Internship Costa Rica – the rich coast

The positive nature of the Costa Ricans, the overwhelming flora and fauna and great beaches invite you to explore Costa Rica. An internship in Costa Rica means getting involved in an exciting and eventful country. “PURA VIDA”, which means something like pure life, can be heard everywhere and constantly and this phrase describes the country perfectly.

The “rich coast” – as Christopher Columbus named it, is a tropical state in Central America with a rich variety of animals and plant species and is often said to be a country of extremes. There are mountains and valleys, benign and active volcanoes and cloud- and rainforests. The official language is Spanish but there are also some parts where people speak English or Creole.

General information:

  • Capital: San José

  • Population: almost 5 million inhabitants

  • Size: 51.100 km²

  • Climate: The climate is split into the rainy season, which turns the whole country into a green and flower-flooded landscape and it is also called the “Green Season” and the dry season, which lasts from December to April. The tropical average temperatures are between 20 and 30 degrees, the entire year.

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Internship Costa Rica – Excursions

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Beaches

There are many great beaches where you can experience the Caribbean flair – for example Puerto Viejo de Talamanca or Punta Uva, these are great places to relax in one of the many hammocks along the white sandy coast. At these beaches you can not only admire the colourful underwater world during snorkeling but also watch the surfers or even surf on the waves yourself as well as get the hippie feeling! Why? – because this area is famous for being the paradise for dropouts. Not far away from the beaches there is a fisher-village named Manzanillo, where various traditional meals are offered – freshly cooked by Creole Mamas.

Caño Negro

To have a deeper view into the original nature, you can drive through to the Caño Negro, a wildlife sanctuary to see different animals like jaguars, iguanas, otters, pumas and numerous bird species. In the park itself it’s the best to go by boat and discover everything from the river. There is also the National Park “Rincón de la Vieja”, the cloud-forest reserve Monteverde and the La Paz waterfall, which stretches 8 km long and goes down the eastern side of the volcano Poás, the rainforest are definitely worth seeing. It is also wonderful to visit La Paz Waterfall Gardens with its hummingbird and butterfly garden.

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Museums / Theater

Culturally interested people should take part in a little travel to visit the “Museo de Cultura Popular” in Heredia. In this old country house there are many artifacts that are exhibited which would have been used by locals from Heredia in the olden days. We would also recommend the Teatro Nacional and the Museo de Arte y Diseño in San José, which exhibits cinema evenings as well as workshops.

Cities

Besides the capital town San José, Costa Rica offers a lot more interesting towns! The Caribbean port city Puerto Limón is quieter although it presents an interesting market in the town´s centre with multi-coloured fruits, vegetables, flowers and fabrics. Likewise the former capital city Cartago, which is the starting point of several volcano tours on Irazú, is important for Costa Rica. There can be found the La Negrita, a black Madonna, who was – as the stories tell – found there in 1635 by a woman who wanted to take the little statue with her. The Madonna statue found out of unexplained reasons her way back to her original spot two times. Inhabitants decided to build an altar around her which symbolizes now a yearly on the 2nd of August visited spot for pilgrims both for inhabitants as well as for tourists.

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Horse trekking

Another perfect possibility to discover the landscape is offered for horse-enthusiasts. The so- called horse trekking tours take you to see lower parts of the rainforest on horseback and we recommend you this activity throughout your hotel internship Costa Rica.
The guided tours can be booked for hours or for several days, depending on how much time you have. The guides for all the tours have a huge amount of knowledge about the geography of the volcanoes as well as the historic backgrounds of the villages, places and streets.
These treks are available for all abilities, as the guides will choose a horse that matches your skills.

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Suspension bridge hikes

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For all those who can live without having no floor under their feet and zipping along a rope of steel, but do not want to forego the spectacular bird perspective, then the Suspension Bridge Tours are the right option for you during your internship Costa Rica! Although this is a more or less rickety and wavering matter it ensures fun and an impressive view of the rainforest. It is the perfect alternative between a normal hike and the Canopy Tours.

Kayak tours

Internship Costa Rica

Seeing the jungle and the sea from a likewise totally different perspective is offered during kayaking. Swimming in crystal clear water, watching birds, turtles and fishes in the water and monkeys at the edge of the jungle – these are all things you should not miss. There are day and half-day trips, daytime- or sunset- tours in kayaks for two or for one person. So there is something for everyone!

Canopy Tours or Zip lining

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Who wants to experience something adventurous, which will always be kept in your memories from your time in Costa Rica, you should take part in one of the numerous offered Canopy Tours through the rainforest. To ‘zip-line’ through breathtaking heights along a rope of steel through the treetops of the jungle this gives you the chance to see the plants, flowers and wildlife out of a completely new perspective, which was in former times reserved for selected scientists and photographers.

The hatch out of baby turtles

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An absolute highlight of Costa Rica is the hatching of different species of baby turtles, whose hatching-times are spread all over the year. The best place to watch the spectacle is from the Tortuguero National Park because it has numerous beaches, which are famous for turtles to lay their eggs. As the babies hatch out of their eggs during the night, there are several guided night tours along the beach. This wonderful event is definitely worth staying up long!