Whitewater Coordinator
Joe Ewing

Certifications: Wilderness First Responder, Swiftwater Rescue, Red Cross First Aid for the Community Rescuer, CPR for the Professional Rescuer, International Rafting Federation Instructor, SCUBA, Instructor Judgment Training
Hometown: Castle Rock, CO

The rivers and whitewater of Colorado sparked Joe's passion for river navigation. In his late teens and college years he became an avid kayaker and whitewater enthusiast.

Joe came to Costa Rica Outward Bound in September 2008. Upon completion of the Leadership Semester course and the following internship program; he began as a full-time CRROBS river instructor. For the last year he worked closely with his predecessor Felipe Lopez, training and mastering the rivers to become the new Whitewater Coordinator.

Land & River Instructor
Antonio Lopez Salazar

Certifications: Wilderness First Responder, First Aid and CPR, Swiftwater Rescue, Whitewater Rescue Technician, International Rafting Federation, Instructor Judgment Training, SCUBA
Hometown: Piedras Blancas, Costa Rica

Antonio began raft captaining in 2002 and became a certified kayak instructor shortly thereafter. We think Antonio moves fast both by land and by sea; as rumor has it he can complete the trek between Domer's Hill and Piedras Blancas (usually 2 days of hiking on course) in 8 hours flat - carrying both of his kids and his kayak. Thanks to seven years as an instructor, Antonio is famous for his abs. Students have been known to whisper to their land instructors “Will I look like that after our kayaking element?”

Land Instructor
Orlando Zamora Fallas

Certifications: Wilderness First Responder, First Aid and CPR, Swiftwater Rescue, Whitewater Rescue Technician, International Rafting Federation, Instructor Judgment Training, SCUBA
Hometown: Piedras Blancas, Costa Rica

This grandpapi of CRROBS has been challenging students through the rugged outback of Costa Rica for over a decade. Orlando’s ability to stop every five feet in the rainforest and point out different medicinal plants used by Costa Rica’s indigenous groups is only outdone by the remarkable fact that he can do it without boring our students. He finds every course to be a cultural exchange – for Orlando, the learning never stops. More than just a few students have walked away from a conversation where Orlando spoke only in Spanish saying, “I understood everything he just said! How’d he do that?”

Land Instructor
Mauren Granados Elizondo

Certifications: Wilderness First Responder, First Aid and CPR, Instructor Judgment Training
Hometown: Piedras Blancas, Costa Rica

Mauren has been leading students through her backyard for eight years - the rainforest of western Costa Rica. Through her no-nonsense approach to instructing she pushes students physically and mentally beyond what they ever thought possible – and they love her for it. With an abundance of rainforest knowledge, Mauren specializes in climbing and rappelling. She happily opens up her home and her family to students at her homestay while hiking through Piedras Blancas. Her favorite thing about being a CRROBS instructor is meeting and sharing her knowledge with an abundance of interesting students.

Land Instructor
Carlos Granados Flores

Certifications: Wilderness First Responder, First Aid and CPR, International Rafting Federation, Rescue 3 International Rope and Whitewater, Instructor Judgment Training
Hometown: Piedras Blancas, Costa Rica

Carlos has been living the Outward Bound Adventure 365 days a year for the past nine years. Moving from the city of San Isidro to the backcountry with his family, he has completed and led numerous Outward Bound courses, kayaked and braved several rivers and beaches across the country, climbed volcanoes, rappelled down waterfalls, taught Spanish, Natural History and Rainforest Ecology, and he still asks his boss, "What else you got?" Carlos challenges all of his students to grab their gear and give it their all. When he is not on course, he is spending time with his wife and three children deep in the heart of the jungle.

Land Instructor
Abraham Lopez Salazar

Certifications: Wilderness First Responder, First Aid and CPR, International Rafting Federation, Instructor Judgment Training, SCUBA
Hometown: Piedras Blancas, Costa Rica

Also known as “Dimples,” this Lopez brother who has been working for us for nearly four years is both skilled on land and in the water, but it isn’t known just yet where his passion actually lies, possibly in teaching Spanish. Too timid to speak English, his smile is always a comforting sign when you are in the middle of the wet jungle. Abraham is definitely coming out of his shell and as he gains more experience with every group that he leads, he becomes more and more like his brothers before him.

