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Application Due with $300 Deposit: February 1st, 2013
Program Fee Due: March 15, 2013
Mountain Challenge Road Trip
Costa Rica
May 21-28, 2013
Contact:
Bruce Guillaume | Crawford House | 865-981-8126 | Bruce.Gullaume@maryvillecollege.edu
Course Goals:
- Engage in intentional physical activity (in this case yoga and surfing)
- Learn about sustainable tourism in Costa Rica
- Visit natural and cultural sites of Costa Rica
Course Description:
According to the Center for Disease Control and The Tennessee Health Department, Tennessee is the second most inactive state in the country and ranks 4th in the number of obese and overweight people. If this trend continues, 66% of all people in Tennessee will be obese or overweight by 2015. According to a 2010 MC campus survey, less than 50% of our faculty, staff, and students engage in intentional physical activity.
To address this disturbing trend, Mountain Challenge has created a new program offering - Road Trips. A road trip utilizes longer periods of time, asks for more extended activity compared to our traditional ‘1 trip at a time’ model, and still utilizes PHR activity credits. So, participation in a road trip could result in 1 or more PHR activity credits. While the focus of the trip is the outdoor sport (e.g. a paddling trip or a backpacking trip, or a surf trip), the venue does matter. You can’t surf in Oklahoma, for example.
This particular Road Trip is a surf/yoga trip to Costa Rica. Costa Rica is already a world-class surf destination. While yoga is not a traditional outdoor sport, it is an emerging practice among outdoor athletes and Costa Rica is a leader in yoga retreats.
Tentative Itinerary:
Day 1 – May 21
Arrive and travel to Monteverde. We will have a small introduction to the CST, Certification for Sustainable Tourism Program, this is a product of the Costa Rican Tourism Board (ICT). The CST was designed to differentiate businesses of the tourism sector, based on the degree to which they comply with a sustainable model of natural, cultural and social resource management.
Day 2 – May 22
Canopy, hummingbird garden, Night Walk Monteverde Cloud forest. (We will have lunch in Town and have some time for shopping, have dinner with the local Association of Sustainable Tourism)
Day 3 – May 23
Coffee, sugarcane, and cocoa tour, and travel to the beach.
Day 4 – May 24
Surfing all day and WWF program at sunset.
Day 5 – May 25
Travel to Tamarindo beach for more surfing, visit 2 hotels and enjoy the local market.
Day 6 – May 26
Travel south to Yoga Institute, introduction to Yoga, Yoga class, lunch. Travel to Carrillo Beach. We will have the opportunity to talk to the Hotel Manager about the CST.
Day 7 – May 27
Yoga class in the morning, surfing all day, visit the local town Samara.
Day 8 – May 28
Travel Day
Credits:
This trip will carry 2 PHR credits. The student can earn PHR 125, 126, or 127 credit as appropriate.
Approximate Costs: $2,600
($1950 base cost + approx $600 airfare which will depend on group rate and number of participants)
The price includes: Roundtrip airfare, local transportation, housing, meals, field trips, international travel insurance, application fee, and deposit.
Not included: Passport, immunizations, meals on travel days, gifts, tip for guide & personal expenses
*Please note that prices are tentative and may fluctuate based on variation in exchange rates, number of participants, price fluctuations in actual airfares and fuel surcharges, or administrative overhead