I’m Vi and I spent 2 weeks in Costa Rica with the 2025 region international conservation trip. We started the trip with an overnight coach to London Heathrow and boarded our 7 hour flight to New York. Whilst boarding I got invited into the flight deck for a photo!!!
Finally we arrived in San Jose and spent our first night there. In the morning we had breakfast sandwiches before getting on a bus to the rainforest. On the way we stopped at a fruit stall and a bridge above crocodile infested water, with some iguanas and other reptiles. Once we arrived at Kids Saving The Rainforest (KSTR), the animal sanctuary we would be volunteering in for the next few days, we explored the area and had our first taste of Costa Rican food – Rice and Beans. The first day at KSTR we had a tour to get to know the animals and find out what we would be doing for the rest of the week.
KSTR has lots of animals – sloths, spider monkeys, squirrel monkeys, kinkajous, capachins, parakeets, scarlet macaws and a racoon. That evening we all decorated journals and did an evening activity/game as well as trash and treasure, something we did every night for the rest of the trip. The next 4 days followed the same routine. We woke up and got ready, most likely with no water, then went to the enclosures to either prepare the animals food and deliver it to them or clean out the enclosures before their breakfast. Then it would be time for our breakfast of rice and beans with a side of fried banana. After breakfast we would sweep the paths and stairs around the sanctuary. It would then be time for a lunch of rice and beans with a side of salad. After lunch we would either be preparing lunch for the animals and give it to them or we would be making enrichment for them. Enrichment included putting nuts in tied up ropes, hiding fruit in dog foraging toys and my favourite, worm enrichment. We would dig for worms before putting them on jar lids and in pipes with holes drilled in them. All the enrichment is then hung in the enclosures for the animals to play with and forage. After this we would usually chill in our room, do hair braiding trains, swim in the pool and play volleyball and water polo. It would then be time for more rice and beans for tea. After tea we did trash and treasure as well as a couple people would run an activity for the group, we did stuff like card games, splat, mafia, yoga and karaoke/dancing. We would then hang out in our room before going to bed.
As well as KSTR we also did some other activities. We spent a day at Manuel Antonio National Park. We saw lots of wild animals such as sloths, crabs, monkeys, snakes, lizards and parrots. We swam on a really pretty beach before going around the town. The second week we went white water rafting, ziplining, we went up a volcano, on hanging bridges, we had a cooking lesson, we went to the hot springs and had a night tour in the rainforest and saw lots of animals, including frogs, snakes and fireflies. On one of the evenings we met up with a Costa Rican girl and boy scouts group, we taught them some games and songs as well as learning some of their favourites. It was amazing meeting them and getting to know how they do things in Costa Rica. They very kindly gave us their necker and a promise badge.
I had an amazing time in Costa Rica, I made life long friendships and memories! From wrestling with mosquito nets, to cleaning enclosures, to digging for worms, to relaxing in the hot springs I have loved every second of the trip, I would do anything to be back in the rainforest with all the amazing animal sounds every night.
