The Young Leader

Archives for June 2022

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Galapagos: Preserving Nature’s Wonders (July 22 – August 4, 2022)

Thanks for the checking out the blog for this Global Leadership Adventures program!

Here are a few things you can expect:

  1. We typically receive 2-3 blog posts per week here at GLA Headquarters from our program staff and students, so please don’t be alarmed if you don’t see a blog post daily – that’s totally normal.
  2. Blog updates sent on weekends may not be posted until Monday.
  3. Due to many factors, including but not limited to internet accessibility, photos may not always be available to post onto the blog. Sometimes onsite program staff are only able to send text back to Headquarters, where our team updates the blog.

Thank you for your patience and understanding, and we hope you enjoy following along on these unforgettable adventures.

For frequently asked questions about the blogs, please visit our Program Blog FAQ page.

-The Global Leadership Adventures HQ Team

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Galapagos: Preserving Nature’s Wonders (July 15 – July 28, 2022)

Thanks for the checking out the blog for this Global Leadership Adventures program!

Here are a few things you can expect:

  1. We typically receive 2-3 blog posts per week here at GLA Headquarters from our program staff and students, so please don’t be alarmed if you don’t see a blog post daily – that’s totally normal.
  2. Blog updates sent on weekends may not be posted until Monday.
  3. Due to many factors, including but not limited to internet accessibility, photos may not always be available to post onto the blog. Sometimes onsite program staff are only able to send text back to Headquarters, where our team updates the blog.

Cell Phone Policy: The GLA cell phone policy is currently in place this summer to help foster meaningful connections between students. This means your student’s phone will be collected every day and returned to them throughout the program during designated spaces of time we call ‘tech time’. Actual tech times and regularity will vary greatly by program location. During designated ‘tech time’, your student may use their phones as they wish. Please note that your student may not always choose to use this time to get a hold of their parents. If you are not hearing directly from your student each day, you can assume that no news is good news! We strongly recommend you follow the blog to follow your students’ experience without talking to them every day. If you are a parent and would like to get in touch with your student directly, you can call us at +1-619-758-3031 and we can set up a formal time for you to connect with your student.

Thank you for your patience and understanding, and we hope you enjoy following along on these unforgettable adventures.

For frequently asked questions about the blogs, please visit our Program Blog FAQ page.

-The Global Leadership Adventures HQ Team

Click here to jump down to the most recent posts!

BLOG POST FOR JULY 17

Hola a todos!

We have successfully made it to the Galapagos and settled into our home base on Santa Cruz where we will spending the next five nights before going to San Cristobal for the second half of our Galapagos adventure. Everyone is here, and the group is great. Today we met up with International Director John who will be accompanying us for the rest of the trip.

It’s stunning here. After landing on Baltra island, we took a quick boat ride across the channel to Santa Cruz then bussed across the island to the town of Puerto Ayora. We passed through a number of micro-climates and were blown away by the variety of ecosystems. The natural beautify of the island is more than we’d ever hoped for. After spending the afternoon at the Charles Darwin Center and the National Park Breeding Center, we can’t wait to get to the highlands tomorrow to start service where we will be helping endemic tortoise and bird populations.

Wi-Fi is very limited (not available at Home Base), and some of our phone plans aren’t working. If you don’t hear from us every day, it is ok. We will try to find Wi-Fi in town to communicate back home every couple of days and will try to use friends’ phones as well. John told us that WhatsApp, a free messaging app that uses your phone number, is probably the best way to communicate when Wi-Fi is limited.

Please expect blog posts every 2-3 days, but we will do our best to send out a few extra just to keep everyone updated about all the wonderful things we are doing. We miss you and can’t wait to tell you about all the adventures we’ve had when we get back home.

Chao,
Galapagos A3 (our group name)

BLOG POST FOR JULY 18

Before we started a laborious day of work, our group had to embark on a journey called karaoke. 8:30 in the morning and we were already up and at ‘‘em with fun tunes including Kanye, Fergie, and Big Sean. After arriving at our work site, we became informed on our duties for the day and got straight to work. We worked numerous hours to flatten out this massive gravel mound to make it easier for the tortoises to reach a pond. We shoveled gravel out of a pond to give them more space to drink and removed invasive plant species as well. It was so fun getting after it while shoveling and wheeling the gravel around. The restaurant at the complex had AMAZING food. Not only did we try empanadas during one of our breaks, but we also had amazing fish/chicken at lunch, topped off by either a passion fruit or coffee mousse. We were also able to explore the grounds, see the tortoises moving about, and were even able to crawl inside empty tortoise shells to become one with the tortoises.

