Costa Rica
Ecological Awareness and Sustainable Agriculture
Typical Program Through our local food forest partners, Via offers groups a unique glimpse of some solutions for the issues of climate change, food insecurity and poverty. Groups will follow a path to various local farms, learning particularly about how breadfruit can be a solution to food insecurity in many regions of the globe. The group will visit various farms and learn about renewable energy, food forest production, and approaches to resolving global issues. All along the way we will taste the famous products of Costa Rica including coffee and chocolate. Participants will engage with environmental programs including turtle rescue and will visit the wonders of the cloud forests usually seeing many endangered animals and birds. The itinerary includes some beach fun and river rafting! Duration and Directions Groups will arrive and be greeted at the Juan Santamaria International Airport in San Jose and ground transportation will be provided for the duration of your stay and is included in the fees. This includes transfer to the airport in San Jose upon departure. Orientation Via International is also prepared to offer a curriculum in support of this journey. This includes reading lists, pre trip seminars and post trip reflection modules.
Via International is also prepared to offer a curriculum in support of this journey. This includes reading lists, pre trip seminars and post trip reflection modules. Volunteer Requirements
Click here to view the packing checklist. | Food and Accommodations
Accommodations will vary from place to place along the journey and will be a mix of small locally run hotels, dorm-style farm housing and family stays if your group chooses this option. If staying with a family, students will be housed in pairs. All accommodations will be a minimum of double occupancy. Community and Region Costa Rica’s first inhabitants were indigenous tribes who were largely absorbed into the Spanish colonial society in the 1500s. While some indigenous peoples still retain their culture, language and traditions today, the number is relatively small and they continue to fight to retain and regain their rights. Due to a lack of exploitable mineral or indigenous human resources, and its many mountainous, hard to reach areas, Costa Rica remained one of the poorer, more isolated, and under-populated regions of the Spanish Empire, where settlers had to work their own land. As a result, Costa Rica was largely ignored by the Spanish and left to develop their own rural democracy and was less impacted by the various wars in the region as power shifted throughout the colonial period. Costa Rica formally declared its independence in 1838. Coffee plantations were established in the early 19th century, and quickly became the first major export industry. Coffee remained the number one source of income for the next century, prompting the development of transportation infrastructure. Immigrants who worked on the railway, completed in 1890, settled in Costa Rica, some with land grants which were used to produce bananas in quantities to rival coffee as the main export. This allowed foreign fruit companies to gain a large role in the nation’s economy. To this day, large scale banana plantations are a main economic driver for Costa Rica, however, with the emergent environmental movement in the country, there have been many efforts toward more ecologically friendly and sustainable farming practices. This goes hand in hand with Costa Rica’s emerging reputation as an eco-tourism destination. We will meet Costa Ricans working at the forefront of this movement to encourage small scale farming and agro-forestry initiatives that support the environment, people and economy of the region. |
