COSTA RICA SURVIVAL PROGRAM
The program will take the youth to the roots, providing challenges, growth opportunities, and a wholesome, refreshing break from urban routines.
The students will develop team-building skills and enhance their health physically and spiritually.
As a company, we have numerous missions and purposes, but our most important is to change children's lives and improve their strength, resilience, and love for life.
Day 1
Arrival at the Liberia airport, transfer to the camp. During the afternoon/evening, the presentation of all the participants, rules and regulations and the official schedule of the different activities would take place.
Dinner and preparation of beds and place to sleep.
Day 2
Basics of Survival & Team Building, the camper will experience an overview of the week, learn some basics needed in survival situations, find out what belongs in a survival kit, and learn how to work together as a team.
We will work on the psychology of survival, priorities, situational awareness, and how to focus on survival situations. Students will also learn what to do in an animal encounter, proper knife and axe skills, water purification using modern and primitive technology, survival kit mentality, how planning and preparation are done before going into the wilderness, and eventuality plans or communication devices that should be considered to signal for help should the situation arise.
Day 3
Begin the day by reviewing the skills taught on day 2. We will focus on fire and its many uses. The survival basics class will teach fire-starting methods, including how to effectively start a fire using modern tools and primitive means such as flint and steel and bow drill friction fire set. We will then teach students various fire lays, such as how to make a full-length all-night fire and a fire pit. It will show the importance of fire in a survival situation. It provides a way to purify water, cook food, regulate body temperature, improve mental state, and prevent hypothermia.
Learn new techniques to improve starting a fire in the worst conditions, including swamps, saturated wood, no wood, and more. Mastering the ferro rod. Fire lays and fire as a shelter by itself with other components. Cooking survival bread and using fire to sustain life as more than a microclimate.
Day 4
Students will learn basic knot-tying and techniques for creating tarps and expedient emergency shelters. Instructors will demonstrate how to build a cover that will keep you warm and dry or cool and shaded, depending on the environment you find yourself in. Students will be instructed on safe site selection and correct placement. Students can then build an emergency shelter using the skills and techniques taught throughout the day. The day is completed with a final lesson where students will be tasked with a practical exercise combining and utilizing skills previously learned on previous days.
Day 5
Using location as a shelter component and finding the best shelter location. Review of using clothing as a shelter by itself and for comfort. The trash bag survival systems.
Thatching roofs and other shelter techniques for areas without large amounts of leaves and other commonly used primitive shelter resources.
Beds, beds, beds: the often rushed, and most important part of almost any shelter will be reviewed and added onto. Not just survive but sleep so well that you must set an alarm to wake up the next day.
Review of knots most commonly used to effect canopy and primitive shelters.
Day 6
Visit to Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve. Monteverde is world-renowned for protecting one of the most pristine Cloud Forest on Earth. Cloud Forests are unique ecosystems as they only represent less than 1% of the remaining forests on the planet's surface.
Cloud forests are found in tropical regions where the clouds intersect the mountain ranges.
Biodiversity is an intrinsic characteristic of the Monteverde Cloud Forest. It is estimated that about 50% of Costa Rica’s biodiversity may be found within this area. To date, more than 3200 species of plants have been found in Monteverde.
Monteverde is home to 425 species of birds, 120 species of mammals, 60 species of amphibians and 101 species of reptiles. A total of 658 species of butterflies and 100 species of dragonflies and damselflies have been recorded.
Day 7
Day hike. Students will have a day of going into the forest. Explore local paths. They will practice using maps and compasses, first aid kits, repair kits, and other survival tools. The trails are in and around the camp; the students will observe nature and learn to deal with being far from any modern comfort.
Day 8
Students will be taught how to process plant materials to create a primitive string. This skill is crucial when modern resources are scarce. The string made in class will be utilized to construct an effective survival trap. Students will learn the fundamentals of trapping through hands-on experience with natural materials. They will be taught to create primitive traps and have the opportunity to build some of their own. In addition, they will learn how to make snare wire traps and take a walk to identify the best places to set traps.
Day 9
On the ninth day of the course, students will delve into advanced primitive fire-making techniques, including the bow drill friction fire method. Additionally, they will take a short plant walk to be introduced to a handful of plants with edible, medicinal, poisonous, and valuable properties.
Day 10
Around 60 percent of our body is water; we can only live three to five days without fluids.
Water needs to be looked at differently from season to season and environment to environment. People must know how to get water where there is none, purify water, get rid of chemicals, and survive with other contaminated waters such as salt water or heavy metal farm water. Water should be one of the skills that every adventurer indeed masters.
Day 11
We are going fishing and learning to clean and cook. Your first bite of fresh fish can be unforgettable, especially when you're the one who caught it.
Prepping freshly caught fish for the campfire can be intimidating, causing some outdoor enthusiasts to freeze. Students will learn that cleaning and filleting the fish isn't as complicated as they might think. Everything is forgotten once you taste a fish cooked over the campfire.
Day 12
A day of review of notes, and analysis of everything that happened during the season, each student will present their point of view, what they learned, what they liked the most, and what they did not like, in addition to talking about the changes that have occurred personally, not having access to technology and other issues that each considers essential.
In the afternoon, travel to a resort to spend the night and the next day at the beach, a couple of days of relaxation. There will be group meetings to continue sharing each activity. Friendships at these camps last a lifetime.
Day 13
If there is an opportunity, students can take a lesson on surfing the waves. They will spend the whole day at the beach and relax for the return trip the next day.
Day 14
Liberia airport, returning home.
The day of each program may vary depending on the weather.
At the end of each day, the participants will discuss the day's activities and an analysis of current global situations. One of the students, chosen randomly, will present what was discussed to the group.
When finished, one of the students, chosen randomly, will work with the counselors to prepare the activities for the following day and will be in charge of giving the orders and following the processes under the counselor's supervision for each activity.