education program
Our programs are flexible in structure and duration, but all include the three elements for our students of 1) learning, 2) experiential growth and 3) awakening of latent passions and interests.
In structure, Osa Aventura’s student programs fulfill these objectives through the following components listed on the below tabs:
- Academic Discovery
- Adventure Trips
- Recreation Activities
- Social Responsbility
- Class or Individual Projects
- Venues
Prior Reading : Before coming on your educational visit to the Osa Peninsula we recommend that the class does some background reading about tropical rainforests. Here is some recommend reading: “Tropical Nature: life and Death in the Rainforests of Central and South America” by Adrian Forsyth & Ken Miyata, is highly informative and relevant to our study area. “A Neotropical Companion: an Introduction to the Animals, Plants & Ecosystems of the New World Tropics” by John Kricher. “Jungles: A Journey through the Heart of the Rainforest” by Charlotte Uhlenbroek. Also recommended is some background research in the history and culture of Costa Rica.
Workbook: We provide a free workbook on the character and nature of tropical rainforests. The workbook provides a wealth of accessible information about the dynamics of tropical rainforests; questions to test the students understanding of what they are learning; species profiles, research that students must access from the literature we provide; journal space for students to pen their personal impressions of their experiences; and a checklist of animals they may encounter to can keep a record of what species they have seen.
Tutorials & Presentations:The educational theme runs through all of the recreational and adventure activities the students engage in. Tutorials are given both in the field and class room setting. Where possible we include presentations by resident scientists about their researches on the Osa.
Work Assignments; These are tailored to the wants of the accompanying teachers. Work assignments include either group or individual research projects in the field.
Hands-On: Our educational methods also include touch, taste, hear and smell, to intensify the students learning. Our experienced tutors will ensure none of the animals they touch or hold is in any way dangerous, and that none of the fruit and plants they taste and smell is in any way harmful. In our experience, though, this intimacy with nature has proven to be a very powerful way of exciting interest and passion in our students. It can dispel groundless fears and realize latent talents!
Participation in Research: For the first time this year our students can participate in a turtle conservation program being run by former gold miners turned to conservationists. It proved to be very edifying and exciting for our students. Our students assisted scientists at night to patrol an important turtles nesting beach, tag nesting turtles and collect their eggs for secure placement in hatcheries. Prior to this work the students were given a presentation on turtle biology, status and the methods used to conserve them.
Trekking: All itineraries of our student programs include at least one day-long trek or hike through the hills, lush rainforests and beaches of the Osa Peninsula. These treks are testing, designed that way to push these young people in ways most have not been pushed before. For some, it expands the realm of their perceived capabilities, for others it engenders in them a thirst for adventure exploration, which many will carry into their later lives. For all, these treks give a sense of fulfillment and achievement – despite their aches and pains, and wet and muddy boots!
Night Tours: Another adventure, and novel experience to most students, that Osa Aventura includes its programs is going out at night looking for nocturnal creatures. This activity never fails to excite the young, inquisitive minds of our students. When shown how to use their flashlights to find strange animals by eye-shine, a whole new world of wonders opens up to them!
Although there is a blurred distinction between recreation and adventure, the following activities are contracted out by Osa Aventura to specialist, licensed operators who comply with the strictest safety regulations. The following is a selection of the recreational activities that we can include in our itineraries:
Canopy Tour with a five – stage of zip-line through lush rainforest.
Boat Tour is a hay-day cruise of the Golfo Dulce. The itinerary includes whale and dolphin watching, snorkeling & swimming in the morning. Kayaking on the calm waters of Golfo Dulce mangrove in the afternoon.
Community work for students is an option Osa Aventura avails to high school students. This work includes painting and minor repairs to community schools, providing schools with educational materials, clearing trails and building tent platforms for community eco-tourism projects, erecting fences to protect live stock and building chicken coups – with the increase in wildlife on the Osa Peninsula, as a result of effective conservation measures, many of the community farmers are now suffering losses to their live stock and farm produce to jaguars, pumas, ocelots, peccaries and tapirs!
Osa Aventuras’ “Education Program for High School Students” suggests that school groups come armed with individual or class projects. But, keep these project simple, and as an aside to the core educational aspect of the program. While small projects do add another dimension of interest to the students’ visits to the Osa, they also illustrate the difficulty of asking questions of an environment unfamiliar to them. In our experience, many of these small projects fail to answer the question they ask (because of the mismatch between theory and practice), which in itself can be more instructive if the reason its failure is analyzed – especially useful to students who wish to pursue a career involving field work!
Depending on the duration of your visit, our “Education program for High School Students” will visit several venues. A list of activities will be customized for you based on the persons (for example scientists, artisans and native communities) and places (for example research centers and archeological sites), where you can learn local know-how.
Unleash your creativity and we will help you get there!
We will be happy to arrange tailor made programs to meet your requirements, be it adventurous and / or more academic in style, related to botany, herpethology, ornithology (for example, scarlet macaws), entomology, big / wild cats, bats, squirrel monkeys, etc.
Please note that our prices include all meals, transportation, park entry, accomodation and the services of a bilingual expert.
Open the below sections for package tour examples
Teen Program
Day 1
Arrive in Costa Rica.
Meet at the airport.
Bus transportation and overnight at Hacienda Baru.
Day 2
Explore the Private Reserve at Hacienda Baru in the morning.
Lunch
Bus transportation to La Tarde.
Night tour.
Overnight at La Tarde
Day 3
Explore the La Tarde area, swim in the natural pool.
Lunch.
Bat demonstration.
Overnight at La Tarde.
Day 4
Canopy tour.
Visit Finca Raices in Puerto Jimenez.
Lunch.
Sunset kayaking in the mangrove.
Overnight at Corcovado Beach Lodge.
Day 5
Boat tour of Golfo Dulce. Visit the Botanical Garden or Animal Sanctuary.
Lunch.
Swim in Golfo Dulce.
Afternoon visit do downtown Puerto Jimenez.
Overnight at Corcovado Beach Lodge.
Day 6
Taxi to Rio Nuevo for 15 km hike across the Peninsula to Agua Buena indigenous reserve.
Taxi to Carate for 1 km hike to La Leona Eco Lodge.
Overnight at La Leona Eco Lodge.
Day 7
Day hke into Corcovado National Park,
Afternoon relax by the beach.
Overnight at La Leona Eco Lodge.
Day 8
Bus and overnight at Quetzal Lodge.
Day 9
Transfer to airport. Depart.