This high school summer program invites you to immerse yourself in Costa Rica's extraordinary natural environments while engaging in meaningful conservation work and cultural exchange. Over three weeks, you'll travel from the bustling capital of San Jose through the Los Santos Region to the remote Osa Peninsula, discovering some of Central America's most biodiverse landscapes. Your journey combines structured orientation and thematic learning with an extended 12-day homestay where you'll live with a local family, participate in community-based ecological projects, and gain firsthand understanding of how Costa Ricans are addressing climate change and environmental preservation.

The program is designed to be highly active and immersive. You'll climb canopy tours to experience forests from above, explore private nature reserves to learn about ecotourism economics, participate in sea turtle conservation at Ostional beach—one of the world's largest turtle nesting sites—and engage in ecological restoration work alongside local communities. Throughout, you'll develop Spanish language skills, practice intercultural communication, and build adaptability as you navigate a country with limited internet connectivity, variable weather, and long in-country bus trips. The hands-on nature of the work is physical and labor-intensive, so you should come prepared for genuine conservation labor rather than tourist activities.

What makes this program distinctive is its focus on climate justice and sustainable development. During orientation in San Jose, you'll visit the National Museum and Gold Museum, explore vibrant local markets, and engage in discussions about Costa Rica's environmental leadership—the country generates nearly 100% of its electricity from renewable sources. You'll then witness these principles in action: visiting an active wind farm, learning about the economics of ecotourism, and directly contributing to turtle protection efforts. Your host family experience grounds all of this in local reality, allowing you to understand how ordinary Costa Ricans live sustainably and what climate action looks like at the community level.

The program concludes with reflection and synthesis back in San Jose, where you'll process your experiences with your cohort before departure. The Experiment structures all learning around cohort-based experiential education, meaning your peer group becomes central to your growth. You'll be supported by an experienced group leader trained in youth education, local expertise, language abilities, and comprehensive health and safety management. This program is ideal if you want to step outside your comfort zone, develop environmental awareness grounded in lived experience, and return home with concrete ideas for climate action in your own community.