Costa Rica course

Draft Itinerary -- subject to change based on local conditions

Day 1- Arrival

You arrive at the Juan Santamaría International Airport just outside the city of Alajuela. You will be picked up at the airport and after a 45-minute ride you arrive at your hotel in the center of San José. Welcome to Costa Rica! Get settled in and, depending on the time of arrival, we’ll have lunch and we may take a walk to explore the neighborhood. Tonight, we have our introductory meeting about Costa Rica and what to expect during your Service Expedition!

Lodging and Meals: Boutique Hotel Casa Las Orquideas

Day 2- Travel to Yorkín

We head out early today and travel east to the Caribbean coast. We will pass through the Braulio Carrillo National Park and the port town of Limón on our way to the Bribri Territories. The Bribri are Costa Rica’s largest group of Indigenous people and their territory lies primarily in the mountainous rainforests of southern Costa Rica After arriving in Bribri territory we will travel to the town of Bambú where we will take a dugout canoe up the Yorkín River to the community of the same name.

Once we arrive at Yorkín we’ll have an introductory meeting about the community and the STIBRAWPA eco-tourism project, and we’ll learn some Bribri vocabulary to speak during our stay! The small village is surrounded by one of the largest remaining areas of untouched rainforest in Costa Rica. During the next few days, we will learn first-hand about life in the Bribri territories of Costa Rica and their deep connection to the rainforest and its creatures.

Lodging and Meals: Stibrawpa Community Lodge

Day 3- Service Project in Yorkín, Medicinal Plants, and Bribri History

This morning, we begin our service project in the community of Yorkín. The goal of the project is to support the community in whatever way they need and to provide a platform of solidarity and cooperation from which we will experience a bit of what life is like in the Bribri Territories in the tropical rainforests of Central America. You are guaranteed to get dirty and sweaty today and we will wash it off in the river that runs near the lodge!

This afternoon our friends in Yorkín will lead us on a hike where we will learn about the medicinal values and properties of the plants in the forest. Afterwards, we will learn about how to make and prepare one of the most important and sacred of all of the plants:
cacao!

Tonight, we will gather together with leaders in the community to learn about the history of the Bribri people and their struggle to conserve their way of life after 500 years of colonization.

Lodging and Meals: Stibrawpa Community Lodge

Day 4- Service Project in Yorkín, Bow and Arrow Lessons, and Meeting With an Elder of the Community
Today we continue our service project in Yorkín and this afternoon we will be given a lesson on how to make and shoot the traditional Bribri hunting bow and arrow. Afterward, we gather in an Úsure (a traditional sacred building) to hear Kékepa Rigoberto share with us the Bribri beliefs about Sibö (God) and their sacred relationship with the Earth. Tonight, we gather to discuss among ourselves how we view our relationship with the Earth and some of the values we hold as important in our lives and culture and that we might share with the Bribri concept of the Sacred.

Lodging and Meals: Stibrawpa Community Lodge

Day 5- Last Day in Yorkín

Today is our last day with the Bribri people of Yorkín. This morning, we will finish our work on the service project in the community and plant the trees to offset the carbon of the trip. This afternoon we will relax in the river and play soccer with our new friends. After our last dinner in the village, we will join with our hosts to for a traditional celebration to celebrate a job well done and our commitment to return home and apply the new lessons learned from our friends in the ancestral lands of the rainforest of Costa Rica.

Lodging and Meals: Stibrawpa Community Lodge

Day 6- Rainforest Canopy Tour and Travel Back to San José

This morning, we say goodbye to our friends at Yorkín to travel back down the river to Bambú and then up the mountains to San José. On our way we will stop for a canopy tour in Sarapiquí! We will be sliding on zip lines through the rainforest canopy 60 feet off the ground get a bird’s eye view of the beautiful Sarapiquí River!

Lodging and Meals: Casa Las Orquideas

Day 7- Back Home!

We have an early breakfast and, depending on our flight time, we will have a chance to look at the handicrafts at the market in San Jose. We’ll have lunch and then it is off to the Juan Santamaría International Airport. Have a great trip home!

Questions about the course? Contact Dr. Cunningham: cunningham.h@chatham.edu

Questions about application or study abroad process? Contact the Chatham Office of Global Engagment: globalengagement@chatham.edu