Staying Alive! How the “Survivorman” is helping Costa Rica Outward Bound

It’s been said that knowledge is of no value unless you put it into practice. When it comes to putting knowledge of wilderness survival into practice, few do it better than Les Stroud.

Stroud was the host of the popular Discovery Channel program, Survivorman, and is also a filmmaker, outdoor adventurer, singer/songwriter and author. And it is his book, Survive! Essential Skills and Tactics to Get You Out of Anywhere – Alive, that Costa Rica Outward Bound will use this summer when it runs its very first Jungle Survival Course from July 17 through August 9.

“I reviewed several books about wilderness survival while we designed this course,” said Executive Director, Dr. James Rowe. “I found Stroud’s book to be both comprehensive for the needs of our course as well as accessible for our students.”

Stroud’s book covers a wide range of topics for a wide range of environments – including the rainforest. Chapters cover areas including trip planning and preparation, acquiring essential resources such as water, fire, food and shelter, and the psychological aspects of survival.

For example, he reviews the five mental keys to survival:

• Maintain the will to live
• Confront and manage the situation
• Acquire knowledge
• Adapt and use ingenuity
• Go with the flow of nature

The easy-to-read text is peppered with engaging anecdotes, illustrative photos, as well as a host of very practical tips for staying healthy and safe in extreme conditions.

Lessons from the book – along with the local knowledge of our Tico instructors – will be taught throughout the Jungle Survival Course. Students will learn a range of practical survival skills including building a shelter from available materials, fire starting, finding drinkable water, and First Aid.

But it’s not all about survival. After all, this is still Costa Rica Outward Bound. The course spans an adventure-packed 24 days including rafting, surfing, hiking, staying with indigenous families exploring volcanoes and participating in a service project.

This mix of fun and wilderness survival will be more than carried out by what Scott (our Associate Program Director) calls, "The Power Pair."

He's talking about Orlando Zamora (center photo) and Lisa Purul (photo on right). Orlando is arguably the most knowledgeable Tico when it comes to Costa Rica, the flora and fauna, and the environment in general. Simply put, he's our very own Tico MacGyver. And Lisa, well, let's just say she graduated from the United States Air Force Academy and won both the Tallahassee Marathon and the Great Floridian Ironman.

Survivorman (photo on left) may have a lot of knowledge to impart to Costa Rica Outward Bound, but Orlando and Lisa have a combined expertise level to disorient Mr. Survivor himself.

New Season, New Look

They have finally arrived.


And by "finally," we mean six months of discussions, office meetings, visits by Carlos Vargas (our spirited and devoted Tico t-shirt distributor), visits to the fabric factories, and long-distance communication with Kat Lusher (the designer) in San Francisco, California.


Yes, it's been a long time since the day Debbie, our Marketing Coordinator, frantically informed us, "we need to order more shirts!" last December.

Brainstorming started immediately.  We noted four requirements when we first started talking:

• our organization's name must stand out
• no "Tico fit" (meaning, they will not be three-sizes-too-small belly shirts) 
• softer, more comfortable fabric
• a design that works for all ages

Now we not only have a new shirt, but a new URL to go with it! We introduce you to:


www.costaricaoutwardbound.org


(But not to worry because www.crrobs.org will still forward to this new address.)


The women's shirts have their own style and color (turquoise), and the men's shirts have two colors (the light blue and gray):

As you can see, we are all pretty excited about our trendy new look.  Cheesy?  Yes.  Comfy?  Definitely.  

For Sale?  Of course!  The cost of $15 covers international shipping and credit card fees. Send your shipping address and the credit card authorization form to alumni@crrobs.org.  Unlike large tuition payments, you do not need to send us copies of your credit card and ID.

A big "Gracias" goes out to the Communications Office, Carlos Vargas, Esther Garcia (ou accountant who had to deal with a lot of confusing quotes and prices), and especially to Kat Lusher (who also designed a new logo for us)! 

Photos taken on June 14, 2010 when much of the staff was around base preparing for busy season to start.  Back row, left to right: Carola (Instructor), Ana Maria (Instructor), Alexandra (Instructor), Debbie (Communications Office), Shawn (Communications Office), Santiago (Instructor), Donna (Instructor), Orlando (Instructor), Antonio (Instructor and Logistics Manager). Front row, left to right: Elizabeth (Communications Office), Scott (Programming Office), Bandido (base mascot), Laura (Programming Office), Maggie (Communications Office), Danny (Instructor and Logistics), Manuela (Instructor).  

The Journeys School: Reflections

"A very fun, challenging, educational and exciting adventure."

This seemed to be a running theme among the nine students and one chaperone attending their annual Senior Class trip to Costa Rica this June. Luckily, this is the response we hoped they would have given the Journeys curriculum requirement as part of their Teton Science Schools umbrella. (Read more about what this unique curriculum on last week's blog.)

There seemed to be an overall consensus about a few other points:
MOST CHALLENGING: hiking!
BEST: homestays, environment immersion
BIGGEST LEARNING EXPERIENCE: not knowing plans, rugged living


We couldn't group all of their comments into a few categories, however. They had a lot to say on their evaluation forms:

"I really loved seeing all the different wildlife -- snakes, alligators, toucans, parrots, monkeys. I also really like the homestay with Santiago and his family; I thought that it was one of the most valuable things I've ever experienced."

"The Tinamu Ranch experience was fantastic."

"I would recommend it to anyone for a new challenging experience."

"It was an incredible experience in which I was able to grow closer to my classmates and immerse myself in Costa Rican culture."

