Vladimir pillaging our fat stack of Colones Flights booked, accommodations arranged, Dukoral ingested - it's finally happening! Our summer in the Yukon has been incredible, but we're ready to start our real adventure. We fly out of Whitehorse on Sunday morning and will arrive in San Jose, Costa Rica early on Monday. From there, we'll catch the bus for about 4 hours to the small town of Mastatal (see map below), where we've arranged our first couple stints of volunteering.
Our first week or so we'll spend at Villas Mastatal, a small family-run organic farm and eco-lodge. From there, we'll head over to Cabañas Siempre Verde, where we'll volunteer while taking part in their intensive Spanish language training. By staying as volunteers, we'll be expected to work about 4 or 5 hours a day, 5 days a week in exchange for accommodation and meals at a reduced rate ($10-15/day each). We're not exactly sure what we'll be asked to do as volunteers, but it could include random farming work (weeding gardens, harvesting crop, milking cows, etc.), construction projects (building maintenance or trail clearing), or helping out in the kitchen. Once the work is done, we'll have plenty of time to relax and explore our new surroundings, hike around the neighboring La Cangreja National Park, swim in waterfalls, swing through the trees with monkeys & bats, and have a generally awesome time.
Our first week or so we'll spend at Villas Mastatal, a small family-run organic farm and eco-lodge. From there, we'll head over to Cabañas Siempre Verde, where we'll volunteer while taking part in their intensive Spanish language training. By staying as volunteers, we'll be expected to work about 4 or 5 hours a day, 5 days a week in exchange for accommodation and meals at a reduced rate ($10-15/day each). We're not exactly sure what we'll be asked to do as volunteers, but it could include random farming work (weeding gardens, harvesting crop, milking cows, etc.), construction projects (building maintenance or trail clearing), or helping out in the kitchen. Once the work is done, we'll have plenty of time to relax and explore our new surroundings, hike around the neighboring La Cangreja National Park, swim in waterfalls, swing through the trees with monkeys & bats, and have a generally awesome time.
From what we've been told, Mastatal is a pretty small town with not much more than an internet cafe, bar, church, pay phone, convenience store and soccer field. Should be an interesting starting point for us! We've been told the locals are extremely friendly, and based on the jovial-looking folks on the colones (especially Señor Muttonchops, bottom left) I'd have to agree.
I'm not sure when we'll next be able to post an update, but in the very least we should be able to send some GPS beacons to let everyone know we're still kicking. We've thrown a map on our home page which will show our most recent location updates. Pretty snazzy, eh?
We're both really excited and nervous to be diving straight into things like this, but that's generally the way to go. We'll spend the next few days getting our things packed, saying our goodbyes, and enjoying our last few nights in a real bed. Wish us luck, and don't forget to keep bein' chili (I'm working on a catch phrase, thoughts?)
Mandrew
I'm not sure when we'll next be able to post an update, but in the very least we should be able to send some GPS beacons to let everyone know we're still kicking. We've thrown a map on our home page which will show our most recent location updates. Pretty snazzy, eh?
We're both really excited and nervous to be diving straight into things like this, but that's generally the way to go. We'll spend the next few days getting our things packed, saying our goodbyes, and enjoying our last few nights in a real bed. Wish us luck, and don't forget to keep bein' chili (I'm working on a catch phrase, thoughts?)
Mandrew
Map of Mastatal, Costa Rica:
View Costa Rica Volunteering in a larger map
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