Following our long day of service we stopped by two different sinkholes called Los Gemelos before returning back to our hotel. It was super misty and foggy so it totally gave an eery feel. We were a little tired after service so having free time in our rooms to shower and relax before dinner was much appreciated. Dinner, as always, was scrumptious, later followed by a nice stroll to a great ice cream place. While walking back to our hotel, we all found matching Galapagos themed hats and had a photo shoot.

Although we have only been here about three days (and some of us even less), today really seemed to bring us all together. Something about profusely sweating in the mist while shoveling gravel really created a great bonding situation. Overall today was amazing and we are so excited for what is to come.

BLOG POST FOR JULY 19

Today we woke up and had bananas, papaya, and a traditional Ecuadorian corn pastry. We got ready for our first excursion. We started hiking through the city and then took a two mile path to Tortuga Bay. Then we walked along the beach and saw many marine iguanas and seals. We set our stuff down and took our swimming test which everyone passed and swam and enjoyed the very little sun exposure. We all got a great tan. Some students went with John to snorkel with little white tip reef sharks. The others chose to take it easy and lay along the beach. We packed up and got ready for the long hike back. We took a bus though the city and arrived at the hotel in time for lunch. We had veggie soup, fresh salad, white rice, and a delightful fresh fish. We got ourselves prepared for service and headed to the tortoise ranch. We planted 20 trees then had empanadas. After our break we put our muddy boots back in and got back to work. We continued digging up gravel and used it to make a road. After another hour and a half of hard work, we rinsed our boots off and headed back to the hotel. We had a 30 minute shower break and then ate dinner. Which included beef and rice. We treated ourselves to crepes and ice cream at our go to spot. We walked back and headed to bed.

BLOG POST FOR JULY 20

Hey it’s Stella and Molly,

Today we woke up bright and early for breakfast at 7:40! Then we went straight to service to continue making the lagoon wider so the water can expand and make more space for the tortoises. We continued to make new paths with the gravel that we dug up from the lagoon. There’s so many new tortoises checking out their new hangout spot! Then of course we had our daily queso (cheese), pollo (chicken) or carne (beef) empanadas. SO GOOD. The milkshakes were even better!

After service we had an hour of downtime to shower and take a nap before lunch. Today for lunch we had a traditional Ecuadorian dish where tuna and vegetables were cooked inside a dough made of potatoes. many students really enjoyed this new meal! Then we had a little more time to shower and relax before we got AÇAÍ BOWLS!!!
We got to pick what fruit and toppings we wanted and let us tell you it was AMAZING! Then we walked around town and said hello to the sea lions and pelicans.

Once we got back it was time to do out first debate! We were conversing about animal rights in Galapagos. John created 4 groups and told each group what their role was. The 4 groups were local islanders, Galapagos park, pita, and animal balance. We all had different opinions on the subject and had a civil debate. Then we had steak or grilled veggies with rice for dinner! After that, John took us around town and we went to our favorite ice cream shop!

BLOG POST FOR JULY 21

Hi! It’s Luce and Coop.

We’re todays leaders of the day! This morning we had our usual breakfast at 7:40 AM and ate a bread pastry along with some tea, coffee, and juice. We headed out to our service spot at 8:00 AM to continue digging out a ramp for the tortoises to have access to the lagoon. We finished service, headed to get empanadas at the restaurant by the service site, and then made our way to a lava tunnel nearby. We went down a steep flight of stairs into a hollowed out tunnel filled with stalactites. After our short excursion, we loaded back onto the bus to travel to Las Grietas; a canyon filled with salt water for swimming. After swimming around in the refreshing water for an hour, we headed back to our home base for lunch, which consisted of soup, rice, and fish.

A little while later, we walked from our hotel to a nearby coffee shop to get açaí bowls and bond as a group. For dinner, we ate a traditional American meal of spaghetti, garlic bread, and Coca Cola. Our night continued with a group activity called Roses and Thorns where we all shared our highs and lows of the day. The group was very excited because we had a laundry day and everyone was able to get clean clothes! After receiving all of our laundry, we headed back to our rooms to pack for the ferry tomorrow to the next island San Cristobal.

