Seen and Heard

TransiTarte Cultural Summer Event in San Jose

The San Jose Municipality puts together a Summer Event for the community where they bring music, art, and entertainment for everyone to enjoy…for free! The event was spread out among five parks in the heart of San Jose. Communications Director, Jeff Friend, was able to take some photos of a few of the activities for [...]

A Winning Read: Live a “Life Without Limits”

Chrissie Wellington, four time Ironman female champion and holder of the world record for this extreme tri-sport competition, visited Costa Rica yesterday to promote her book “A Life Without Limits.” Chrissie spoke to an audience at the local Brook’s store about the importance of staying positive and believing in yourself especially during the most trying moments [...]

Witch's Rock Surf Point- Photo taken by OBCR Surf Student.

Outward Bound Surf Spots: Witch’s Rock and Beyond

Outward Bound Costa Rica courses utilize several top surf spots, varying as much in vibe and character as in wave breaks and micro climate. Some of the more renowned surf spots are found in the Guanacaste Province, located in the northwest part of the country. OBCR is the only Outward Bound school that boasts a [...]

Katie collects and organizes the school supplies collected from her drive.

Fill the School Bag for a Costa Rican Student: A Girl Scout Alum Keeps on Giving

Every year, Girl Scouts from across the nation join us in Costa Rica to participate in meaningful service projects across the country. Some girls help protect the habitats of endangered sea turtles. Others visit remote villages to work on projects such as cleaning and painting cabins and up-keeping plant nurseries. This past summer, Katie Maher did [...]

Costa Rica Celebrates The Day of the Dead

Costa Rica, among most other Latin American countries, celebrates the deceased on November 2nd every year. This day has several names, including Día de Todos Santos (All Saints Day), Día de Todos Almas (All Souls Day) and the more common Día De Los Muertos (Day of the Dead). Although this holiday is celebrated more in [...]

Leones and Payasos and Cultura – Oh My!

This past weekend Ticos all across Costa Rica celebrated the Día de las Culturas, Culture Day. A few OBCR staff from the Communications Office decided to head to the center of Tres Rios to learn more about this interesting celebration. Learn more about this tradition and check out photos and videos from the event!

Semana Santa

The Easter weekend here in Costa Rica was quite the event, with nearly the entire country grinding to a slow halt for one of the most revered religious holidays of the year. Let’s go over the events. Monday through Wednesday are know as Holy Monday, Holy Tuesday and Holy Wednesday. The next day is called [...]

Two Men, Two Beards and Lots of Miles

It feels like only yesterday (it was actually a week or so) that we were sitting here writing about our board member Laura Avila Bolanos and her cycling adventure around South America. No sooner did we press the ‘publish’ button on our blog did we meet two American gentlemen riding their bikes all the way [...]

How the World Rafting Championship makes students cooler

The 2011 World Rafting Championships were held in Costa Rica this year on the famous Pacuare River. Teams from 32 countries paddled the same rapids many of our students learn to guide rafts themselves. I could end this post right here and its title would already make sense, but let me explain just to make [...]

And you thought your last trip was hard…

It’s always interesting to learn about an adventure that makes one quickly realize there is a lot to learn about suffering and adventure. Such was the case for some of the Outward Bound staff as they visited a local art exhibit featuring photos, stories and equipment from a cycling trip that circumnavigated South America. Spanning [...]

Hope for the Urban Culture in San Jose: ChepeCletas

Change is always a difficult thing to be a part of, especially when it means a complete alteration of how a city approaches transportation. This change, however, is one that the local San Jose organization ChepeCletasintends to make – it’s also one that we here at Outward Bound Costa Rica are excited about. ChepeCletas, a hodgepodge [...]

The sights and sounds of Costa Rica

Costa Rica is certainly home to a very rich environment! Take a look at a video recently put together showing the sites and sounds around the rich coast, which turn any trip into an adventure!

The outdoors takes the national stage

In case you missed it, yesterday President Obama gave some inspiring, albeit slightly short-winded remarks about the America’s Great Outdoors initiative that he began 10 months ago. As an organization that supports environmental preservation, outdoor pursuits, and experiential learning in wilderness settings, we were excited to tune in for his comments about these subjects. Besides, [...]

Trying to make Dr. King proud

25 years after one of the most devastating moments in the Civil Rights Movement, Martin Luther King, Jr. remains one of the most celebrated figures in modern American history. His assassination was a near-paralyzing blow to the entire movement, but his ideas and principles resounded too deeply with the social psyche for the legacy to [...]

Pura Vida: The True Meaning

Having lived in Costa Rica for a staggering four weeks, I’m going to be bold in honor of the coming year – I’m going to define what perhaps one of the most ubiquitous national expressions really stands for. But first, let’s review pura vida in its fundamental form. Literally translated, it means “pure life.” In a way, [...]

Happy Holidays, Version: Tic.O

If you subscribe to our newsletter and caught our recent December issue, you likely read the blurb about Costa Rica’s grandiose end-of-the-year celebration, the Festival de la Luz (links to the Costa Rican Municipal page). Although it provided a good basis for understanding the premise of the Fesitval de la Luz, you may have missed out on the event firsthand. [...]

The Río General

Costa Rica Leadership Students Raft the Rio General Costa Rica is known for its world-class whitewater rafting. It has many fantastic rivers for all skill levels, on which rafting trips can last anywhere from a few hours to a four or five days. Our Water & Wave students are currently on a multiple day [...]

Earn college credits while surfing, rafting and diving in Central America: Water and Wave Fall Semester Course 2010

Why sit in a classroom when you could be earning college credit while surfing, kayaking, white-water rafting, and SCUBA diving in Costa Rica, Nicaragua, and Panama?! If water sports and travel appeal to you, then the Water & Wave Semester is for you! The course starts Sept. 26 and runs through Dec 4th. It is [...]

Staying Alive! How the “Survivorman” is helping Outward Bound Costa Rica

It’s been said that knowledge is of no value unless you put it into practice. When it comes to putting knowledge of wilderness survival into practice, few do it better than Les Stroud. Stroud was the host of the popular Discovery Channel program, Survivorman, and is also a filmmaker, outdoor adventurer, singer/songwriter and author. And [...]