Scuba dive, help a community, explore rainforests, see amazing wildlife, learn Spanish, surf, raft, trek, bike, relax on remote Caribbean islands beaches and much much more!
Tour Itinerary:
- Guatemala
Weeks 1-2: Spanish Language Lessons and Mountain Biking Volcano Expedition. We begin our adventure in Guatemala with a ram packed and exciting introduction to Central America. Home to Central America’s highest peaks, most active volcanoes, and most impressive Mayan ruins, our two weeks exploring Guatemala will be adventurous, challenging, and excitingly rewarding. The beautiful city Antigua, famous for its Spanish architecture, will fittingly be our home to usefully start the expedition with 30 hours of Spanish lessons. Situated next to the stunning Lake Antigua and with a volcano dominating the skyline, staying in homestays in Antigua will immerse us in the community of a stunning city, and provide the perfect place to practice our Spanish!
Heading out to explore the region, the adventures truly begin as we kayak on the deepest lake in Central America (Lake Atitlán), and climb to the top of the highest peak in Central America (Volcan Tajumulco, measuring 13,845 feet), camping out near the summit. Then it’s helmets on to mountain bike and trek through virgin trails and indigenous communities, before mountain biking through the famous ‘Ring of Fire’ volcano range where we will camp out and hopefully be witness to the high altitude nighttime eruptions. Going caving and river tubing will complete our jam packed fortnight of exploration and adventure, to kick start the whole expedition nicely!
Weeks 3-4: Guatemalan Indigenous Community Project. Living in homestays and working alongside local community members, we will provide the materials and manpower to help build a community center and library as part of a sustainable long-term volunteer initiative. Rising early each day we will dig the foundations, build the walls, and erect the roofs, completing buildings that will be our own remarkable achievement. It will culminate in a huge community party to ‘christen’ the new buildings and celebrate our hard graft.
To fully appreciate the beauty of the area we have been working, we will then be guided through the enchanting Semuc Champney (‘Sacred Water’), a beautiful series of small ponds and pools on a natural land bridge, where we will cook and camp out under the stars on a gorgeous trek.
- Honduras
Weeks 5-6: Kayaking and Bay Islands Scuba Diving Expedition. Heading overland will take us down canyons and along ravines, to kayak through spectacular gorges on the River Dulce, swim in hot springs, and take a launch down river to the border with Honduras. From there we take a ferry to our next destination – Roatán, the dive capital of the Caribbean. Roatán is one of three islands that make up the Bay Islands on the Honduras Coast, located near the largest barrier reef in the Caribbean Sea, and a picture postcard paradise that is the perfect place to start our diving adventures.
Upon arrival we will earn our dive certificates, PADI Open Water Diver or PADI Advanced Diver, doing some recreational dives if you are already experienced, or joining teams and snorkeling if you prefer. Either way, in an area that is renowned for its water clarity you will see some of the best marine life in the Caribbean, including dolphins, turtles, whale sharks, and manta-rays. When we’re not diving we will explore the stunning island, and for all us beach bums, West Bay is one of the finest in the region.
- Nicaragua and Costa Rica
Weeks 7-8: Nicaragua and Costa Rica Surf Safari. To get to Costa Rica from Honduras, we travel through the beautiful but little known Nicaragua, a country roughly the size of Greece which has approximately 20% of its territory designated a National Park. Exploring many of its famous attractions including the lake side city Granada and Lake Nicaragua (the largest lake in Central America), we will journey to the Pacific Coast where the famous surf destination San Juan del Sur will begin our surfing days. We will camp, have surf lessons, and enjoy a lifestyle of riding waves by day and chilling out underneath the stars at night.
After some great surf and adventure, we continue our ‘surfari’ by heading across the Nicaraguan border via a wooden bridge to the surf capital of Costa Rica. Tamarindo beach with its white sand and warm blue waters is one of the best places in the world to learn how to surf. Hitting the waves along Tamarindo beach, at its world famous river mouth, at Langosta, and at Playa Grande, you will get the practice and experience to turn any grommet into a pro surfer. Visiting the prime nesting turtle beach, kayaking through mangroves, exploring the National Parks, and seeing the abundance of wildlife (including crocodiles and monkeys), we will have a whole variety of adventures whilst enjoying the laid back lifestyle. The surfari will end with a surf competition, which has some unusual rules and even more unusual prizes!
- Costa Rica
Weeks 9-10: Costa Rican Indigenous Community Project. Costa Rica offers some of the best white water rafting in the world, and the wild, untamed bends of the ‘General River’ are no exception. Thrills and excitement await as we raft down river, passing beautiful waterfalls and surrounded by a spectacular tropical wilderness, before moving on to our second project. Working with the indigenous communities of Costa Rica will give us an opportunity to visit and aid an area normally inaccessible to tourists – making this a rare privilege and great honor to be part of.
The two weeks here will be spent building vitally required classrooms for schools in the Talamanca region as part of ongoing, long term projects. We will supply the materials and manpower needed for this essential project in one of the poorest regions in Costa Rica. Staying in homestays for the duration of the project will allow us to experience the full warmth of the local community, in an area that also contains some of the most beautiful and abundant wildlife of Costa Rica. It is hoped during this fortnight we can make a huge difference by providing necessary new classrooms for the already overcrowded local schools in the region.
- Costa Rica, Panama
Weeks 11-12: Caribbean Island Exploration Expedition. We will enjoy the final two weeks of the expedition in one of the most beautiful spots of the Caribbean, the islands of Panama, which include the spectacularly beautiful Bocas del Toro - location of the television series Survivor. The stunning islands have a truly Caribbean feel, containing an abundance of flora, fauna, and long paradise beaches. We will explore the forests, National Parks and wonderful seashores, swimming between neighboring islands and taking a yacht to explore any other islands that take our fancy.
You can investigate the wonderful coral reefs that surround the islands in crystal clear waters by snorkeling or further practicing your diving, and for those who fancy improving their surfing skills there are fantastic waves to be ridden. Exploring the remote, pristine, unspoiled islands, we will find adventure enjoying the culture, cuisine, sun, sea, sand, and lifestyle of the jewel of the Caribbean – not a bad place to conclude the expedition of a lifetime!
Notes:
Airfare is not included in the tour price.
Costs £3250 / $6338 (US) / €4778
Price Includes:
* Pre-departure support
* 24 hour emergency phone line in the UK
* Airport transfers
* All internal transportation
* All food and accommodation
* 30 hours of Spanish lessons
* Professional guides throughout the 12 weeks
* Mountain bike and all safety equipment
* Kayak and all safety equipment
* Rafting trip
* All building materials and tools
* All required dive equipment
* PADI Manuals
* PADI Open Water instruction and certification or Advanced Open Water if you have Open Water already
* All permits
* All camping equipment (excluding personal items such as sleeping bags etc)
* English speaking tour leader
* CD containing photos and movie clips from your trip
Also see tour packages in:
Central America and Caribbean
Guatemala
Costa Rica
Honduras
Scuba Diving
Hiking & Trekking
|