BLOG POST FOR JULY 22

This morning we had plantains and fruit for breakfast. Many of us also took Dramamine for the upcoming boat ride. After breakfast, we went to the dock. We put our bags through machine that made sure we weren’t transporting any dirt, seeds, or animals to the next island. Then we boarded the big. Almost everyone slept on the boat ride. Two and a half hours later, we arrived in San Cristobal. The first thing we did was head to our hotel.

After about forty minutes of rest, we got lunch. There were many food options such as garlic soup, rice mix, ceviche mix, and beef stew from lunch, we went to the place where Charles Darwin first landed on the Galapagos. There, we went snorkeling. The group spotted many playful sea lines and saw a couple sea turtles and water iguanas. After that we went back to the hotel where we got to rest for two hours. Then we went to get dinner. We are at the same place we had lunch. Once we were all finished, we headed back to the hotel and went to sleep.

BLOG POST FOR JULY 23

Our first full day on San Cristobal had a slow start by enjoying the beach at Playa Mann. Before, we had a nice, refreshing breakfast at Rancho Manabita. We enjoyed some freshly squeezed juice and fruit with granola. At the beach, we got to relax with sea lions and drink some piña coladas. After, we went back to home base where we relaxed before our next adventure and talked with some of our hotel neighbors. We then went to lunch where some of us experienced having chicken feet in chicken soup. Then we walked to Blue Kraft, where we learned how to reduce, reuse, and recycle in an artsy way. We made some shark keychains out of old denim and recycled materials. We had a lot of fun meeting Katty, the owner of Blue Kraft, and learning about her recycling journey. We then returned to the hotel to get ready for soccer at the local park. We played on the playground as a warm up, then began to play as practice for our tournament on Monday against the locals. We headed to dinner around 7, and ended the night with some karaoke at the restaurant.

BLOG POST FOR JULY 24

We woke up to the sound of the nearby church bells and choir ringing in our ears. After a breakfast of fluffy eggs, fruit, and toast we headed back to the hotel to relax and prepare for our fun filled afternoon. We attended our director John’s presentation on his nonprofit organization “Full Belly Brasil” .

In the early afternoon, we took a quick 40 minute boat ride to isa lobos or island of the wolves to observe the blue-footed boobies and sea lions. On the hike we saw both chicks and eggs due to it being mating season. We also saw iguanas and sea lions lying on the rocky shore.After our hike we got into the water and snorkeled in the beautiful blue-green ocean. We saw sea turtles, stingrays, and lots of fish.

We headed back to shower and prepare for soccer. We got one more practice session in to get ready for our game tomorrow with the locals.

For dinner, we had beef and fish burgers along with a quick ice cream run. We headed back to the hotel to hang out with to our neighbors from Britain, and then went off to bed.

BLOG POST FOR JULY 25 & 26

The last two days have been big ones. Yesterday was our last full day in the Galapagos. We spent the morning at La Loberia, a long sandy beach with a famous surf break where we laid out in the sun and snorkeled with sea turtles. The water was cold, but it was definitely worth getting in to see the hawksbill and the Pacific green turtles. We also got to see two alpha male sea lions chase each other across the beach and through the water as they vied for dominance. Before we went back into town, John lead us through a leadership activity called Rings of Saturn where we learned the importance of using each other to help achieve our personal goals.

After La Loberia we spent our day enjoy our final hours in San Cristóbal. We played volley ball, walked along the malecón, and watched a beautiful sunset. We also played a soccer game against one of the local teams. They were really good! Soccer was followed by dinner where we celebrated Chloe’s birthday with two ice cream cakes and a fancy sea food dinner. It was a day to remember.

Today we got an early start and flew back to mainland Ecuador, stopping in Guayaquil to refuel the plane before arriving in Quito. It feels great to be back. So much has happened since we were last here. After a delicious dinner, John and Patricia lead us through a goal setting activity called OMG. We also reflected on what we have learned and accomplished during the program. Tomorrow we will be doing salsa lessons, visiting a chocolate factory, and touring down town Quito. We can’t wait. We’ve had so much fun the last two weeks we are sad the trip is coming to a close, but we are also excited to get back to our friends and our loved ones to share all of our stories about the Galapos. See you soon!

