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Costa Rica Tours Ltd. Opens Satellite Office in Iowa
Costa Rica Tours Ltd., a U.S.- based tour operator, announces the opening of a new satellite office in eastern Iowa. Bonnie Birker has been working with the company since 2001 and managed the Washington DC office for two years. She actively develops and conducts marketing presentations, designs and escorts tours to Panama and Costa Rica.
Birker relocated to the Vinton area in October this year after living in the Washington DC/Maryland area for 26 years. She grew up in rural Vinton on the family farm and graduated from Iowa State University (home economics education/art education) and University of Iowa (Masters of Social Work). She has worked in a variety of positions as an international development specialist and human services professional utilizing her expertise in community development, micro-enterprise programs and family economics as well as her own landscaping business. She also was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Panama in the 60s.
Costa Rica Tours, Ltd. (CRT), founded in 1998, specializes exclusively in tours to Costa Rica and Panama. Their website is www.mindspring.com/~crtlimited. More than vacation tours, their "educational adventure tours" also seek to increase understanding of the social and economic development of these two countries. Tours to Costa Rica include sights that make the country the #1 destination worldwide for nature and adventure travel. The five-day tour to Panama includes a full transit of the Panama Canal and sights within the country.
They develop groups for scheduled tours primarily in January and February with a full-time naturalist guide and a U.S. staff escort who has served as a development specialist in Costa Rica and/or Panama. Throughout the year, CRT can arrange seven distinct package tours on the dates passengers wish to travel. With its incentive program, one can earn a free trip when a group of 12 or more paying passengers is formed. They also offer discount airfare. Costa Rica Tours, Ltd. has its headquarters in Charlotte, NC, and also has a satellite office in Washington, DC.
Basic info for interview for January 8 - Cedar Rapids Gazette (Neighbors Section)
2. Vinton Woman Continues Peace Corps Links As Tour Operator
Bonnie Birker is a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer who served in Panama from 1967 - 1969. Now she has found a way to continue the Peace Corps mission - in the US as well as Panama - by promoting educational adventures through tourism. Bonnie joined a tour-operating agency, Costa Rica Tours Ltd, in 2001. They are headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina where the owner, Sandra Feldman is also a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer who served in Costa Rica. Their website is www.mindspring.com/~crtlimited.
"We take our Peace Corps experiences and continued consulting in developing countries in Latin America for over a period of 30 years to educate Americans about the country, the culture, its importance in our global economy through speaking engagements, workshops, exhibits, articles, etc.They also design and sometimes escort vacation, education and company incentive tours to 2 of the most popular and most attractive countries of the tropics: Panama and Costa Rica" says Birker. "What's more, the two countries benefit because a key part of their economic development depends on tourists and the dollars they bring to the countries."
Bonnie Birker relocated to the Vinton area in October this year after living in the Washington DC/Maryland area for 26 years. She grew up in rural Vinton on the family farm and graduated from Iowa State University (home economics education/art education) and University of Iowa (Masters of Social Work).
While living in Silver Spring, Maryland, she had numerous professional and personal experiences using her Spanish and continuing her international interests - through consulting work in family planning, appropriate technology, small business training, women's economic development projects, community church projects, neighborhood gatherings, employment of immigrants in a landscaping business, etc. She has worked abroad and in Baltimore, Washington DC and her local Maryland community.
In 2000 she renewed her contacts at the site where she worked in Peace Corps in the 60's. She was amazed to return to a small village in the rural, coastal area of the Azuero peninsula to discover many modern developments such as telephones, improved transportation, iguana ranches, computers, etc. in the village. But most important, old friends and all of their children and grandchildren remembered and continued the friendships from 35 years ago as if she had left only yesterday. The warmth of their hospitality was greater than ever before and that resulted in her plans to return with American tourists. In fact, this year the village of La Enea de Guarare in the province of Los Santos has upgraded their annual cultural fair/ fiesta honoring their patron saint, Don Bosco, and is promoting it for international tourists. It will be held January 28 - 30 and is sponsored by a community group organized by the new Peace Corps volunteer who is living in the community and who has been coordinating plans with Birker.
