Tropical Adventures was born in 2005 out of the founders' personal experiences of immersing themselves in the culture of Costa Rica, learning the language, sharing perspectives with locals and fostering personal and cultural understanding of the people and community through service and volunteering.

Scott Pralinsky and Isaac Garcia didn’t set out to “save the world,” but yet to make a difference in the lives of one person at a time.

Pralinsky says, “When we started out, we really didn’t know what we were doing. We just knew that we wanted to do something to help out our own community. Once we started doing research and getting out to meet all the individual communities and families and hearing their stories it was really hard to figure out where to start. There was so much need out there and, of course, we wanted to help everyone. But we just started one school at a time, one family at a time. And before we knew it, things took off like crazy. Now we look back just a few years later and it’s unbelievable how many people we have helped and how many of those people we consider to be part of our family. It’s the best ‘job’ I’ve ever had in my life.”

Garcia, who grew up in Costa Rica, adds, “In addition to the great feeling of knowing how much we’re helping the people, animals, and the environment here in Costa Rica, I don’t think we knew the extent of the impact the program would have on the people who come to volunteer. Besides the sheer beauty of the country itself, I think people are really blown away by the authenticity, warmth and generosity of the Costa Rican people. Almost 100% of our volunteers leave in tears, having made new friends for life. And a good majority of them come back to visit. It’s really like we have created a big, international family. I love it!”

Scott Pralinsky, is co-founder and Executive Director of the Tropical Adventures Foundation. His previous experience includes 13 years designing and teaching courses to the US Air Force and being a subject matter expert in the area of international crisis response. Outside of his work with the government, Scott also consulted privately for senior executives and board members on merger and acquisition issues for various international corporations, including Smith Barney and Time Warner. Now a Costa Rican citizen, Scott has lived in Costa Rica since 2004 and holds a graduate degree in Spiritual Psychology from the University of Santa Monica.

Isaac Garcia is co-founder and Director of Volunteer Services of the Tropical Adventures Foundation. He holds a bachelors degree in Political Science from the University of Costa Rica and an MA in Spiritual Psychology from the University of Santa Monica. In 2003, after specializing in public policy hoping to learn more about possible solutions for addressing some of Costa Rica’s economic and social issues, Isaac began working for the Minister of Security, specifically with the Department of International Cooperation. In this position, he worked with national and international foundations to create and execute economic and social projects. Isaac loves his work with Tropical Adventures and enjoys his time traveling and with his many animals on his farm.

Project Coordinator Roberto Guzmán was born right here in Cartago and was raised in Alajuela. He holds a degree in Biology from the National University of San José. In January 2008, he decided to leave his science days behind him and is now studying for a masters in Business Administration. Roberto is the friendly voice on the other end of the phone (and computer) who helps each of our volunteers prepare for their trips before they arrive. We're very proud to have Roberto on our team and welcome him warmly.

Mauro Herrera is from right here in Paraíso where our headquarters is. He studied Travel and Tourism in the nearby town of Cartago and then worked as a tour guide and Spanish teacher at La Flor, one of our projects situated in the Central Valley region. Now he’s moved to the Caribbean Coast and works as our volunteer coordinator for all the projects in the Puerto Viejo area.

Ricardo Osorno has lived in the region of Guanacaste all his life. Since graduating from from the Hispanoamericana University with a degree in Advertising, he’s clocked up several years’ experience working freelance in the advertising industry. He’s now our Volunteer Coordinator for the beautiful region of Guanacaste located in the Pacific Northwest. He'll be your Volunteer Coordinator if you choose one of our projects in this beautiful region. His smile is infectious, he loves his job and he is anxious to welcome you to his beautiful country.

Travel Coordinator, Susan Schuetze, comes to us by way of Canada. Having worked most her life in hospitals, Susan has always had the "travel bug" and has been visiting Costa Rica for over 10 years. She feels one of her greatest accomplishments has been raising her two daughters, not only to be bright young adults, but also instilling in them a love of travel. After volunteering with Tropical Adventures in 2007 with the Indigenous Bribri Tribe, Susan decided to make Costa Rica her home. Susan loves helping to plan exciting itineraries for visitors to Costa Rica and ensuring every detail of their visit is well taken care of.