Calling home from Costa Rica

Good Article from Frommers

Calling the US From Costa Rica

Check out the EF Site!

Our final itinerary complete with flight and hotel information is available!
It looks like every hotel except for the one in Santa Elena has a pool.

Santa Elena is in Monteverde which if you flip those words around Verde Mont = Vermont - that gives you a good idea of what it looks like there.  Definitely "Green Mountains".

I hope everyone is getting excited for the trip!

Shutterfly Blog Site

Along with this site, I will be keeping a photo blog on Shutterfly to make viewing the pictures easier.  The link is in the upper right corner and here as well

Viking in Costa Rica 2014

Thoughts on Packing

If you don’t absolutely need it with you, don’t bring it.  We will be changing hotels every 2 days, you need to be able to carry your own bags and be responsible for all of your own belongings while we are gone.  

Do not bring expensive jewelry or watches.  There may not be anywhere to lock up your valuables while we are away and Mr.Silva and the chaperons are already responsible for 16 very valuable items (all of you).

Do not bring your absolute favorite hat/shirt/necklace that you will be devastated if you lose/forget it.  

We will be getting wet and/or dirty just about every day.  If you do wear a watch be sure it can handle water.  If you plan on bringing a camera or small electronics it is not a bad idea to invest in a wetbag.  You should plan on bringing your own towel for use at the waterfall and at the beach.  The hotels will not provide them.  

Sunblock is a must!  We will be very close to the equator and the sun is very strong.  This will be required for the kayaking excursion.  

In contrast to my first statement, if you think you will need certain toiletries, be sure to bring them with you.  The local equivalent of CVS may not have exactly what you are looking for.  Better to have something and not need it than not be able to find something specific that you need.  

On the last trip we were able to find Wi-Fi at all of our hotels.  This may or may not be the case.  If you plan to bring a phone with you, remember to turn off the roaming so you are not hit with a rather large international bill.  

We will have a rather lengthy layover on the way to Costa Rica.  Please bring money and plan on eating at the airport.  Remember, even if there is a McDonalds there, there will be no Dollar Menu, more like the $5 Menu.  Bring something to keep yourself entertained as we will not be leaving the airport.  

http://www.panynj.gov/airports/ewr-airport-guide.html

Packing Ideas

Shoes amphibian hikers or river/reef sandals hiking walking shoes beach sandals/flip-flops Clothes tshirts shorts tank tops long sleeve shirt sweatshirt (it can get cold in the mountains in Monte Verde) long pants - convertible pants underwear socks light, packable rain jacket or packable waterproof poncho sleep clothes bandana hat

http://costa-rica-guide.com/travel/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=277&Itemid=483

64 Days Until Takeoff

It was great to meet the students and their parents last night at Mr.Silva's meeting to go over the detail of the trip.  I can't believe that we're down to 64 days until we leave.

I've been looking through some of the posts from our 2010 trip and remembering so much about it.  I'm sure that we will have another fabulous trip to Costa Rica.

Pictures from that trip can be seen here on my Shutterfly Website

We will definitely be uploading pictures again during this next trip so that you can see your kids and what they're up to.

One of the links to the right is to a Packing List.  We will be creating our own list which we will send out that will be more geared to our group and our trip.  I will post it here as well when it's available.

Hope everyone is enjoying the snow today!