Global Education Motivators, Inc.
Join other members of the UN family in Costa Rica to explore environmental and political issues and to visit the tropical rainforests of Central America. Hosted by Wayne Jacoby, President of Global Education Motivators, Inc.
Meet Dr. Robert Muller, former Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations, and his wife Barbara Gaughen-Muller at the University for Peace.
Saturday, March 20
Depart your home city airport for international flight to SAN JOSE, COSTA RICA. Upon arrival at Juan Santamaria International Airport, you will be met and assisted for your transfer to the HOTEL ALTA, a deluxe boutique hotel which blends old-world colonial architecture with modern-day elegance, located in suburban Santa Ana, 15 minutes from downtown San Jose. Porterage for 2 pieces of luggage per person is included at the airport and at the hotel.
Sunday, March 21
Continental breakfast is included each morning at the Hotel Alta.
After breakfast this morning we will gather in the lobby with our escort Wayne Jacoby, President of Global Education Motivators.
We will set out for a tour of Braulio Carrillo National Park, to ride the spectacular Aerial Tram through the ancient rainforest. No other tour gives you a more intimate view of the rain forest than a ride on the Aerial Tram. This open vehicle takes you through the rainforest canopy, skimming over hilltops, into the depths of the Costa Rican jungle. The ride stops several times along the way for close-up views of birds and nesting sites.
Entrance fees are included, as well as lunch at the Rio Danta Restaurant.
Returning to the city this afternoon we will embark on a brief tour of San Jose on a quiet Sunday when traffic and congestion are at a minimum. We'll see some of the most important and interesting sights of Costa Rica's capital city, as we visit Bellavista Fort, once home to the abolished army and now the National Museum. Discover the elegance of the National Theater. View the Central Park, the Metropolitan Cathedral, the supreme Court and the Congress Building.
We return to the Hotel Alta in the late afternoon. Dine independently this evening, possibly in the outstanding "La Luz" restaurant at Hotel Alta. Included meals: Breakfast, Lunch.
Monday, March 22
After continental breakfast this morning we will be transferred to the University for Peace, located in Ciudad Colon--20 minutes from our hotel. We will be hosted by Dr. Robert Muller and his wife Barbara Gaughan-Muller. We will begin with a classroom orientation to the tropical wonders of Costa Rica and will pursue a spiritual fulfillment for our task at hand via a walk and talk with the Mullers around parts of sacred Mt. Rashur.
Lunch will be included in the cafeteria at the University for Peace.
This afternoon we will spend classroom time with an instructor from UPeace for an overview of environmental issues connected to the tropical rainforest in partial preparation for our on-site visits. Late in the afternoon we will return to the Hotel Alta for a leisurely evening. Dinner will be on your own tonight. Included Meals: Breakfast, Lunch.
Tuesday, March 23
We return to the University for Peace and Radio for Peace International for another day of inspirational instruction. Today we will focus on issues of sustainable development. We will lunch together in the cafeteria and return to the Hotel Alta late in the afternoon. Dinner will be on your own again this evening. Included Meals: Breakfast, Lunch.
Wednesday, March 24
This morning after breakfast, we will meet our English-speaking Costa Rican guide, who will travel with us for the next week. We'll set out from the Hotel Alta for a 4 hour motorcoach ride to the Monteverde Cloud Forest, located at 7000 feet elevation. Perched on a high mountain ridge, this tiny, scattered village and surrounding cloud forest are well known both among scientific researchers and ecotravelers.
The village of Monteverde was founded in 1951 by Quakers from the United States who wished to leave behind a constant fear of war as well as an obligation to support continued militarism through paying U.S. taxes. They chose Costa Rica because it was committed to a nonmilitaristic economic path. Although Monteverde's founders came here to farm the land, they recognized the need to preserve the rare cloud forest that covered the mountain slopes above their fields, and to that end they dedicated the largest adjacent tract of cloud forest as the Monteverde Biological Cloud Forest Preserve.
We�ll make our way to the beautiful Swiss chalet-style Hotel Belmar, with stunning views of the Nicoya Gulf and the Pacific, hopefully to view a spectacular sunset. Dinner is included tonight in the hotel dining room. Included Meals: Breakfast, Dinner.
Thursday, March 25
Today we visit the one of the most tastefully developed and well-maintained natural attractions in Costa Rica: The Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve. Our local guide will escort us along clearly marked trails with gentle ascents and descents. The cloud forest here is lush and largely untouched. The most famous resident of the cloud forests of Costa Rica is the quetzal, a robin-sized bird with iridescent-green wings and a ruby-red breast, which has become extremely rare due to habitat destruction. The male quetzal has two long tail feathers that make it one of the most spectacular birds on earth. The best time to see quetzals is early to midmorning, and the best months are February through April (mating season).
Lunch will be on your own this afternoon. Tonight, dinner is included again in the Hotel Belmar dining room. Included Meals: Breakfast, Dinner.
Friday, March 26
After breakfast at the Hotel Belmar this morning, we set out with our driver and guide for the Pacific Coast resort area of Manuel Antonio National Park. No other destination in Costa Rica has received more international attention than Manuel Antonio, one of the most beautiful locations in the entire country. The views from the hills overlooking Manuel Antonio are spectacular, the beaches inside the park are idyllic, and its jungles are crawling with white-faced and squirrel monkeys, among other forms of exotic wildlife.
We'll make our way to the luxurious El Parador Hotel, spread out over 12 acres of land, with lovely views of the Pacific Ocean.
The balance of the day is at leisure to explore the hotel and the area, with independent dining, possibly at the hotel's "La Galeria" dining room. Included Meals: Breakfast.
