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Caravan Tours is one of the oldest guided tour companies in the United States, having begun selling escorted travel tours in 1952. The company has been under the same family management and ownership since then. The company's tours are popular, and they frequently sell-out, especially in the summertime and fall. [1]
In 1966, the television journalist Roger Mudd hosted a two-hour travel special on CBS, utilizing Caravan Tours for the production. [2] The success of that show inspired the 1969 romantic comedy film If It's Tuesday, This Must Be Belgium .
Caravan is the largest tour operator to Panama and Nova Scotia. [3] [4]
Caravan's Costa Rica tour is recommended by Mailpound, an information resource for travel agents. [5] It is also recommended for families by Homeschool Magazine. [6]
Caravan Tours is a member of the American Society of Travel Agents, the National Tour Association, Cruise Lines International Association, and an allied member of the Alliance of Canadian Travel Agencies.
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Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, and maritime border with Ecuador to the south of Cocos Island. It has a population of around five million in a land area of 51,060 km2 (19,710 sq mi). An estimated 333,980 people live in the capital and largest city, San José, with around two million people in the surrounding metropolitan area.
The economy of Costa Rica has been very stable for some years now, with continuing growth in the GDP and moderate inflation, though with a high unemployment rate: 11.49% in 2019. Costa Rica's economy emerged from recession in 1997 and has shown strong aggregate growth since then. The estimated GDP for 2017 is US$61.5 billion, up significantly from the US$52.6 billion in 2015 while the estimated 2017 per capita is US$12,382.
Homeschooling or home schooling, also known as home education or elective home education (EHE), is the education of school-aged children at home or a variety of places other than a school. Usually conducted by a parent, tutor, or an online teacher, many homeschool families use less formal, more personalized and individualized methods of learning that are not always found in schools. The actual practice of homeschooling can look very different. The spectrum ranges from highly structured forms based on traditional school lessons to more open, free forms such as unschooling, which is a lesson- and curriculum-free implementation of homeschooling, to not educating children at all. Some families who initially attended a school go through a deschool phase to break away from school habits and prepare for homeschooling. While "homeschooling" is the term commonly used in North America, "home education" is primarily used in Europe and many Commonwealth countries. Homeschooling should not be confused with distance education, which generally refers to the arrangement where the student is educated by and conforms to the requirements of an online school, rather than being educated independently and unrestrictedly by their parents or by themselves.
Nicaragua pursues an independent foreign policy. A participant of the Central American Security Commission (CSC), Nicaragua also has taken a leading role in pressing for regional demilitarization and peaceful settlement of disputes within states in the region.
A multiple listing service is an organization with a suite of services that real estate brokers use to establish contractual offers of cooperation and compensation and accumulate and disseminate information to enable appraisals. A multiple listing service's database and software is used by real estate brokers in real estate, representing sellers under a listing contract to widely share information about properties with other brokers who may represent potential buyers or wish to work with a seller's broker in finding a buyer for the property or asset. The listing data stored in a multiple listing service's database is the proprietary information of the broker who has obtained a listing agreement with a property's seller.
A travel agency is a private retailer or public service that provides travel and tourism-related services to the general public on behalf of accommodation or travel suppliers to offer different kinds of travelling packages for each destination. Travel agencies can provide outdoor recreation activities, airlines, car rentals, cruise lines, hotels, railways, travel insurance, package tours, insurance, guide books, VIP airport lounge access, arranging logistics for luggage and medical items delivery for travellers upon request, public transport timetables, car rentals, and bureau de change services. Travel agencies can also serve as general sales agents for airlines that do not have offices in a specific region. A travel agency's main function is to act as an agent, selling travel products and services on behalf of a supplier. They are also called Travel Advisors. They do not keep inventory in-hand unless they have pre-booked hotel rooms or cabins on a cruise ship for a group travel event such as a wedding, honeymoon, or other group event.
Claudia Maria Poll Ahrens is a former Costa Rican swimmer who competed in the 200 m to 800 m freestyle events. She is Costa Rica's only Olympic gold-medalist, having won the country's first Olympic gold medals at the 1996 Olympics in the 200 meter freestyle. She is a multiple national record holder in the freestyle events.
Rigoberto Alpizar was a Costa Rican-born United States citizen who was fatally shot at Miami International Airport by two United States Federal Air Marshals.
Contiki is a New Zealand tour company that caters to 18- to 35-year-olds. It operates tours in Europe, Australia, New Zealand, North America, South America, Africa, Middle East and Asia. It is a subsidiary of The Travel Corporation. Its tours historically had a reputation for partying. However, in recent years the brand has evolved in many different directions, promoting wellness trips vegan trips and focussing more on culturally immersive experiences.