BLOG POST FOR JULY 30

I hope you all made it home safe. I’ve been in Quito wrapping things up. It’s a lot more boring without you. Take a couple of days to rest and get your lives organized. I’m sure you’re tired. I definitely was when the program ended, and I didn’t have to fly home. As you rest and rejoin life where you’re from, start to implement the things we learned over the program. You all shared with me that you want to get better and scheduling to help you be more productive. This is a great time to start. Take the time now before life gets fast again. Begin your good habits now, so by the time the school year starts, they are already in place.

Can you believe the program is already over? It went by in a flash for me. One second I was meeting you at the airport in Baltra and trying to learn your names, and the next second I was dropping you at the airport in Quito and saying good-bye. We did so much. There was never a dull moment. I hope all of you remember what it was like to snorkel with sea lions and sea turtles, hike through the forest of cacti on the way to Tortuga Bay, and walk past the Blue Footed Boobies and frigate birds on Isla Lobos. We completed the summer’s service project, providing tortoises and endemic birds with a watering hole, building paths through the ranch, and planting trees that will grow to feed local species. Be proud. And we grew as leaders, learning what kind of leader we are, learning the importance of relying on one another to accomplish your goals, and learning to take action and be the change. It’s time to show the world what you can do.

We all learned a lot on the program, me included, and as a group, we worked to overcome hardship and adversity. I hope as life continues on, we can all look back on the past two weeks fondly. From watching sea lions chase each other around to seeing Blue Footed Boobies dive bomb the ocean as they fished, there was never a dull moment. Remember to advocate for yourselves, and to go out and get things done.

Cheers,

John

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Galapagos: Preserving Nature’s Wonders (July 6 – July 19, 2022)

PROGRAM PHOTO ALBUM

Thanks for the checking out the blog for this Global Leadership Adventures program!

Here are a few things you can expect:

  1. We typically receive 2-3 blog posts per week here at GLA Headquarters from our program staff and students, so please don’t be alarmed if you don’t see a blog post daily – that’s totally normal.
  2. Blog updates sent on weekends may not be posted until Monday.
  3. Due to many factors, including but not limited to internet accessibility, photos may not always be available to post onto the blog. Sometimes onsite program staff are only able to send text back to Headquarters, where our team updates the blog.

Cell Phone Policy: The GLA cell phone policy is currently in place this summer to help foster meaningful connections between students. This means your student’s phone will be collected every day and returned to them throughout the program during designated spaces of time we call ‘tech time’. Actual tech times and regularity will vary greatly by program location. During designated ‘tech time’, your student may use their phones as they wish. Please note that your student may not always choose to use this time to get a hold of their parents. If you are not hearing directly from your student each day, you can assume that no news is good news! We strongly recommend you follow the blog to follow your students’ experience without talking to them every day. If you are a parent and would like to get in touch with your student directly, you can call us at +1-619-758-3031 and we can set up a formal time for you to connect with your student.

Thank you for your patience and understanding, and we hope you enjoy following along on these unforgettable adventures.

For frequently asked questions about the blogs, please visit our Program Blog FAQ page.

-The Global Leadership Adventures HQ Team

Click here to jump down to the most recent posts!

BLOG POST FOR JULY 8

Greetings from the Galapagos,

After a great day in Quito, we have finally made it to Santa Cruz. Quito was a bunch of fun. We walked around the Old Town and had the opportunity to eat some typical Ecuadorian chocolate. Now we are excited to be on the islands and to start service tomorrow. Our Home Base here is beautiful, and the food has been great.

We’ve spent our time learning everyone’s names, making friends, and getting an overview of what our time at GLA will look like. Some of the things we are most looking forward to are learning about conservation and the history of the Galapagos, the wildlife, working on our Spanish, being immersed in the Ecuadorian culture, doing service, and making friends. The GLA staff are super nice and funny, we can’t wait to get to know them better. It’s going to be a great two weeks.

Our first day in Santa Cruz we arrived on time for lunch and got ready for our first sightseeing around the island. We walked to the Charles Darwin Galapagos National Park where we learned about the unique species that call the volcanic island home. Our nice tour guide Fernando showed us the Tortoise Breeding Center which inspired us for the service we will do over the next 4 days. After the breeding center we explored the main street of Santa Cruz and got awesome souvenirs!

We returned to our beloved homebase for a delicious homemade meal provided by the family hosting us, and we finished our day with our mighty Chow Circle, where we had the opportunity to shout out friends and share the good things that happened during our day. We also had a powerful meditation activity guided by Isa.