"[My positive highlight was] the feeling of accomplishment."

"I would recommend CRROBS to any of my friends and family because the rainforest is AWESOME!"



And we'd like to conclude with a possible new slogan for Costa Rica Outward Bound:

"It was the adventure of a lifetime."

Underwater Explorers: Meet Their Instructors

Not only are the eight Girl Scouts (arriving on Monday) coming to Costa Rica as our first course of our infamous "Busy Season," but they are also the premier group for our Underwater Explorers course.

Costa Rica Outward Bound has run courses similar to UE's Costa Rica phase (including hiking, homestays, service and rafting) and other courses similar to its Panama phase (including sailing, scuba diving, and wakeboarding), but they've never been combined for one of our Girl Scouts Destination* courses.

Who better to lead these fine young women into new challenges than veteran instructor, Donna White, and two of our newest - and highly skilled - female instructors, Mariana and Erin?

Without further ado, let's introduce them:


Donna White, Land Instructor
Hometown: New Bern, NC
About: While she can be tough on her students (for their own good, of course), nobody can help ending a conversation with "Yes, Donna. You're right." It must be that adorable southern accent. That, and Donna has a lot of experience and skills in a multitude of areas. She has fixed up boats, cooked in a sorority house, led yoga, and helped out friends at fundraisers such as a crepe chef extraordinaire at festivals.
Read more: Leadership profile




Mariana Delgado, Land and Surf Instructor
Hometown: San Diego, California
About: Mariana's younger sister (and fellow Girl Scout), Alexandra, actually found Costa Rica Outward Bound first when she came on one of our Catching Waves courses last year (and will be here again this summer for the third Underwater Explorers course). Nevertheless, Mariana was made for leading Girl Scouts in the water with us in Costa Rica. Not only did she grew up in a bilingual Spanish/English home and swim competitively for 10 years with USA Swimming Association, but Mariana achieved her Girl Scouts of America Gold, Silver and Leadership Awards. There are a few more interesting things to ask her about when you come to spend 15 days with her: she has lifeguarded, worked as a Watersports Youth Counselor, knows American Sign Language, and came here straight from Norway where she was an Au Pair!




Erin Miller, Land Instructor
Hometown: Carver, MA
About: Erin has been living a leader's life in her professional years making her more than ready to be one of our new instructors here in Costa Rica. She has worked with youth in many different roles, including work as a Youth Specialist in the Division of Youth Services of Missouri, as a Course Facilitator at Leadership Ranch, and even as an instructor with one of our fellow OB charter schools, Thompson Island Outward Bound. And in addition to helping youth, she can't get enough of the outdoors. Bienvenida, chica!

*The Destinations program, on behalf of Girl Scouts USA, is a chance for members to participate in enriching travel and adventure opportunities, ages 11-18. Girl Scouts must apply through their respective Councils. Applications consist of an essay explaining their ambition to attend, two recommendations describing her as a qualified participant, and a general Q&A portion.

Costa Rica Outward Bound has been a Destination location for more than five years. In 2010, there are four Destinations for ages 13-18: Underwater Explorers, Rainforest River & Reef, Service Challenge, and Catching Waves. Click on the studio2b links on their respective crrobs.org pages to find the applications.

Yankee Gringos Came to Town

University of Alabama students wouldn't have guessed any of their days to end to the tune of "Yankee Doodle" when they came here in May as part of their Alabama Action Abroad program.

But before bed one evening, as the nightly meeting was coming to an end, the Cacique cued AJ Collins, the Hanashita, to read his account of the day's activities. To their surprise, he cleared his throat, and began singing "Yankee Gringos* Came to Town."

(To sing the words below to the right tune, listen to the song here.)

Yankee Gringos came to town
A ridin' in a truck
Amubri- a BriBri town
The roosters gave a cluck

Yankee students went to paint
And fill in giant holes
Hanashita, Shaman, trapo
These were all our roles

Yankee teachers were we all
And children came a grinning
Teachers loved to teach english
The soccer games we're winning

Yankee students roused themselves
To eat some yummy flakes
Some students stayed to make trash cans
And no one saw some snakes

Yankee gatherers went to hunt
For yuca and plantains
Never did a single think
The day would end in pains

Tico Andre came to learn
To bother and to play
However his hormones were out of whack
And he wanted to love McKaye

Yankee tourists went to swim
But Sergio had plans
Decided we should take a trip
Over muddy mountains

Yankees AJ and Elise
Adorned some sweet flipflops
But down the mountain did they slide
And never could they stop

Tico thorns were lurking there
And waiting for some feet
Alas, alas poor AJ fell
And there alaid his treat

Many many Yankees swam
And floated down the creek
Thank God- Jules on horsey came
And no one crossed the peak

Yankee AJ came to camp
A ridin' on a horsey
Had 40 thorns in his feet
Was feeling a little worse-y

Yankee clothing smelled like must
Trey nearly flashed poor Wahnee
Before the trip the Yankees thought
that wearing dirt was gaudy

But Yankees now just sat and hoped
That camp had underwear
And Rachel looking through her bag
Found leggings- in fact 2 pair

Yankee Julia was naked
Under her sleeping bag
Changed into her underwear
Without even a snag

So, in short, Yankees enjoyed Amubri
The BriBri tribe was great
And now we leave this awesome town
Suretka awaits our fate

So though the bugs came biting true
And bat attacked McKaye
Our time here in Amubri's done
There's nothing more to say



Couldn't have sang it better ourselves.


*gringo is term for a foreigner in Latin America