BASH’s Spanish department recently concluded their trip to Costa Rica and Panama! Students who are currently enrolled in a Spanish attended and had the once in a lifetime opportunity to travel a new country, culture, and part of the world with their high school friends. The trip made lifelong memories and friends and was a big success for everyone who attended.
Like many of BASH’s other international trips, this one was hosted by Education First (EF). With the help of BASH staff, they were able to pull off a truly unique itinerary that ingrained the students into the cultures of the places they visited. Below is a day by day outline of what the students did on their trip after departing on Thursday, April 10th.
The first full day of the trip, April 11th, the students went sightseeing in San José, Costa Rica’s capital city.
The day after, they visited Cahuita National Park, which is on the east coast of the country. They had a tour with a local guide before lunch in the local town nearby, Cahuita. After lunch they traveled to another town on the coast, Puerto Veijo, and had an Alfro-Caribean rhythms dance class before a local drumming lesson and performance.
On April 13th, they had a hike at Gandoca – Manzanillo Wildlife refuge, which is a protected wildlife refuge area 25 minutes away from the popular town, Puerto Viejo. There they had lunch and time to enjoy relax and refresh at the beach.
The next day they traveled to Bri Bri Indigenous Village where the students were able to take a cacao tour, try out some local made chocolate, and eat a fresh Bri Bri lunch, locally grown. In the afternoon they went river kayaking at Punta Uva.
April 15th was an exciting day! The group crossed the border into their second country, Panama! Their first morning in Panama was spent zipping before lunch and exploring Boquete, a small town in western Panama.
The next day, April 17th, the students took a short domestic flight to Panamas capital, Panama City! After lunch in the city they briefly visited Miraflores Locks, which is one of the three locks on the Panama cannel. This specific lock is on the Pacific side and lifts ships 54 feet higher, allowing them to continue to navigate their way through the Panama cannel.
All great things must come to an end, and that’s what happened last Friday, April 18th, when the group traveled back to Boyertown.
Many of BASH’s students who attended the trip look back at it fondly, Bailey Pennington, a junior at BASH who attended the trip, said that “What was most memorable to me was the zip lining and the cacao tour, which was really interesting because they had us involved in the whole process. It was really cool to see how chocolate was made from a plant. I also loved the dance class, it was a lot of fun, along with visiting old town on the last day, which was beautiful.”
While it’s sad to see such an amazing trip come to an end, BASH’s students and staff alike now have lifelong memories, experiences, and friendships thanks to this amazing opportunity.
