Gap year & Travel News

This year The Leap celebrated our 6th year of gap year volunteer work in Costa Rica! Over that time Leapers have helped with a huge range of projects in the El Silencio Cooperative community, helping the village to unite and develop so that every family has comfortable living conditions and the next generation a brighter [...]

Hi Alice, now that my exams are finished I thought I would take the time to tell you a little about how our trip went, since I don’t think I have sent you a proper message to tell you about it all! The arrival in San Jose was lovely !!  The taxi driver (Henry) was [...]

If your idea of a summer well spent involves powder soft  sand, palm-fringed beaches, surfing the best breaks and swimming through coral reef teeming with tropical fish then look no further (in fact you might as well dig out your bucket and spade now). Most of The Leap’s Summer Teams volunteer on or near some [...]

News just in: our four intrepid Costa Rica Leapers have arrived in San Jose and spent today being briefed by their project co-ordinators Marco and Roberto. As one of Costa Rica’s top-dogs in turtle conservation Roberto gave them a wealth of information about the species they’ll be helping to protect for the next 4 weeks [...]

Last month The Leap’s intrepid Alice headed back to Costa Rica (it’s a tough job!) to see how the projects and communities we’ve been working with since 2006 are coming along. For the past 4 years lovely Leap volunteers have been working at El Silencio community on the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica, helping the [...]

Please be advised that from 9 September 2010, UK travellers looking to enter the United States will be charged £9 ($14) to apply for the compulsory ESTA (Electronic System for Travel Authorisation). This charge will affect Leap volunteers whose flight routing goes via the USA (i.e. some Costa Rica, Ecuador, Argentina and Venezuela teams). Previously [...]

The word adventure incorporates risky, dangerous or uncertain experiences….but an adventure doesn’t have to be dangerous……                Taking a wild expedition in to Costa Rica, an adventure tour in to the pristine rainforests and crystal clear waters of this beautiful central American paradise can be a much safer experience, when travelling with an organisation who will [...]

What makes Costa Rica a HOT HOT HOT destination for Gap years? Let The Leap list the ways… 1. Culture Costa Ricans, also knows as ‘Ticos’ are notoriously warm and welcoming people and make the country a fantastic destination for gap years. Whether it’s coaxing unsuspecting Leapers out of their seats for a bout of [...]

This past week we have been helping to construct a list of the local birds for tourist groups. It was really interesting to get out in to the forest and see beautiful parrots and toucans! We are not too disappointed about not working in the school as we get to see the children in the [...]