In March of 2009, a group of 18 people were the first Pitzer alumni to experience the Firestone Center as a group. The vast property features rainforest, bamboo forest, five ponds, wildlife including Capuchin monkeys, sloths, toucans, coatis, and poison dart frogs. Faculty will teach the alumni in this unique environment and provide hands-on learning experiences including frog counting, tree planting, water sampling, butterfly observation, petroglyph study and much more. View photos from the 2009 Alumni Trip to Costa Rica.

Testimonials

Getting harnessed up for ziplining
Deborah Patton ’69

My last study abroad program with Pitzer was in 1968, which as it turned out, was a banner year for the history books and a life-changing experience for me.  Being an American in Paris had dubious status based on the cultural upheaval that was taking place in the States, which the French students more than made up for by galvanizing the entire country into a network of strikes and taking their fight into the streets.  I couldn’t have been tear-gassed in a more beautiful city.  So it was with some nostalgia that I decided to take Pitzer up on its latest adventure, Alumni Abroad in Costa Rica.  Part eco boot camp, part cultural immersion and part group bonding, it was a powerful, stimulating, magical, and surprising experience. 

Seeing firsthand the work our students are doing at the Pitzer’s Firestone Center for Restoration Ecology in Baru, Costa Rica was inspiring to say the least – the enthusiasm of the students, the passion of the faculty, and the scope of the work that will welcome generations of students in the future against the back drop of the sheer beauty of the rainforest.  I gained yet another high level and newfound respect for the fragile balance that connects us. 

But there was more!  Exquisite sunsets above endless expansive beaches, floating in our little boat amongst whales, vivid tropical flowers, zip lining through the canopy and the ethereal cloud forests all with the ever-present cacophony of crickets to remind us we were in a whole new world. Costa Rica has many things to fascinate and stimulate the senses: mysterious archeological spheres, the intense greens and fragrant flowers of gently rain-washed plants, fully moonlit starry nights and the menagerie of decorative toucans, playful monkeys, sleepy sloths, mythical butterflies and charming coatis – just off the beaten pathways. 

But above all, there were 10 of us travelers -- alumni ranging in age from 24 to 62 -- interwoven with a shared Pitzer perspective that looks at the world and ourselves -- our place, role and purpose --  from the inside out and then again from the outside in.  I highly recommend Alumni Abroad to anyone who has a sense of adventure, is intellectually curious, wants to make a difference, and, of course, who enjoys the evening cocktail hour ritual with a an interesting group of new friends who are diverse and independent-thinking, emblematic of Pitzer students at every age.

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