We are excited for the adventures yet to come!

We hope you like our group picture. WIFI permitting, we will be uploading daily blog posts.

Hasta luego,
Team Ecuador

BLOG POST FOR JULY 9

We started with a 7:30 breakfast and then we headed to the worksite. We were then introduced to the tools and project that we needed to complete. We were digging and moving gravel from previous floods to make more room for a lagoon, recreating the tortoise’s habitat. As well as moving rocks and trees to make walls and protection for native plants from tortoises. We really connected as a team and we did an amazing job, our mentors were proud of us!

After we finished working we took a short detour through an amazing lava tunnel, we could see and feel the power of nature and of these volcanic islands.

We then headed back to the hotel, cleaned up, and went into town. We went to a skatepark where we played games and hung out with the locals. And also we saw some sharks and sea lions! Wow!

We are looking forward to our next adventure and to keep up with the service!

BLOG POST FOR JULY 10

Today we slept until 8:30 and had leaderships group activities in the morning. Isa and John brought us to the beach to make it even more fun for us! Thanks John and Iza! We played a game that allowed to learn and understand better our leadership’s styles (the relationship master, the driver, the architect and the spontaneous). After that we swam in the ocean and took pictures on the beach.

Straight after lunch we took a bus to service, we worked for about 4 hours to build home for tortoises in the Premisas National Park. Then, we drove back home and had a delicious dinner. After dinner we went to town to get some ice cream and had an awesome soccer game with the local kids.

We are really connecting as group, everyday it feels like more like a real community. It’s been great! Can’t wait for all the new adventures that are yet to come!

BLOG POST FOR JULY 11

Today the group woke up and had another excellent breakfast from the generous hostel staff. After breakfast the squad got on to the bus expecting another hard day of service at the tortoise park. But instead the GLA staff arranged a surprise for us due to the outstanding work we’ve been doing it. We were invited to go on hike into the Santa Cruz jungle to see a secluded lagoon. Our gracious local guide Fernando took us in a big adventure, we felt like explorers and had lots of fun as a group.

After finishing our journey into the wild, we went to our next destination: Las Grietas, a natural pool made by magma/lava between rocks with transparent water. With our snorkels we were able to fully explore the long and deep crack. We also did a diving competition judged by Signa and Justine, it was great.

We head home to have lunch and also to do another leadership activity, which we played different roles as a group. And created a debate representing different organizations and characters of The Galápagos Islands, such as: the natives of Galapagos, PEDA, National Park service and a local called Sam.

The teams discussed with passion and expressed themselves to defend its own points of view and perspectives. Allowing us to understand better the deep issues and challenging agreements the Galapagos community has as a whole. After eating another fantastic meal at homebase, we had another great time walking around town, some of us chose to get ice cream while the other group played basketball with the locals.

Another awesome day for the Galápagos Squad! 🙂

BLOG POST FOR JULY 12

Hola familias!

We started our day with our usual breakfast and followed this with packing for our beach trip. We then took a bus to the entrance of Tortuga Bay- a beach famous for it’s many green sea turtles. We walked on the beach until we reached a beautiful cove of water. We were all excited and quickly got our snorkel gear in hopes of seeing reef sharks which tend to be in the cove. Some of us took kayaks out in the cove and some of us snorkeled. While neither groups saw anything in the water at this time, when we all were back on shore we saw two reef sharks swimming. We hung out at the beach but eventually had to head back for lunch. We walked a hilly walk back home and were happy to be home.

Once our group was back to the hotel we where greeted with a delicious lunch, before we started an afternoon of service. We were assigned to plant trees and create a pathway extending to the road. We planted endemic trees and shrubs to the island to restore there decreasing population on the island due to invasive plants. Once we were finished with our hard work we went back to the hotel to finally shower and wash off all the grime that was accumulated. We also got a dinner of pasta and garlic bread.

Before going to our rooms we did a leadership activity where we rated our experiences on the first part of the trip. After that we started to do personal activities and pack for our move to a different hotel tomorrow. Once we finished the day we finally got to rest and rejuvenated for the next day ahead!

BLOG POST FOR JULY 13

Greetings from Galapagos,

Despite a slight hiccup in our travel plans, the crew still managed to have a fantastic day in Santa Cruz.