Saturday, March 27
After an included buffet breakfast at the hotel this morning, we set out for a full-day tour of Manuel Antonio National Park, in the company of a local naturalist. One of the most popular national parks in the country, Manuel Antonio is also one of the smallest, covering fewer than 1,700 acres. Its several nearly perfect small beaches are connected by trails that meander through the rain forest, home to endangered squirrel monkeys, three-toed sloths, purple-and-orange crabs, and hundreds of species of birds, mammals, and plants. This afternoon we'll enjoy a picnic lunch on one of the beautiful beaches inside the park, and spend a leisurely afternoon enjoying the gentle ocean breezes along the panoramic coastline of this lovely park. Dinner tonight will be on your own. Included Meals: Breakfast, Lunch.
Sunday, March 28
Today is a day for you to choose your own independent activities. The hotel offers a small swimming pool with swim-up bar and central fountain. There is also a fitness center, Jacuzzi, steam room, tennis court, gift shop and tour desk. The hotel can arrange for horseback riding, kayaking, scuba diving, deep-sea fishing, whitewater rafting and just about everything else you might want to do. Included Meals: Breakfast.
Monday, March 29
After enjoying a buffet breakfast at El Parador this morning, we join our driver and guide for a short trip to the Carara Biological Reserve, located less than 2 hours from Manuel Antonio. The Reserve is a world-renowned nesting ground for scarlet macaws, and has several miles of trails open to visitors. The macaws migrate daily, spending their days in the park and their nights among the coastal mangroves. It's best to view them in the early morning when they arrive, or around sunset when they head back to the coast for the evening, but a good guide can usually find them for you during the day. Among the other wildlife you might see here are caimans, coatimundis, armadillo, pacas, peccaries, river otters, kinkajous, and hundreds of species of birds. The muddy banks of the Tarcoles river are home to a healthy population of American crocodiles, and just north of the entrance to the Carara Biological Reserve is a bridge that's a prime spot for viewing both the crocs and the macaw migrations. Lunch will be included today as we explore this wonderful location. Our hotel, the Villas Lapas, is located on a lush piece of land along the Rio Tarcolitos, bordering the Carara National Park: a spectacular setting on 543 acres of land with excellent trails and a butterfly garden. There are two waterfalls nearby, and the beaches of Jaco, Hermosa and Herradura are 15 or 20 minutes away. Dinner is included this evening, in the hotel's open-air restaurant and deck overlooking the river. Included Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner.
Tuesday, March 30
This morning, after breakfast at the hotel, we return to the capital and the lovely 5-star Camino Real hotel, located in one of the most exclusive residential areas in San Jose.
Lunch will be on your own this afternoon, with time for some browsing at the nearby modern shopping mall to pick up some last-minute gift items.
Tonight, we will gather for a festive farewell dinner at the Camino Real Hotel. Included Meals: Breakfast, Dinner.
Wednesday, March 31
This morning you will either transfer back to the airport for your return flight to the U.S., (remember the $17 airport departure tax, payable directly) or possibly embark on an extended independent itinerary to other parts of this lovely country. We recommend the Drake Bay Wilderness Camp located on the Osa Peninsula, on the southern Pacific coast..
Please Contact:
Your Hosts:
Wayne Jacoby is the President of Global Education Motivators, headquartered on the campus of Chestnut Hill College in Philadelphia, Pa. Mr. Jacoby co-founded GEM in 1981 to help educators meet emerging global education needs in the classroom. He is GEM's NGO representative to the United Nations and has developed and/or led many GEMQUEST study/travel trips to promote global understanding.
Dr. Muller is currently Chancellor Emeritus at the University for Peace. He was recently the recipient of the Albert Schweitzer International Prize for the Humanities and the Eleanor Roosevelt Man of Vision Award. Barbara Gaughen Muller is an educator, author and public speaker. She is co-founder with Dr. Muller of Media 21, a public relations counsel firm dedicated to preparing the media and organizations for the 21st Century.
Classroom Issues:
UPeace is situated on the foothills of the last primary humid forest of the Central Valley of Costa Rica. Out of this setting we will learn about the effect of the destruction of the rain forest on our ecological system and what can be done to save the rain forest and still provide for development.
The University for Peace
Created by the General Assembly of the United Nations on December 5, 1980, the University for Peace is considered to be one of the most outstanding projects proposed on the eve of the third millenium. In 1982, the headquarters of the UPEACE were established in Costa Rica, a country with a long tradition of democracy and peace that became an integral part in this challenging project to seek non-violent solutions to conflicts. The campus of the University for Peace is nestled in the beautiful area of the El Rodeo farm. The UPEACE has helped enrich this area by planting more than 100,000 trees, conducting several studies on the evaluation of natural and medicinal species, and by creating a botanical garden.
The campus also contains secondary forest and a recreation area with four lakes and the Monument to Disarmament, Work and Peace, the largest sculptural complex with a social and historical meaning that stands in Central America.
The Price::
The tour price is $1850 per person, based on sharing a double room, plus airfare from your home city.
What's Included:
What's Not Included:
GEMQUEST DIVISION
Chestnut Hill College • 9601 Germantown Ave.
Chestnut Hill, PA 19118-2693
Email: [email protected]
Sample Trip
The Garden of Peace and Democracy
Costa Rica Study/Travel Program
Twelve Days • Limited to 28 participants
Chestnut Hill College • 9601 Germantown
Avenue
Philadelphia, PA 19118-2693, USA,
Telephone: (215) 248-1150 • Fax: (215) 248-7056
Email: [email protected]