Sample Itinerary: Puerto Rico

For a PDF Slideshow of the 2008 Puerto Rico Program Click Here!

Day 1

Mainland US teachers arrive and meet teachers in Puerto Rico.

Tour the Vieques National Wildlife Reserve learning about the dry tropical forest and mangroves. That evening, walk the beaches at night in search of nesting sea turtles. Learn about the community effort to protect these turtles.

Learn about marine ecosystems by snorkeling during the day and jumping into a bioluminescent bay at night.

Travel back to mainland Puerto Rico to visit El Yunque National Forest.

Learn about the educational and outreach programs at El Yunque. Enjoy an interpretive hike to La Mina Falls. And learn about the Puerto Rican Parrot Aviary.

Waking very early, travel to El Yunque and engage in an experience of a lifetime: The Forest Awakens-Birds in the Mist, a guided bird watch. Then after lunch, travel to Mata de Platano, a field station of InterAmerican University of Puerto Rico-Bayamon Campus, for a bat biology workshop that evening.

Explore karst topography in northwestern Puerto Rico during an interpretive hike. That afternoon travel to Hacienda Verde, a non-governmental organization in Puerto Rico.

Engage in a teacher workshop on watershed management at Hacienda Verde.

Tour through the coffee plantation at Hacienda Verde and learn about different sustainable agriculture. During a teacher workshop, learn about different activities that can be done to engage students through environmental education.

Day 11

Travel to Ponce for a cultural tour to learn about Puerto Rico's history. 

Study tropical forest ecology at Hacienda Verde and learn teaching methods and activities you can use in your classroom.

Participate in a service learning project at Hacienda Verde. Celebrate that night as a farewell party.

Day 14

Saying good-bye to teachers from Puerto Rico. Travel to San Juan and have the afternoon free in the city.