Leadership Series: Part 4 of 7

What do they do with all of those skills?

This "Leadership Series" hopes to answer this question for seven Leadership alumni, one each week until the next Leadership Semester course begins on April 2nd.

Leadership Alumna #4: Donna White

Leadership Course: Spring 2007

Hometown: New Bern, NC

Currently: While awaiting her return to instruct more Costa Rica Outward Bound courses this summer, Donna is helping her long-time friend run her 30-year-old restaurant, Stanley Hall Cafe in Oriental, NC by cooking and serving. This summer will be her fourth return to instruct Costa Rica Outward Bound students, having already instructed over 100 students in over 20 courses.

Reasons Enrolled: Donna was ready for a change in life. With a passion for nature, she wanted to work it into a living. It was also important that she find something through which she could make a difference and work with young people, empowering and guiding them.

Future Aspirations: To continue her career in outdoor/experiential education, possibly all over the world. It's most exciting for her to continue empowering young people and giving them the opportunity to live "outside the box" and be anything they want to be. Mainly, though, she wants to continue instructing for Costa Rica Outward Bound, as she really relates to its philosophy and values. In an unrelated topic, Donna has also always wanted to write a cook book. She has a background in culinary arts, and hopes to combine that with her experiences in the great outdoors by including many different kinds of recipes for in and out of the home.

Favorite Course Moment: Donna couldn't choose between three of her favorite course moments.
1) "We were learning Swift Water Rescue and had to float freely down the rapids with only a personal flotation device. I thought 'I don't want to do that!' Then Phil assured me that I could, but I didn't have to do it. After doing it with motivation from my coursemates, I felt empowered. I never in my life would have ever done anything like that."
2) After a long hike the group was covered in mud, and Donna never remembers being so covered in her whole life. They took advantage of the situation and decided to finish the final part of their hike to Orlando's rolling down the hill in more mud.
3) The homestays. Within one week, Donna had three incredibly strong 'deja vus.' It wasn't just these experiences that connected her so strongly to the village life there, but also it is when she felt the most at peace and most spiritually/physically balanced than ever before.

Quote: "I have always lived by Thoreau's quote, 'Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you've imagined.' I think everyone can benefit from these words."



Click to read about past profiled Leaders:

Leadership Alumnus #1, Sean Marr

Leadership Alumnae #2, Amy Nicolson

Leadership Alumnae #3, Heidi Ruckriegle

The Costa Rica Outward Bound Leadership Semester is meant to prepare students in such a way that they can use the skills they develop to use in a career and/or any leadership role. This 60-day experience consists of: earning nine internationally-recognized certifications and 12 school credits; learning how to surf, kayak, raft, rappel, camp, and scuba dive; and facing the challenges and responsibilities involved with any Outward Bound course.

Course Updates

With all the activities and locations, it can be hard for families & friends to keep track of students in the field. All our current courses will transition phases soon, so we expect them all on base (in San Ramon de Tres Rios) this week. We’ll do our best to get photos- read below to catch up on their adventures!

Water & Wave (day 16 of 70): Water & Wave students began their journey in Costa Rica with a week-long trek to Piedras Blancas, where they rappelled down a waterfall, spent a night alone in the jungle for their solo, and experienced life in the Costa Rican countryside. Students backpacked to the coast where they began surfing! They’ve been surfing & volunteering at the turtle refugre on Playa Tulin (read for more info.), and arrived at our beach base on Manuel Antonio on Saturday for more surfing.

What’s next? Panama with Tri-Country! Both courses will get scuba certified, wakeboard, and sail in the archipelago of Bocas del Toro in Panama.

See this video for what students can expect in Bocas del Toro:



Tri-Country (day 52 of 85): Tri-Country left 8 days ago to paddle up the Rio San Juan, the border between Nicaragua & Costa Rica. They will take a tour of El Castillo (read this article for more info.) as well as visit San Juan del Norte.

What’s next? Panama with Water & Wave! Both courses will get scuba certified, wakeboard, and sail in the archipelago of Bocas del Toro in Panama. See video above.


OB USA: Both patrols of OB USA have been paddling on the Rio General, in class III-IV rapids. They have been kayaking & rafting on the river for a week, learning swift water rescue & how to guide.

What’s next? Six days of lifeguard training, surfing, and staying at the turtle refuge at Playa Tulin (read this article for more info) on the Central Pacific coast.

Fiesta at Piedras Blancas

by Debbie Mayer

On Sat., Feb. 20th, & Laura Statesir got to join the families in Piedras Blancas for their annual party. Family & friends all gathered by the school in Piedras Blancas for an all-day affair of soccer, food, music, and great company.

