For any further information, you can send an email
to
education.department@ef.com. This is the
department
that is specifically dedicated to students who wish
to earn credit.
Sign up today with your friends for a trip you will never forget.
Nine days in the beautiful tropics at a price you can't beat.
Plus, what biology or Spanish classroom can compare to this
educational experience?!
(Who's interested in going?
See below...)
This is a 9
day trip.
Our spring break is
April 2-6. We may have to leave as early as Thursday, March
29, OR come back as late as Tuesday, April 10. You may miss 0,
1, or 2 days of school. Adult pricing also available.
Mr. Blankenship (biology) will be accompanying other adults as the group grows.
EF
Education Toursis a
company that offers well-planned tours at reasonable prices.
The meals, attractions, transportation, and accommodations are good
values for the money. Adults stay 2 per room. Tours usually involve
at least 2-3 miles of walking each day, not necessarily all
at one time. A tour director, who handles all arrangements and who
provides interesting information while we are traveling, is always
with us.
All
travelers need a valid
passport.
Passports can be obtained at County Court Clerk Rock Hill SC
1070 Heckle Blvd Bldg 2 Suite 205
No other place on earth
combines adventure, ecology and tranquility
quite like Costa Rica. Experience the thrill
of a zip line canopy tour high above lush
rainforests in the Arenal region. Contribute
to the country’s rich biodiversity by
planting a tree in Monteverde. Watch the sun
set over the Pacific as you unwind on a
beach in Guanacaste and reflect on Costa
Rica’s warm culture.
Have your $95 enrollment fee submitted
now.
(The earlier you sign up, the lower the monthly payments will be for
you!)
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To enroll, you may click on the link above.
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You may also enroll by phone.
Call the customer
service department
at 1-800-665-5364.
Have your
TOUR NUMBER available. 106636 (Blankenship)
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You may obtain an enrollment form (page
16)
and mail it to:
EF Educational Tours
One Education Street
Cambridge, MA 02141
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AUTOPAY
EF's free monthly payment plan automatically
deducts small
manageable payments from your
bank account or credit or
debit card.
For more information, please visit
www.eftours.com/autopay
Day 1:
Fly to Costa Rica!
We’ll
fly to San José, the country’s bustling capital, where our bilingual
Tour Director greets us.
A private motor coach takes us to our
hotel.
Day
2:
Poas
Volcano, Arenal Volcano, Arenal Lake, Arenal Valley
This
morning, we’ll travel along a scenic 22 mile drive overlooking the
Central Valley as we make our way to the Poás Volcano. This
still active volcano is part of Costa Rica’s most developed national
park. Sulfurously glowing, the Poás Volcano has been gurgling and
burbling since its last major eruption in the 1950s. From the
viewing terrace, visitors can look down over 1,000 feet into the
world's largest active crater. Next, we’ll glide along the still
waters reflecting the perfect cone of Arenal Volcano and the
surrounding rolling hills. Lake Arenal, the country's
largest, is also among its most scenic, and the area has become
popular area to kayak, windsurf, sail, fish, and hike.
We’ll
journey west across the Central Valley to Arenal. This area
is one of the world’s major coffee producers.
Day 3:
Today
we’ll go kayaking along Lake Arenal.
Picture-perfect scenery surrounds us, including
mountains, windmills, and the Arenal Volcano as we navigate the
lake.
At
Arenal’s hot springs, bubbling lava fields heat the waters to make
nature’s own jacuzzi. Take the chance to rest in the steamy water,
or get more adventurous on waterslides, under waterfalls, or in the
natural saunas.
Days 4 and 5:
Our day
begins with a transfer to Monteverde (Green Mountain)
Reserve.
Because of its humidity and latitude, the entire city of Monteverde
can disappear in a second under a massive cloud cover. Founded by
Quakers in 1951, the city boasts the best in Costa Rican creatures.
Observe a proud display of howler monkeys, revered quetzals
and native frogs in the dense cover of the cloud forest.
This
area has six distinct ecological zones containing a wide range of
spectacular flora and fauna.
Take
the opportunity to enrich a Costa Rican school with gifts of
notebooks, pens, erasers -- all basic supplies that few students
here can afford. Learn how rural communities are working to give
their children educational opportunities in extremely difficult
conditions, often with dozens of students in all different
grades taught in a single classroom. We will stop to pick up
supplies before visiting, but feel free to bring donations of school
supplies like chalk or paper from home, too. (If schools are not in
session, you'll be able to give gifts of t-shirts, socks, and other
clothing to local children.)
Soar
through the treetops for the unmatched close-up of the New World’s
best wildlife refuge. Harness yourself to cables
that run between
platforms high in the trees, then step into thin air and zip
from tree to tree.
Experience a true bird-eye view from your new
aerial perspective.
On
Day 5, Get your spider monkey fix as you climb into the clouds.
The Santa
Elena Reserve reaches high into the atmosphere, bringing the cloudy
mists into its lush forests and letting you see all the way to the
Arenal Volcano.
In 1987,
a nine-year-old Swedish student asked what he could do to save the
rainforests, and Children’s Eternal Cloud Forest was born. The
Monteverde Conservation League oversees the planting of
deforested land and virgin rainforest in the Children’s Forest and
throughout the area, and now owns more than 22,000 hectares.
Contribute your green thumb efforts to their conservation work.
Step
back in time as you explore Monteverde on horseback,
following time-worn trails through the mountains as you breathe in
the mists of the rainforest.
Rrribbit.
Venture to a frog sanctuary at night for an amphibious symphony.
Most of Costa Rica’s famous frogs are nocturnal, making this evening
activity a great opportunity to both hear and see the
colorful creatures. The tiny Tink Frog, often no more than an
inch long, is making the metallic clanging noise you hear (hence its
name), while the flashes of red you see might be the Red-Eyed Tree
Frog hopping from leaf to leaf. Get up close and personal with 25
other species at this frog museum, where crayola-perfect reds,
greens, yellows, and blues mark the inhabitants. Just watch which
plants you stand under -- mistletoe is also native to Costa Rica,
and not every frog will turn into a prince!
Day 6:
Monteverde and Central Pacific Coast
This
morning we follow the coastline south to the Carara Reserve,
a national park that boasts a dazzling population of rare wildlife.
We’ll transfer by bus to Central Pacific coast where sandy beaches,
a rocky coastline and lush rainforests act as a magnet for
travelers.
Day 7:
Central Pacific Coast: Manuel
Antonio National Park guided visit.
Take
a tour of this national park from a professional, local guide.
Manuel Antonio includes 12 islands and is known for its white sands
and array of wild life. You
will share the park and its four beaches with sea turtles, parrots,
three-toed sloths, tapirs, howler monkeys and iguanas. A word
to the wise—be careful of the sneaky white face monkeys. They
know how to unzip backpacks. The park boasts an estuary, mangroves,
a lagoon and paths, one which leads to an observation tower for a
360° view.
Day 8:
Puntarenas Region & San José
Today we’ll
travel back to San José via the Puntarenas region. We’ll travel
through picturesque Sarchi,
a town known for the brightly painted designs and colorful wheels
that adorn local oxcarts.
Day 9:
Return home.
Our tour director assists with the transfer to the airport where
we’ll check in for our flight home.