Terraventuras jungle expeditions

Placement organization

Name of organization: Terraventuras jungle expeditions
Town/city: Puerto Viejo
Country: Costa Rica
Website: http://terraventuras.com/

Name of student: Merel Zweers

Specialist area: TM
Placement period: 2013-2014

Information about placement organization

Type of organization: touroperator
Organization’s activities: opating tours
guiding tours
selling tours
tailor made tours
Target group of the organization: adventurous healthy people who care about the environment
Company culture: informal –> 2 directing managers
Number of employees: 9
Dress code: casual
Did the organization meet the agreements you made beforehand? yes

Information about your placement

In which department(s) are you working? Tourguiding, back office
Brief description of your daily activities: welkoce the guests
transfer talk to location of tour
giving safety instructions
small talk with guests
guiding tours
manage evaluation forms

tasks related to sustainability
manage improvements
translate documents

Brief description of your company assignment: making a script manual with information about the tours, as a guideline for new guides.
Comment briefly on your supervision by the organization: moderate guidance by collegues

Requirements for students on placement

What kind of personal skills are required for this placement? sociable, responsible, independent,
Additional company requirements for this placement? guiding skills
English: Advanced
Spanish: Basic
French: Basic
German: Basic
Italian: Basic
Other languages:

The trip

Mode of transport to reach your destination: airplane, bus

Accommodation

How did you arrange your accommodation? company
How did you go to work every day? by foot

Visa / work permit / vaccinations

Do you need a visa? no
Do you need a work permit? no
How did you arrange the necessary documents: –
How much time did it take to arrange the necessary documents?
Did you need certain vaccinations? Yes
How long in advance? 2 months

Language course

Did you take a language course before you started your placement? Yes
Would you recommend to have a language course prior to this placement? no

The costs in euros

Travelling expenses (e.g. return ticket): € 750
Accommodation (monthly): € 120
Local transport (monthly): € –
General costs of living (monthly): € 280
Costs of visa: € –
Costs of work permit: € –
What did the company pay for/to you? bicycle, free tours, discount accomodation

Culture

How did you prepare for the country’s culture?
i did not
Did the culture of the country influence your performance during the placement in any way? no

Future students on placement

Future students are free to contact me for further information: Yes
My e-mail address: merelzweers@hotmail.com

Other information

Recommendations on what to do and what not to do: dont walk alone by night

Leisure possibilities in the city/surroundings of where the placement took place: beach, surf, relax, hike, go out,

Media

Youtube link Youtube placement video link