Aaron in Costa Rica
Participant
Aaron
Programme
Volunteering
Country
🇨🇷 Costa Rica
Duration
4 weeks
Short bio
Hello, I’m Aaron, 23, and during my gap year I spent 4 weeks volunteering in Costa Rica. I absolutely love travelling, sport and meeting new people, and all of this came together during my time in Costa Rica.
How satisfied were you with the support from Holland?
The support from Holland was good. Ruben gave good, honest advice and always replied quickly. The introductory call also gave a good picture of what my time in Costa Rica would be like.
My story
“Another really great thing about volunteering is that you genuinely connect with local people and learn how they live.”
Aaron · volunteering in Costa Rica
Even though I was ‘only’ in Costa Rica for 4 weeks, I had an incredibly fun and educational time. The first few days definitely took some getting used to and I really had to find my feet. After a few days I started to feel more and more at home, partly thanks to my fun housemates! For most of my time I lived with 9 other housemates of different nationalities, and together we had loads of fun.
What I liked about the volunteering is that it was really varied. From doing sport with young, enthusiastic children to playing games with older people. Another really great thing about volunteering is that you genuinely connect with local people and learn how they live. Now and then things don’t go quite as planned, so it’s important to go into this experience with an open and flexible mindset, and then it’ll all be absolutely fine!
At the weekends we headed out to discover Costa Rica’s stunning nature. From bungee jumping and ziplining in Monteverde National Park to whale watching, in Costa Rica you can do it all! The nature in Costa Rica really blew me away.
All in all it was a really wonderful and rewarding experience!
What advice would you like to give future interns and volunteers?
I think it’s good for everyone to volunteer abroad at some point. It helps your personal development, you get to know a country in a different way and you make new (international) friends. Truly an experience for life!
Aaron’s photos