Nature Air was a regional airline headquartered in San José, Costa Rica that offered a scheduled service to a range of tourist destinations in Costa Rica, Panama and Nicaragua. It operated scheduled domestic and international services, as well as charter services with turboprop aircraft. Its hub, operations and maintenance base was Juan Santamaría International Airport (SJO) having moved in 2013 from its original location at Aeropuerto Internacional Tobías Bolaños (SYQ). Claiming to be the world's first carbon neutral airline, it was one of the first airlines to publicize its sustainability credentials during a period of rapidly-expanding interest in eco-tourism. Nature Air received a number of awards, including a Global Vision Award for Sustainability from Travel + Leisure magazine in 2011. Its fleet consisted primarily of DHC-6 Twin Otter and Cessna 208 Grand Caravan turboprop aircraft that were ideally suited to short takeoff and landing characteristics of its destinations which often featured gravel or limited-paved landing strips. In 2010, Nature Air advertised 74 daily flights to 15 destinations in Costa Rica, Nicaragua and Panama. On 31 December 2017, all 10 passengers and two pilots aboard Nature Air Flight 9916 were killed in an aerodynamic stall shortly after takeoff from Punta Islita airstrip. Although the accident was ultimately determined by the NTSB to have been caused by pilot error, Nature Air stopped flying in January 2018 and its operating license was indefinitely suspended by the civil aviation authority of Costa Rica on May 2, 2018 leading to the closure of the airline.
Ernesto de Quesada López Chaves was the Cuban-born impresario who founded Conciertos Daniel, the classical music management agency now known as Hispania Clásica.
Magazine Street is a major thoroughfare in New Orleans, Louisiana. Like Tchoupitoulas Street, St. Charles Avenue, and Claiborne Avenue, it follows the curving course of the Mississippi River. The street took its name from an ammunition magazine located in this vicinity during the 18th-century colonial period.
Christopher P. Baker is a professional travel writer and photographer, adventure motorcyclist, tour leader, and Cuba expert, and the 2008 Lowell Thomas Award 'Travel Journalist of the Year.' He is a contributor to magazines and other publications worldwide, and is the author of travel guidebooks for publishers such as Dorling Kindersley, Lonely Planet, Moon Publications, and National Geographic.
BK3 were an American rock band led by Grateful Dead drummer Bill Kreutzmann. Kreutzmann formed the band in 2008 with Max Creek guitarist Scott Murawski and Allman Brothers Band bassist Oteil Burbridge.
Sports chiropractic is a specialty of chiropractic. It generally requires post-graduate coursework and a certification or diplomate status granted by a credentialing agency recognized in a practitioner's region.
Tourism in Costa Rica has been one of the fastest growing economic sectors of the country and by 1995 became the largest foreign exchange earner. Since 1999, tourism has earned more foreign exchange than bananas, pineapples and coffee exports combined. The tourism boom began in 1987, with the number of visitors up from 329,000 in 1988, through 1.03 million in 1999, over 2 million in 2008, to a historical record of 2.66 million foreign visitors in 2015. In 2012, tourism contributed with 12.5% of the country's GDP and it was responsible for 11.7% of direct and indirect employment. In 2009, tourism attracted 17% of foreign direct investment inflows, and 13% in average between 2000 and 2009. In 2010, the tourism industry was responsible for 21.2% of foreign exchange generated by all exports. According to a 2007 report by ECLAC, tourism contributed to a reduction in poverty of 3% in the country.
Nathalia Alfaro Paniagua is a beach volleyball player from Costa Rica, who played in the Swatch FIVB World Tour 2005 at the Acapulco step, playing with Ingrid Morales.
Marty Essen is an American naturalist, author, photographer, and professional speaker. He has written seven books, Cool Creatures, Hot Planet: Exploring the Seven Continents,Endangered Edens: Exploring the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, Costa Rica, the Everglades, and Puerto Rico,Time Is Irreverent,Time Is Irreverent 2: Jesus Christ, Not Again!Time Is Irreverent 3: Gone for 16 Seconds,Hits, Heathens, and Hippos: Stories from an Agent, Activist, and Adventurer, and Doctor Refurb.
Nature Air Flight 9916 was a chartered domestic passenger flight from Punta Islita Airport in Nandayure, Guanacaste Province, Costa Rica, to Costa Rica's capital San José that crashed into terrain on 31 December 2017 shortly after takeoff from Punta Islita Airport killing all 12 people on board. The flight, with a planned duration of 40 minutes, was operated by Costa Rican regional airline Nature Air and the aircraft involved was a Cessna 208 B Caravan manufactured in 2001. On board the aircraft were 10 passengers, mostly American tourists, and 2 pilots. An NTSB investigation later determined that the accident was caused by the aircraft entering an aerodynamic spin/stall that was the result of pilot error. Nature Air permanently ceased operations following the accident.
