After your first night and introductory meeting in San José you will visit the crater of the impressive (and active!) Poas Volacano and then visit don Gerardo’s workshop to learn about how Costa Rica’s giant masks are made.

You travel to the tiny community of La Flor across the Orosi Valley from the Tapantí National Park.  You will work side by side with local farmers and truly “learn by doing” sustainable agriculture. You can work tending medicinal plants, milking the cows or goats, make cheese, create methane gas from animal waste, and create rich soil by combining organic waste and worms! Learn the salsa, cumbia, and merengue dances by night and by day serve the beautiful community of La Flor.

You journey from La Flor through Cartago, the old colonial capital of Costa Rica. From there you will rise into the mountains of Cerro de la Muerte (Mountains of Death) to almost 9,000 feet! Don’t let the name fool you, as it is beautiful up here. You stay at the family run Quetzal Lodge. Here with the Serrano family you trek into the cloud forest to observe the elusive Resplendent Quetzal and work on maintaining the reserve’s trails.

After a refreshing night’s sleep and a final meeting to share everyone’s experiences it’s time to go back home.