Blogs from Cartago, Cartago, Costa Rica, Central America Caribbean

Now that December is here, the season for holiday foods has truly arrived. From lollipops to latkes, every holiday and region has its own traditions. In many Latin American countries, tamales are the stars of the show. These delicious creations are made from masa – a traditional corn dough – and some sort of filling. Popular choices are chicken, chilies, and pork. Many are familiar with the traditional Mexican tamal, which is wrapped in cornhusks and then steamed. In Costa Rica, however, the masa is wrapped in banana or plantain leaves. And the variations don’t stop there. Tamales, which are thought to have originated with the Ancient Mayans in Mesoamerica as far back as 8000 BCE, have an amazingly long and diverse history. For instance, they were originally designed as portable... read more

Tropical Adventures works hard to keep its costs and fees as low as possible. Still, for several people it can be unclear why they have to pay for volunteer programs. I´ve heard several opinions that it is unethical and so on, therefore I consider as a must to provide a proper explanation on how it actually works. I cannot speak for other organizations, but I can give you a perspective from our sight. We have made several analyzes of certain impoverished areas of the country. This comprises difficult travel and meeting with untold numbers of communities and individuals. We want to know what real needs are present and how we can be of assistance. The truth is, not all communities are even ready to accept volunteer help. It was a tough job narrowing down to just ... read more

When you are a young European, about to leave your country to spend a couple of months in Central America, you feel anxious, overwhelmed and uncomfortable. After spending 3 months here, the feeling which predominates is sadness. Indeed, Costa Rica is a pleasant country where you can easily think about not going back home! There are too many attractive aspects to Costa Rican lifestyle to ignore them, even if you are deeply attached to your native country. To take the bus from a point A to a point B is just like sightseeing. Every landscape you see is just amazing. Every person you meet is a new testimonial of happiness. During my time here, I had the chance to travel around Costa Rica thanks to Tropical Adventures and because of a craving in discovering a new ... read more

Hello everyone, this blog will be dedicated to our past volunteers, who we have a great news for! Indeed, Tropical Adventures has decided to offer a special discounts for all of you who came to visit us, at least once. Yes, we miss you so much that we want to see all you again at any price! Thus, we offer a 35% discount for all our regular one week projects, you should jump on it now! People concerned by this discount and interested in coming back just get in touch with our office at info@tropicaladventures.com. Hope to see you very soon! Tropical Adventures ... read more

Today, we all live in a world full of new technologies and everybody is fond of progress. All of us are looking forward to a brand new car that we can’t afford anyway, just to have it. We all think that you could not live without the Internet or even without a computer any more. All of us? Not exactly. If you are looking for a remote place, where 13 years old kids don’t have a cell phone and don’t even care about it, Bambu is the perfect place for you! In Bambu, the only worry will be about what game we can play, who is coming to visit us today or if you will catch a fish! Of course, the absence of these technologies mainly comes from their lack of money, but I can guarantee ... read more

Last December and January we had the honor to share with all the communities where we work throughout Costa Rica. In total 4 big Christmas Parties for all of our kids and for the Retirement Home in Bambu. We also hosted a huge Summer Camp for 100 kids in the Puerto Viejo Beach Area for 4 days. This is the best time to visit Costa Rica, not only because is summer time here in this part of the world, but also because these events are the most amazing experience you can ever participate in your life. Just think about it, you're in a beautiful country, Costa Rica, traveling around with our Staff and other volunteers, taking adventurous tours and your main job as a volunteer is simply to bring joy to all the children and people ... read more

When anyone goes on vacation and leaves for a special place, there are two goals. The first one is to enjoy time on holidays, get a tan and feel trouble-free during vacation. The second goal is to be able to tell about the amazing time and how beautiful the country was. We all do that. Only problem, all our friends will get bored easily because they have heard it all before. Beaches, palm-trees, waterfalls and sun. Pictures and memories are common and nothing special, unless you want a different holiday this time. That is what “voluntourism” is about. Holidays where you are going to learn much more about others and about yourself. Holidays where you are going to teach much more to others about people and about yourself. Voluntourism is a combination of being useful to ... read more

For almost five years now, Tropical Adventures has been providing help and support to all the communities with which the Foundation has been working. In this sense, we can consider our actions successful but, as you already know, we are too dependent on the context of external decisions (politics e.g.) to keep a budget steady. This is the drawback of being a non-profit, we can’t anticipate market fluctuations. Still, we keep thinking that our projects deserve to be and have a strong meaning. This sharing of knowledge and culture benefits you and us and that’s why we are asking you to help us out. This time of the year is very difficult, in the months coming, not many volunteers will travel to our projects so our income decreases. Nevertheless, people from the communities who are working ... read more

Nowadays, something is happening to the world. People start to worry about the place we live and feel more and more concerned about ecological issues. It is a good point, but we have to be careful about the way to do it, and be very vigilant about who to trust in. When you want to travel and to discover a new country, the safe reflex is to get informed about who you are going to travel with and especially if you have chosen to volunteer. Nevertheless, do not think that all ecotourism companies and organizations will provide you the same service quality, it is not true. Some of these are just using it as a business, won’t care about the kind of activities and you will be doing nothing really useful either for the community or ... read more

Living in Costa Rica these five years I have learned much about myself, other people and the similarities and differences in cultures. Recently there was a survey posted on CNN announcing Costa Rica as the happiest country in the world. This was based on general contentment, life expectancy and ecological footprint. While there are areas which could use improvement, I generally agree with this. In these years, I have seen people working hard at construction or standing on steep mountain sides picking coffee, all the while singing and sometimes in unison. I have attended a birthday party for a gentleman who is 101 years old and still going strong. People here are extremely polite and friendly. Where else does everyone who gets off the public bus, thank the driver as they descend the steps and the ... read more