Directors

COSTA RICA

The onsite directors will be your program leader and are there to lead and guide you during your Arcos Journeys experience. Our programs also have assistant directors that help manage the programs, especially during the excursions and cultural activities. Onsite directors are usually host-country nationals with cross-cultural experience. All of our directors have experience working with groups and have international experience (travel and work) and many studied abroad themselves as students.

Catalina Ovares

Resident Director

Catalina (Cata) is a native from Costa Rica. She actually grew up in the Atenas area and attended high school there. She lives in a small rural community right outside of Atenas called Rio Grande. Cata has always had an intense love of nature which led her to study Tourism and graduate as a Naturalist Guide. For about 5 years she worked as a Naturalist Guide for a tourism company. She specialized in Costa Rican flora, fauna, and history. As a guide for this company she met and led tourists from around the world. Afterwards, she worked for 6 years as a sales executive in a travel agency. She worked with both groups and individuals. Her position consisted of providing quotes, making reservations and generally taking care of her clients while they were in Costa Rica. Cata is CPR and First Aid certified. She also has a bilingual tour guide license through the Costa Rican Tourism Board. Cata is an extremely friendly person and loves to help others. Besides her professional interests, Cata also enjoys soccer (she has taken university coursework to be a coach), horseback riding, extreme activities (zip lining and bungee jumping!) and, of course, spending time with her sweet son Franco. 

Catalina Ovares

María Laura González

María Laura, or  “Lau”, as her friends call her, was born in Grecia, Costa Rica and raised in the beautiful town of Atenas. She has a great love of animals and nature. It was for this reason that in 2012 she started her university studies in Hotel Management at the Universidad Latina located in Heredia, Costa Rica. Hotel Management was a career path that allowed her to connect with nature, learn about the country, explore touristic areas, and even live abroad for four months while doing her internship at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in Panama. After graduating, she worked four years as a Human Resources Director. Lau loves working with people. Since that position, she has been working in her family business where she is responsible for supporting clients, handling reservation details, and performing administrative tasks. During her free time Lau enjoys spending time with her niece and nephews, playing with her dogs, exploring nature with her friends and visiting new places. Lau very much looks forward to meeting you and sharing with you all that Costa Rica has to offer!

María Laura González

Maria Molina

María Molina was born in Alajuela, Costa Rica but grew up in the town of Atenas on the Pacific slope. She graduated from the Liceo de Atenas in 2003, where she was involved in many cultural activities such as salsa dance classes and theater performances. In 2006, she received her degree in Costa Rican Tourism at the Instituto Nacional de Aprendizaje, and has a second degree in Business Administration. María has worked as an onsite director with high school students since 2007. From spring 2009 to spring 2010 María participated in an Au Pair program to improve her English skills. She lived near Baltimore, MD and was able to travel all over the US during her stay. This was an incredible opportunity to experience the country where the majority of the Sol students come from. Maria also lived for a few months in the Netherlands and has travelled to France, Belgium, Holland, Italy, Spain, Turkey, Nicaragua, and Panama. In her free time María loves studying languages, dancing, reading, and drawing. She loves Latin American literature! Her favorite authors are Gabriel García Márquez and Isabel Allende. She also is passionate about ecological conservation and is a member of Apreflofas, a non-profit dedicated to the conservation of land and wildlife in Costa Rica. María is very proud of her country and culture and looks forward to sharing it with you! She lives in La Fortuna on a cattle ranch and dairy farm with her husband and two lovely children.

Maria Molina

Orlando Murillo

Orlando Murillo Castro was born in Costa Rica’s capital of San José, but was raised in the picturesque town of Atenas. For as long as he can remember Orlando has been in direct contact with study abroad students because his family has been housing students in their beautiful home for many years. This exposed him to different cultures from a young age and allowed him to learn English from very early on. He is currently finishing a Law degree at the Universidad Latina de Costa Rica. Orlando knows exactly what you will be going through living in a new country. He participated in a study abroad program to the US where he lived with an American host family in Tallahassee, FL and attended Florida State University for a semester. He definitely understands everything involved in the study abroad experience! Orlando’s hobbies include everything related to nature; from hiking to the top of Costa Rica’s tallest mountain, Chirripó, to guiding students through Costa Rica’s famous rainforests. Orlando is also very passionate about art. Both Orlando’s father and brother are medical doctors and his sister is a nutritionist. He feels very lucky to have grown up in such a healthy environment! Orlando loves being active and enjoys soccer, volleyball and swimming.  

Orlando Murillo

Leydi Hernández

Leidy "Laura" Hernández was born and raised in Heredia, Costa Rica where our program is based. Since she was a child her interest in nature was evident. In 2006 she started her studies in Tourism with a focus on Group Management. This is a profession that has allowed her to combine her passions of teaching, enjoying nature, culture, and learning foreign languages. After graduating from Alajuela’s Community College, and getting her certification from the Costa Rican Tourism Board as a bilingual tour guide, Laura began her career in Tourism working at INBioparque, where she managed groups of local and foreign students. She had the opportunity to interact with tourists from all over the world and guided groups of professionals in botany, entomology, education, bioprospecting, sustainable tourism, politics, and health. Laura was also a tutor for summer workshops for children and teenagers. After her positive experience with INBioparque Laura continued working for different travel agencies as a freelance tour guide. She was able to gain more experience in the profession and had the chance to travel to amazing places all over Costa Rica. Laura completed a second degree in Sustainable Tourism Management at Estate Distance University, studied Portuguese and Italian (she loves languages!) and is currently studying a degree in Human Resources. She is First Aid and CPR certified and is trained in leading groups of people with disabilities and also knows a bit of LESCO (Costa Rican sign Language). During her free time, Laura enjoys being surrounded by nature above all else. She also loves visiting small Costa Rican towns, going to concerts, and reading a good book.

Leydi Hernandez

Angélica Pérez

Angélica (Angie) is a native josefina (someone born in San José, Costa Rica). She graduated as a tour guide from UNACE University in 2004. Since then she has worked with non-profit foundations and travel companies sharing her knowledge of Costa Rica’s biodiversity and natural history with visitors from around the world. Angélica has worked with INBioparque, a national conservation foundation and wildlife park in Heredia, for many years. She also leads tours for Costa Rican school children with Sura, an environmental education company, and works with Poas International Corporation, a local company specializing in tourism for Costa Rican senior citizens. In 2010, Angélica led workshops for at-risk youth on topics including environmental conservation, farming techniques, and recycling in their schools and communities with the Randy Explorer Foundation, a program sponsored by the government of Andorra. She is First Aid and CPR certified and is trained in leading groups of people with disabilities. She worked as a program director for 7 years at Sol Education Abroad guiding students in learning about Costa Rica’s unique biodiversity and culture as well as improving their Spanish and participating in volunteer programs.

Angelica Perez