Family Travel

[rootsinsa]

As a family, we are interested in experiencing a cultural immersion type trip in a South American country. Currently we are trying to decide on which country to visit (Ecuador, Costa Rica, Peru or Nicaragua) and much depends on where we are able to connect with the right person, who could guide or direct us. It is clear that as a tourist the success of our adventure will largely depend on making the best choices for our family. Our children have been given permission by their school district to go on this trip and that is another reason that an authentic experience with an opportunity for us as a family to give back to the community within which we will live, in some form or fashion, is important. Our objective is to experience real life there and live in this the country as the local people do. We do want to experience the country, the landscapes and the surroundings, however the primary reason for us doing this is not for a typical family vacation, but for experiencing the true depth and diversity and wealth of living life in a country different to our own.
We want to stay in a local community, preferably close to the sea. We would hope to have some kind of language immersion or teaching on a daily or weekly basis, where a local person, who could be a teacher or simply a local person, would possibly spend some time in the mornings or evenings with us, teaching us the language.
One of our objectives is also to learn some new skills while in this country, for example, learning Spanish, learning to scuba dive or snorkel, learning to fish etc.
We would like to do some trips and activities to experience the land and the attractions, and the beauty of the surroundings, and the country we are in, but we would also like to see and experience those places that are not the typical sites found in tourist brochures. A very important aspect of this trip for us as a family, is to be involved, for some of the time, in some community service depending on what is available there, be it a school, preschool, building, some land clearing, planting of trees, old age home, community center. It is important to us that our children, who will be 12 and 15 by then, will be able to contribute their time, efforts and energies too. At the outset of us planning this trip, we would like to know if you could suggest a local contact for us who could direct us, and guide us, as to how we can arrange and get in touch with the right people and places so that we can make these goals more clear for our trip.
We want to rent a house close to the beach but preferably not the typical tourist/holiday maker type place. We would like to live in a small village type set up, so that we can experience life there as a local, not as tourists. We plan to stay there for the month of December.

Any suggestions or guidance would be appreciated.
steve