Land Instructor
Santiago Lopez Salazar

Certifications: Wilderness First Responder, First Aid and CPR, Swiftwater Rescue, Whitewater Rescue Technician, International Rafting Federation, Instructor Judgment Training, SCUBA
Hometown: Piedras Blancas, Costa Rica

Five years ago Santiago joined his brothers to work on the rivers and mountain passes that are at the heart of our courses. Although the countryside is his backyard, he spends most of his free time playing soccer, watching and cheering for soccer, or simply just talking about soccer. If you are lucky enough to have Santiago as one of your instructors you will benefit from both his detailed knowledge of the backcountry and his soccer skills.

Land Instructor
Diego Lopez Salazar

Certifications: Wilderness First Responder, First Aid and CPR, Swiftwater Rescue, Whitewater Rescue Technician, International Rafting Federation, Instructor Judgment Training, SCUBA
Hometown: Piedras Blancas, Costa Rica

Diego has grown up around the CRROBS environment, and over the past four years has become the quintessence of an Outward Bound instructor both in build and in stamina. Known simply as Señor Musculoso, Diego has developed a new way of learning English, by repeatedly saying the same slang terms over and over. Moon-walking around base, Diego can be heard singing along to Michael Jackson, and sometimes breaking windows with his high pitched “ee-heee.” Never too far away from his machete or his mom, and like all other Ticos, his true passions are soccer, reggaeton and karaoke, which he enjoys in those precious few moments when he is not working.

Land Instructor
Pablo Lopez Salazar

Certifications: Wilderness First Responder, First Aid and CPR, Swiftwater Rescue, Whitewater Rescue Technician, International Rafting Federation, Instructor Judgment Training, SCUBA
Hometown: Piedras Blancas, Costa Rica

Pablo is now rounding his second year at CRROBS, and with his charismatic attitude and amazing ability to make people laugh, we are sure that Pablo will continue to charm students for many years to come. Always looking to learn more, Pablo recently completed a course at the Costa Rican Tourism Institute. Another Lopez brother, his muscles are growing by the day and he has the superhuman abilities to accomplish physical activities nobody thought possible. A lover of fishing and romantic music, when not on course Pablo can be seen strutting around base wearing stylish Levi jeans.

Surf Instructor
Dunia Vargas

Certifications: Wilderness First Responder, First Aid and CPR, Lifeguard Training, Instructor Judgment Training
Hometown: El Almendro, Nicaragua

Dunia has been motivating CRROBS’ students to surf for almost three years now. She is the epitome of the “chica surf” with her short, sassy, sun-streaked hair and buff body. Always full of energy and jokes, Dunia is not afraid to push students to accomplish what they never thought possible. She’s been living and surfing at the beach for four years and when she’s away from the waves for too long she goes into withdrawal. Dunia is well known for her abilities to give a great massage and create masterpieces of jewelry.

Land Instructor
Donna White

Certifications: Wilderness First Responder, CPR for the Professional Rescuer, First Aid, Infant and Child CPR, Shelter Operations, Intro/Disaster Services, Emergency Response Instructor Judgment Training, Lifeguarding, SCUBA, Red Cross Disaster Relief, Rescue 3 International, International Rafting Federation, Swiftwater Rescue, Technical Rope Rescue Operations
Hometown: North Carolina

Donna trained to be an instructor in 2007, and has now joined us as a full-time instructor here at CRROBS. Also known as Mama Donna, she has a comforting way about her with her southern drawl and delicious home cooking. Her most recent job was working as a sea kayaking guide with Pirate Queen Paddling in Morehead City, North Carolina and also has years of catering experience. She enjoys camping, hiking, sailing, kayaking and chasing waterfalls and feels blessed to be able to make a difference in the lives of students as she shares with them the activities she most loves.

Field Logistician/Land, River and SCUBA Instructor
Daniel Jiménez Fallas

Certifications: Swiftwater Rescue, Wilderness First Responder, Red Cross First Aid for the Community Rescuer, CPR for the Professional Rescuer, International Rafting, Federation Instructor, SCUBA Basic and Advanced, Rescue 3 International Rope and Whitewater, Lifeguard, Instructor Judgment Training
Hometown: San Isidro del General, Pérez Zeledón

Danny was born in San José, but grew up in the city of San Isidro, three hours south of the capital. During his eight years at CRROBS, Danny has avidly pursued rafting, kayaking, climbing, surfing, and SCUBA diving, of which rafting and SCUBA are his passions. At CRROBS, he has been able to encounter new challenges daily and learn to overcome them. In his free time, he drools over pictures of race cars and jeeps.