you trek into Manuel Antonio, make sure you\u2019ve packed enough sunscreen and bug spray for the hike through the jungle!<\/span><\/p>\n

\"costa<\/a><\/p>\n

Manuel Antonio is a beautiful national park that combines the beach and the jungle, so it\u2019s a great place to stop on a <\/span>Costa Rican adventure<\/span><\/a>. It didn\u2019t take long for us to spot our sloth! Very early on the path to the beach, our awesome tour guide Andrea pointed out a two-toed sloth high up in the tree.<\/span><\/p>\n

We made our way through the beautiful rainforest, with Andrea pointing out so many different species along the way. We saw monkeys, many crabs, birds, and of course, sloths! By the time we reached the beach, we were all so thankful for some R&R. But you have to be careful on this beach \u2014 the monkeys are prone to stealing lunches!<\/span><\/p>\n

The next day was set to be the highlight of the trip \u2014 ziplining<\/strong> day! For most of the group, this was the thing that they couldn\u2019t wait for. For me, it was something that I was terrified of doing, and felt anxious about the whole trip. When we arrived at <\/span>Rainforest Adventures<\/a><\/strong>, we were treated to a delicious lunch. We were surrounded by nature and we even got to see a toucan! <\/span><\/p>\n

After lunch we took a walk through a butterfly garden. This was such a fun experience for everyone, and it was a great way to calm our nerves before ziplining! <\/span><\/p>\n

When it was finally time to zip, I was feeling very anxious, but by this time (our third day together), all the teachers felt like old friends, and their kind words of encouragement made me feel a lot better! The friendly staff helped us get fit for harnesses and walked us through a safety demo, and it was finally time to board the canopy to the top of the mountain!<\/span><\/p>\n

This ride was so peaceful and beautiful. We climbed up the mountain, gliding over the rainforest below. Our guide pointed out different species of trees and identified birds and animals as we passed by. The ride was so gorgeous I forgot to be nervous, and by the time we arrived at the top, I was ready for adventure!\"\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Stepping off the first platform, I was nervous but excited. The views were absolutely breathtaking! The zipline course runs between two mountains, so you are zipping over the rainforest in the valley below. You can look out on the luscious green trees and even see the ocean in the distance.<\/span><\/p>\n

For many, this was the peak activity of the trip, and our schedule lined up perfectly to have it on the last full day of our experience. After our alpine adventure, we zipped back to San Jos\u00e9\u00a0<\/strong>for our final dinner together, at the amazing <\/span>Ram Luna<\/a><\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>The ride to the restaurant was an adventure in itself. Our expert bus driver navigated the narrow, windy, mountain roads all the way to the highest point in San Jos\u00e9. Despite the rain and clouds that moved in, we got a few brief glimpses of the best view in the city. We overlooked all of San Jos\u00e9 and could see it lit up at night \u2014 it was beautiful!<\/span><\/p>\n

This dinner was by far my favorite, and a favorite of everyone in the group. We had a beautiful buffet with classic Costa Rican food such as fried plantains, perfectly seasoned rice, empanadas, meats and more. The food wasn\u2019t the only star of the evening; we also had a beautiful show of Costa Rican folklore culture with a talented group of dancers. This group danced a variety of traditional dances, celebrating the African, Caribbean and Spanish roots of the country. They even invited a few members of our group to join them!<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Sadly, the next day it was time for us to say goodbye to each other and to beautiful Costa Rica. Our teachers all returned home feeling ready and prepared for their upcoming student tours, and I left with a newfound love of Central America, and a promise to myself to return very soon.<\/span><\/p>\n

Want to see more pictures? Check out our Instagram profile (@exploricatravel<\/a>) and watch the \u201cCosta Rica PLT\u201d story collection!<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Molly McGee is a marketing manager in Explorica\u2019s Boston headquarters. She attended a Program Leader Training trip in Costa Rica this past January. Read her story: Like many Explorica staff, I have always considered myself well traveled. But, despite having a few international trips under my belt I had never traveled to Central America. So, Read More …<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7800,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,63,172],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7799","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-explorica-news","category-students","category-teachers"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7799","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7799"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7799\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7820,"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7799\/revisions\/7820"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7800"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7799"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7799"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.explorica.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7799"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}