Every couple of years students at Mooresville High School get the opportunity to travel abroad for a small amount of time over the summer. This time around Tamara Mills is leading a group of Spanish students in a ten day trip to Costa Rica. This trip would be a great experience for any student who wants to further their knowledge of the Spanish language and the only requirement is taking one year of a Spanish class.
The start of the trip begins in San José meeting the tour guide and getting settled in at the first hotel. The second day consists of visiting a local elementary school and bringing them school supplies. That day students will also visit a banana plantation. The day after that they will see Tortuguero National Park and go on a canal tour. On Day four students will travel from Tortuguero to Arenal and visit the hot springs. From there they will travel to Monteverde and do a night walk in the Cloud Forest. The day after that the students can go on an optional zip line trip through the rain forest. On Day seven of the trip the group will travel to Manuel Antonio and take a Cloud Forest Reserve day walk and then the next day they will visit a National Park in Manuel Antonio. On the second to last day the students will travel to San José and learn a traditional dance from the locals. The last day of the trip will be spent getting ready to leave and traveling back home.
When it comes to cost, the trip isn’t necessarily cheap. The total cost of the trip without any discounts comes out to around $3,500; however, there is financial assistance for families who have adjusted gross income up to $85,000. For information on this parents should call the tour company at 1-(800)-771-5353. Enrollment fees start out at $99 and from there the tour company will help families come up with their own payment plan. The price of this trip might seem a little overbearing, but students have plenty of time and opportunity to help with the cost. For example, if a student got a job making $10 an hour(which is pretty standard) and worked 12 hours a week they could pay for the trip it about 29 weeks and if they don’t have to pay for it by themselves, it could be paid for even sooner.
This trip is a unique opportunity that many students are excited for. For a lot of students this would be their first time traveling abroad or seeing another culture up close. Mills plans to limit the trip to 20 participants and currently she only has seven, so there is plenty of room to sign up. There is also plenty of time for students to sign up as the last possible day to do so is February 15, 2024. Any student who signs up after this date will be charged a late enrollment fee and added to a wait list. Sophomore Mya Doblado and junior Orion Lucas are two of the students who are already signed up for the trip.
“Well I had never been out of the country before and going somewhere tropical where I would be with friends and learn about their culture seemed like the perfect opportunity,” Lucas said.
Traveling abroad is great opportunity that many of the students on the trip are looking forward to. Lucas also said that he is most excited to go zip lining through the rain forest during the trip.
“I’m most looking forward to just doing something new! I have never been out of the country and I’m excited to experience something new,” Doblado said.
Doblado also said that her main reason for deciding to go on the trip is her love for the outdoors and the chance to see another country.
“Costa Rica is my absolute favorite place, it is unbelievably beautiful. It is amazing to see all of the wildlife that we could normally see in a zoo in nature. The pace of life is a lot more relaxing and if I could live there full time, I would,” Mills said.
She wants to encourage any student to go on the trip to do so or to even just ask for more information. If students do want more information they can click here and put in the trip code Mills-2024 to get more information.