Piedras Blancas is not only where our students conduct homestays, but also the hometown of most of our Costa Rican instructors. See our previous blog entry for a family tree of the 18 children of Doña Flor and Don Hormidas and find out what students learn from their homestays.

Getting to Piedras Blancas is no easy accomplishment (as any of our students can tell you). The fastest way to PB is from Brujo, a tiny village about 2 hours from the city of San Isidro. From Brujo, a 6 km trail leads to Piedras Blancas. The trek took us 4 hours (but Carlos Granados tells us that it takes him under 2.5). Most visitors ride horses for the journey- which will cut off some time.

The Piedras Blancas fiesta isn’t just a party- the goal is to raise money for the school & town. A lot of preparation goes into the party- families must bring in all the supplies and spend days cooking to get ready. Piedras Blancas residents cook all day, and they sell delicious Costa Rican food & drinks at cheap prices. In addition to selling food, there were ongoing raffles for small prizes. Laura won a towel!

The party was another great reminder of how Piedras Blancas really is the heart of Costa Rica Outward Bound. Orlando Zamora tells us that the town raised 500,000 colones, almost $1,000. They will decide as a group how to best use this money.

Leadership Series: Part 3 of 7

What do they do with all of those skills?

This "Leadership Series" hopes to answer this question for seven Leadership alumni, one each week until the next Leadership Semester course begins on April 2nd.

Click to read about:

Leadership Alumnus #1, Sean Marr

Leadership Alumnae #2, Amy Nicolson

Leadership Alumna #3: Heidi Ruckriegle

Leadership Course: 2009, Fall Semester

Hometown: Breckenridge, CO

University: University of Colorado, Boulder

Currently: After her Costa Rica Outward Bound Leadership course last fall, Heidi was asked to work as an instructor this fall. She is currently leading the Tri-Country Semester course, and she has 44 more days with her nine students!

Reasons Enrolled: Education was her key priority, but she wanted a break in between undergrad and law school. Heidi wanted to feel productive in this year off. When she found the Costa Rica Outward Bound Leadership course, she was immediately attracted to its experiential education, Spanish development, international travel opportunity, and its athletic challenges.

Future Aspirations: Heidi wants to go to law school next, and she finds out if DU or CU accepts her into their programs in April! In the long term, she wants to run a library/gallery café in Colorado someday. This venue would be a comforting and relaxing cafe to which local artists and authors could submit their work and get exposure.

Favorite Course Moment: Every moment in which Heidi was heading to a new place and had a time to reflect on the beautiful surroundings. For example, in the vans viewing the countryside, rafting down a tranquil river section admiring the riverbanks and cliffs, and admiring a mountain range on a long hike.

Quote: "Nothing is impossible…. The biggest thing I learned is that the human body is capable of anything… and overcoming any challenge."

The Costa Rica Outward Bound Leadership Semester is meant to prepare students in such a way that they can use the skills they develop to use in a career and/or any leadership role. This 60-day experience consists of: earning nine internationally-recognized certifications and 12 school credits; learning how to surf, kayak, raft, rappel, camp, and scuba dive; and facing the challenges and responsibilities involved with any Outward Bound course.

Celebrating the Arrival of Equipment

Out with the old, and in with the shiny rafts, brilliant yellow z-rests, and stain-free backpacks.

We thought we would involve you in our celebration, seeing as though the process in acquiring new equipment is far from easy, as we are located out in the rainforests of Costa Rica.

What takes so long?

It is a combination of needing good, quality USA items and deciding which items will be best suitable for the land and rivers we explore with students. It’s not as convenient as one would expect this day and age.

To choose a raft, for example, we had to consider:
• Group Size: Obviously, a bigger group requires a bigger raft.
• River Width: Think about manueverability you want from the raft.
• River Needs: Consider rough vs. calm water, windy vs. straight rivers, many vs. few rocks.
• Shape: Oval for turning easier? Square back for stability in rough water? Pointed nose for maintaining a straight direction? An oar boat for heavy gear?

To acquire the rafts, we had to:
1. Research brand quality of rafts to choose a distributor.
2. Find a way to ship 300 pounds of rafts from USA to Costa Rica.
3. Separate two rafts into six large, 50-pound boxes.
4. Ship boxes to Outward Bound USA students.
5. Check all huge boxes with luggage.
6. Pick up the boxes at the airport.
7. Reassemble six parts into two 14-foot elliptical rafts.

The end result? Two USA-made, 14-foot rafts of elliptical shape and with pointed noses.
Jim Rowe, our Executive Director, proudly explained, “These rafts are narrower which makes it easier to maneuver in Costa Rica’s technical waters.”

Celebrate good times... C’mon.