Newtown Spanish Adventure Costa Rica

Day 1 -- Arrive and Drive to Rural Mountains Turrialba (Sitio de Mata or Turrialtico Lodge)

Today your private guide and driver will meet you outside the San Jose Airport. If you can arrive on a mid-afternoon or earlier flight, we will make the drive to the beautiful area of Turrialba. Our final destination will be the rural village of Sitio de Mata which is one of the most scenic areas in Costa Rica surrounded by mountains and breath-taking views of the smoking Turrialba Volcano. Here is where we have our homestay Project called "Proyecto Sitio de Mata" benefiting the community and visiting Newtown High School students. The best part about Sitio de Mata is not the smoking volcano or the scenery but the people that will be welcoming you into their homes (NOTE: If you decide not to do a homestay you have the option of visiting the village but staying in a nearby lodge with views of the volcano). When we arrive you will be welcomed as family and introduced to your homestay family. All houses are very close to each other. One house might be 20 ft from the next and walking to any of the homes is very easy and accesible. (Meals:  Dinner)

Day 2 -- Culture Activities (Sitio de Mata or Turrialtico Lodge)

Today is a full day of fun, culture, and practicing Spanish. This is a day that your Spanish will be put to the test. We do many different activities from cooking classes with the locals, playing games with the kids, visiting the village school, and playing an afternoon soccer game.

In the evening is when the real fun starts with entertainment by our Sitio families. We'll meet in the community ranchito and enjoy local dance, food, and different skits performed by the community folks. This is a full evening of fun and unforgettable moments spent with your new friends from the Sitio de Mata community. (Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, & Dinner)

Day 3 -- Raft Pacuare River & Drive to Arenal Volcano (Manoa Hotel)

We will get an early start today leaving our homes around 7:30am. This is full day of rafting and and then driving to the Arenal Volcano. The best part of this day is the river we will be rafting. The Pacuare River is listed by National Geographic as one of the top five scenic rivers on the planet. It is filled with fabulous scenery from start to finish with canyon walls hundreds of feet high, waterfalls cascading right into the river, virgin tropical rainforest from start to finish and of course some thrilling rapids. Your CRR river guides will prepare your lunch that you will consider one of the best meals of the trip.

Overnight Option at Pacuare Camp Lodge

After we get out of the river we will head to the Arenal Volcano. This drive that will take us through the northern plains and we will make some interesting stops along the way. One stop for sure will be to try the best ice-cream sandwiches on the planet according to some. The kids will love it and your CRR guide will treat you to this. We also do a scavenger hunt with our Spanish student groups at different local stores. This allows them to interact more, use their Spanish, and makes for a fun competition that keeps everyone engaged. 

In Arenal you will be staying at the beautiful Manoa Hotel. This is a place with absolutely astonishing views of the volcano. The Arenal Volcano is not erupting these days but it's well worth the visit to see the perfect structure. Dinner will be waiting for us when we arrive at Manoa. (Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, & Dinner)

Day 4 -- Don Juan Farm & Danaus Reserve (Manoa Hotel)

Manoa Hotel

Today you'll experience some of the best of Costa Rica. We will be at the base of the volcano for the entire day (you get the feeling it's following you), visiting some different fun educational sites. The first in the morning will be a small reserve where students can see, smell and touch some of the many flor and fauna of Costa Rica. The Danaus Reserve is filled with everything from poisonous dart frogs, butterflies, sloths, and hundreds of species of birds. It is a small reserve with easy walking and our naturalist guides make it a very interesting and interactive hike.

See you soon Newtown students!

In the afternoon we will make our way to an organic farm where you will meet one of Costa Rica's most seasoned educators. With years of teaching experience in Costa Rican schools, Don Juan decided he was going to focus on making his farm educational. Here we will hang out with Don Juan as he shows us the benefits of farming organically and some of the fun rural activities of Costa Rica like making your own sugar-cane juice and the best part of all--eating a meal that was produced with foods from his small two acre farm. In the afternoon we can make a visit to the La Fortuna Waterfall or head back to Manoa and enjoy some time in the pool and hotsprings that the hotel has on its property. (Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, & Dinner)

Day 5 -- Zipline & Visit School (Manoa Hotel)

One of the most exciting adventures in Costa Rica is the ziplining. There are now over 70 different zipline companies in Costa Rica and Skytrek is one of, if not, the best in the entire country. This is a fabulous ride zipping across the primary rainforest with views of the Arenal lake and volcano. The cables are strung almost 1 km long and will have you hanging 700ft above the forest floor.

In the afternoon we will get some lunch and then visit another school. What we like to do is have ten questions that your kids ask the local kids in Spanish. The local kids will respond with 10 questions they have prepared in English. We divide the kids into small groups for this activity to have better interaction. In the evening we can enjoy an evening at the hotsprings at Manoa. (Meals: Breakast, Lunch, & Dinner)

You never know what you might find at the beach.

Day 6 -- Travel to Manuel Antonio (Espadilla Hotel)

Today we will make a drive to the Manuel Antonio area. We will get an early start and arrive to the Pacific coast around lunch time. This is one of the more popular beaches in Costa Rica due to the beauty of the National Park of Manuel Antonio. We will be staying at the Espadilla Hotel. It's a great hotel with a prime location just steps from the entrance to the national park and the public beaches in the area. In the evening we'll watch the sunset on the Pacific. (Meals: Breakfast)

Day 7 -- Visit National Park Manuel Antonio (Espadilla Hotel)

National Park Manuel Antonio

Today we will be visiting the National Park of Manuel Antonio. They say there are still more monkeys than people in Manuel Antonio. This is an unforgettable walk that you will have the chance to see some of the most beautiful beaches on the planet and also the opportunity to make some primate friends. 

This will be a full day of fun in the ocean! Don't forget your sunblock! (Meals: Breakfast)

Day 8 -- Travel to San Jose Airport & Fly Home!

We will make the 2.5 hour drive back to the San Jose (SJO) Airport. We like to dropp you off two hours before your flight's departure.  (Meals: Breakfast)