Check out the photos taken at the scene!

A recent article published by The Costa Rica News details some of the best outdoor destination attractions in the country. Story here.

And we had to throw in this surfing video… It’s just cool!

Check out the slideshow below!

Another fantastic week has come and gone here in the rich coast. As the office dwellers have been exploring the vast reaches of the internet, some cool stuff has been discovered. Take a look!

I am almost 100% positive we have done every single one of these things here. The trash bag as a pack cover rings especially true. Story here.

Continuing the theme of coffee, looks like Starbucks will be trying to lay down roots in the home of one its strongest suppliers. We will see how they do. Story here.

This Spanish dish looks absolutely delicious and is easy enough to make in the field. This had to be shared immediately. Story here.

The commute for most of the staff here is somewhere between 30 seconds and a minute, and generally involves a leisurely stroll. This gentleman prefers the bike.

Hometown: Eugene, OR (Childhood); Sacramento, CA (later childhood); Los Angeles, CA (adulthood)
MBA & BA in Business Management from University of Phoenix.

Before joining Outward Bound in Costa Rica, Jeff oversaw all communications and marketing efforts (Social Media, PR, Advertising, etc.) for a $50M Staffing & Recruiting firm in the U.S. He is thrilled to be able to continue those efforts for Costa Rica Outward Bound, a company that truly cares about improving the lives of its participants.

From the rich green forests of Oregon to the massive Redwoods in Northern California, and down to the endless summer beaches of Southern California, Jeff was introduced to a wide variety of eco systems along the West Coast. After having the opportunity to live in Fiji in 2003, Jeff discovered a true passion for adventure and culture. He has since traveled throughout the U.S. and Europe, and is eager to discover as many countries in Central and South America as possible! He is also really excited to improve his Spanish speaking skills here in Costa Rica.

Check out the slideshow below!

Allison Hodsdon
Marketing Manager and Girl Scouts Coordinator

Hometown: Kennebunk, ME
Education: B.S. in International Business/Spanish, Concentrations in Marketing and Accounting from Northeastern University & ICADE Business School

Allison grew up in a small coastal town in Maine but has spent her recent years living and working in major cities. This experience to work in a small community in the rainforest with Costa Rica Outward Bound is a chance to get back to her small town roots! She is especially looking forward to hiking in the rainforest and improving her surfing skills.

Allison’s passion for the Spanish language and traveling led her to a dual-degree program in International Business, which included two years studying and working in Madrid, Spain. Her previous work experience at a start-up company in New York has given her a strong foundation in social media, which she is excited to apply in her position as Marketing Manager and Girl Scouts Coordinator.

It’s been a while, but we found some links that simply need to be shared.

We here at Costa Rica Outward Bound enjoy coffee as much as the next person. Being known for its prodigious growth of coffee, Costa Rica certainly offers the means to be on the knife’s edge of what could become a full blown coffee addiction. Regardless of our proximity to the means, we are most likely years away from this authors need for coffee.Story here.

We would like to introduce the author of this piece to the previous article’s coffee addicted writer. This author calls for calm and logic for what has become our current culture’s crutch. This crutch is of course coffee. Story here.

Sometimes students here struggle with the lack of their normal connectivity to everything and everyone. Not having cellphones, access to email, Facebook, or any other inter-web based functionality can be a challenge at times. However it appears even folks in the middle of major metropolitan areas are attempting to recreate the sensations disconnecting can create. Story here. 

ProParques is an organization we work with regularly to help keep Costa Rican National Park staff up to date on training and the latest information on park management. Costa Rica Outward Bound instructor Dani often works with ProParques in order to do training for CPR, technical ropes knowledge and a variety of other important training. Scrolling to page 4 will explain further! Story here.

And to finish up, a time lapse of Patagonia, hard to go wrong here.

Night 1

Our first evening on the river side was a campsite mostly covered in tallish grass with a good amount of moisture on the ground. Easy tent set up was the name of the game with the painfully easy 2 pole system (and a third for stabilization). After set up the focus became food and camp site banter, but after this integral part of camping, it was all about sleeping.

One of the most enjoyable luxuries while camping certainly has to be being dry, which is certainly the strong suit of the North Tek Orion. With the robust rain shell system, everyone was dry and happy during a typical rainy Costa Rican evening. An enclosed structure also meant a little pre-sleep reading was more than possible without every bug on the riverside trying to land on your face/headlamp/illuminated reading material. The only negative to the evening was a toasty sleeping situation. This can be clearly attributed to having the robust rain shell and the door/vent being sealed up tight as it was raining (for the record, I prefer toasty more than wet).

Night 2

The second evening on the river was a campsite of more traditional beach characteristics. Setting up on the shore facing the river  proved a very nice setting, complete with bonfires and all. After the requisite dining and camp fire, resigning to the tent was a welcome comfort. With no rain initially experienced, the tent’s rain shell around the entrance was left open to allow a nice breeze to enter the Orion. Additionally, the handy suspending gear net made stowing books/easy to reach items a breeze (no pun intended). With a cool evening in tow, sleep was inevitable after a hard day of paddling/falling out of the boat. After the rain started in the middle of the night, the tent was sealed up and the coveted dry sleeping situation continued straight through to the morning, where packing up and stowing of the tent was as easy as setting it up.

In all, a fantastic performance with two comfortable nights in tow!

Tents ahoy!

We will continue to update on the tent, and how it performs in the harsh reality that often is camping in Costa Rica, stay tuned!