Birker's goals for the winter months are to travel - and to share the travels with Iowa communities - individuals, groups, schools, museums, and businesses. Now that she's relocated to Vinton, she's ready to provide more learning experiences about these two countries and all that they offer.
Birker is available as a speaker for any groups, schools or organizations who want a current issues discussion, travelogues with slides & video, environmental and rainforest updates, Spanish lessons, etc. about one or both countries. *** With cold weather coming soon, Birker also recommends a vacation trip to the tropics might be the best way to get through the winter. Contact her at 319-472-4587 or bonniebirker@purespeed.com for more information about special destination packages in Costa Rica and Panama and for any speaking opportunities.
3. Basic information for article in Cedar Valley Daily Times, Vinton, Iowa 11/20/02
Vinton Woman Continues Peace Corps Links As Tour Operator
Bonnie Birker is a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer who served in Panama from 1967 - 1969. Now she has found a way to continue the Peace Corps mission - in the US as well as Panama - by promoting educational adventures through tourism. Bonnie joined a tour-operating agency, Costa Rica Tours Ltd, in 2001. They are headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina where the owner, Sandra Feldman is also a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer who served in Costa Rica. Their website is www.mindspring.com/~crtlimited.
"We take our Peace Corps experiences and continued consulting in developing countries in Latin America for over a period of 30 years to educate Americans about the country, the culture, its importance in our global economy through speaking engagements, workshops, exhibits, articles, etc. and arranging and sometimes escorting vacation, education and incentive tours to two of the most popular and most attractive countries of the tropics: Panama and Costa Rica" says Birker. "What's more, the two countries benefit because a key part of their economic development depends on tourists and the dollars they bring to the countries."
Bonnie Birker relocated to the Vinton area in October this year after living in the Washington DC/Maryland area for 26 years. She grew up in rural Vinton on the family farm by the Prairie Creek Church/Highway 150 and graduated from Iowa State University (home economics education/art education) and University of Iowa (Masters of Social Work).
While living in Silver Spring, Maryland, she had numerous professional and personal experiences using her Spanish and continuing her international interests - through consulting work in family planning, appropriate technology, small business training, women's economic development projects, community church projects, neighborhood gatherings, employment of immigrants in a landscaping business, etc. She has worked abroad and in Baltimore, Washington DC and her local Maryland community.
In 2000 she renewed her contacts at the site where she worked in Peace Corps in the 60's. She was amazed to return to a small village in the rural, coastal area of the Azuero peninsula to discover many modern developments such as telephones, improved transportation, iguana ranches, computers, etc. in the village. But most important, old friends and all of their children and grandchildren remembered and continued the friendships from 35 years ago as if she had left only yesterday. The warmth of their hospitality was greater than ever before and that resulted in her plans to return with American tourists. In fact, this year the village of La Enea de Guarare in the province of Los Santos has upgraded their annual cultural fair/ fiesta honoring their patron saint, Don Bosco, and is promoting it for international tourists. It will be held January 28 - 30 and is sponsored by a community group organized by the new Peace Corps volunteer who is living in the community and who has been coordinating plans with Birker.
Birker's goals for the winter months are to travel - and to share the travels with Iowa communities - individuals, groups, schools, museums, and businesses. Now that she's relocated to Vinton, she's ready to provide more learning experiences about these two countries and all that they offer.
She'll be conducting her first public programs in Vinton on two Sundays: Nov. 24 at Vallartas Mexican Restaurant and Dec. 1 at US Bank Community Room. She was delighted to learn that the two of the staff of Vallartas restaurant are from Panama. Sunday's promotional events are scheduled from 2 - 3:30 p.m. For more information, call 319-472-4587. The public is invited to attend.
Birker is also available as a speaker for any groups, schools or organizations who want a current issues discussion, travelogues with slides & video, environmental and rainforest updates, Spanish lessons, etc. about one or both countries.
With cold weather coming soon, Birker also recommends a vacation trip to the tropics might be the best way to get through the winter. Contact her at 319-472-4587 or bonniebirker@purespeed.com for more information about special destination packages in Costa Rica and Panama. Click on a link below for more stories on PCOL
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