Stillwater Christian School
May 20, 2027 – May 27, 2027
Key Information
This is Costa Rica and our dedicated Team
Let yourself enjoy Costa Rica with our amazing team, live with local families, practice Spanish in daily life, and give back through meaningful service projects that support both rural and Indigenous communities. Along the way, enjoy Costa Rica’s wild beauty with highlights like rafting the Pacuare River and soaring through the rainforest on ziplines. This program blends Spanish immersion, cultural exchange, and community service, with just the right touch of adventure.
May 20
Welcome to Costa Rica! Your flight lands in the evening at Juan Santamaría International Airport. Our team meets you at arrivals and drives you to your hotel Studio Boutique near the airport. After a long travel day, tonight is about settling in, getting some rest, and gearing up for the adventure ahead. We’ll have a light orientation over dinner so everyone knows what’s coming.
May 21
We pick you up after breakfast and drive out to Sitio Mata, just outside the town of Turrialba, in the heart of Costa Rica’s rural highlands. The ride itself is already an experience — volcanic landscapes, sugar cane fields, and small towns along the way. Once we arrive, we do our full welcome session: orientation, ground rules, and what to expect for the week ahead. Then the big moment — students meet their homestay families. These are local families who open their homes and their lives to host students for the next three nights. This is where the real immersion begins. Dinner is with your family tonight.
May 22
We start the day with a hands-on community service project at a local rural school — painting classrooms, building garden beds, or helping with whatever the school needs most that season. Students work side by side with local teachers and families, and it’s the kind of work where you can see the impact before you leave. After lunch with the community, we shift gears and visit a local cacao farm where students learn the full process from pod to chocolate, getting their hands dirty along the way. From there we head to Nórtico, one of the few certified fair trade coffee farms in the region. Students walk the plantation, learn about sustainable farming, and taste some of the best coffee they’ll ever have — straight from the source.
May 23
Full service day. In the morning, students set up a community flea market where they sell clothes they brought from home in good condition — everything priced at a dollar or fifty cents. All the proceeds go directly to the local Cabécar indigenous community. After lunch, we head to the village school where students run English conversation workshops and sports activities with local kids — it’s loud, chaotic, and genuinely one of the highlights of the trip. Then at night, we throw the big fiesta — music, dancing, food, and a proper celebration with the homestay families. This is also our last night with the families, so expect some emotions. Crying is absolutely allowed, and honestly, kind of expected.
May 24
We say our goodbyes in the morning and pack up early. Today we move to our ecolodge, tucked right at the edge of the mighty Pacuare River — one of the top rafting rivers in the world. Students can choose to raft in to the lodge, which is an incredible way to arrive, or ride in on our own trucks if they prefer to stay dry for now. Either way, the setting is something else — dense jungle, howler monkeys, toucans, and the constant sound of the river. The rest of the afternoon is free to explore the lodge, swim in the river, or just take in how wild and beautiful this place is.
May 25
We start the morning with a river conservation workshop led by our local guides — students learn about the ongoing effort to protect the Pacuare watershed from hydroelectric development and help with a reforestation planting along the riverbank. Then we switch to full adventure mode with our zipline course through the jungle canopy — multiple lines strung high above the treetops with views of the Pacuare valley below. Then comes the Tarzan swing, which is exactly what it sounds like and gets a big reaction every time. In the afternoon we hike down to the Leap of Faith cascade, a stunning waterfall where students can cliff jump into the pool below. It’s optional, but the peer pressure is real and most people end up going for it. We head back to the lodge for dinner, where everyone’s running on pure adrenaline and swapping stories from the day.
May 26
We raft out of the Pacuare valley this morning — the full river experience, class III and IV rapids through one of the most beautiful gorges in Central America. Once we’re off the water, we dry off and drive to the Arenal volcano area near La Fortuna. The drive takes us through the heart of the country, with the landscape shifting from dense river valley to open highlands with views of Arenal Volcano ahead. We check in to our hotel and spend the evening soaking in natural volcanic hot springs — the perfect way to let your muscles recover after a week of adventure.
May 27
We start the morning at La Fortuna Waterfall — a 70-meter cascade surrounded by thick rainforest. The hike down the 500 steps is worth every one of them, and the pool at the base is one of the most impressive swimming holes in Costa Rica. After the climb back up, we grab lunch in the town of La Fortuna with views of Arenal Volcano, and students get free time to explore the town and pick up last souvenirs. In the afternoon we drive to San José, check in near the airport, and have our final dinner and reflection circle together. By now the group is tight — the kind of bond that only comes from sharing something like this together.
May 28
Last morning together. We have breakfast and then it’s time to head to the airport. The short drive gives everyone a chance to decompress, look through photos, and start processing everything that happened over the past week. We get you to the airport with plenty of time, say our goodbyes, and send you home changed. See you next time.