This morning we were notified that the docks were closed due to gas price protests, so we delayed our trek to San Cristobal until tomorrow. We spent the morning packing up our rooms and then walked down to the town to get açaí bowls. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the wide variety of different flavours and textures.

After lunch we went to the local beach where we played games, swam, and sun tanned on the shore. Everyone played ball games together, including “jackpot”, and had fun splashing about in the sea.

You could say we had a pretty chill day. We ended our last day in Santa Cruz by getting ice cream after dinner and listening to music on the balcony of our hotel.

Signing off,
Galapagals

BLOG POST FOR JULY 14

Hello!!

After our plans delayed due to the protests in the islands, our group was able to finally travel to San CristoBal today! We woke up to board on a two and a half hour boat ride to the island. It was bumpy, but overall fun as we got to see the waves!

After we got off the boat, we brought our luggage to the hotel where we could rest a bit.

In the afternoon we went to get lunch at a local restaurant before heading to our first snorkeling adventure en Las Tijeretas!

We Walked a mile to the observatory where Fernando explained to us how tha Galápagos was formed and its very interesting history. We walked a bit further down to a crystal-blue bay where we would snorkel. After getting our wetsuits and life jackets on, we headed into the water to see what we would find. It took a few minutes but before we knew there were sea lions swimming around us and splashing! They were so playful, and blew bubbles at us and swam around us while we snorkeled. We also saw beautiful sea turtles!

After some relaxing time we head to our delicious dinner and Shannon’s birthday celebration! The staff managed to get her favorite cake and she felt happy and loved and so did we!

BLOG POST FOR JULY 15

We started our day with a nice breakfast of eggs and toast, then walked to the dock to take a short boat ride to a group of separate islands off of San Cristobal. While some of us chose to ride on the second floor of the boat, we all made it to the Isla Lobos and began our bird and sea lion watching adventure on the coastal shore. After witnessing the nesting of the Galapagos’ famous birds, the Blue Footed Booby and the Frigate, we snorkeled in the island’s bay with the many sea lions playfully swimming beside us in the water. After snorkeling and relaxing at a different spot, we went back to shore to relax and unwind with a nice lunch and then a trip to a nice beach with tons of sea lions. We shared the time with them and visited the lighthouse hosted on the beach, then went to a very cool UPCYCLING workshop turning old jeans into very awesome key chains. Most of us learned how to sew and did a great job!

We went to dinner and ate a nice fried rice plate, the group spent time in the town shopping and exploring then walked to the soccer courts to challenge the locals on a GLA vs. Local soccer game. Although we lost, we had lots of fun playing as a team and felt it was a great way to end another wonderful day here in the Galapagos!

BLOG POST FOR JULY 16

Greetings from Galapagos!

Our last day in San Cristobal was a bless! We started our day with an awesome snorkeling at the beach La Loberia. We were literally surrounded by sea turtles and beautiful fishes, we had so much fun!

At the beach we also had time to do a leadership activity that made us work as a real team!

In the afternoon we had some relax time and had the opportunity to do more group activities and enjoy a beautiful sunset at the Sea lion’s beach. We ended up our day with a unforgettable karaoke night where sang and danced a lot!

We are very grateful for this trip, a little sad that is coming into an end. We all packed to head back to Quito!

BLOG POST FOR JULY 17

It’s time to say goodbye to this paradise. We woke up, got some breakfast and headed to the airport.

It was all day on flights, but very glad we arrived safely 🙂 We had a delicious empanada and dinner and got the chance to finish our day with a Gratitude circle sharing 3 things we are grateful for about this trip. It gave us a moment to reflect how lucky and happy we are for the great community we’ve created among this past two weeks. Friendships we won’t ever forget! And of course the breathtaking wild life 💓

It’s good to be back in Quito, heading to bed early because we will star our last day with salsa class! Yay!

Hasta luego!

BLOG POST FOR JULY 18

Hola from Quito,

We started of day with salsa class! Yay! It was so much fun!

After we headed to the Equator, INTI-ñan museum where we had the opportunity to learn about the quiteños, the ancestors that once lived here and also about the indigenous people and its traditions. We also got great pictures at the “Mitad del mundo” (half of the world), and learned about the polarities energies and differences between hemispheres.

After we headed to this delicious restaurant in Quito where we had one of the best meals! And we felt recharged to go check the cultural market! And We all bought some awesome souvenirs and cool outfits!

Finishing our day with our last leadership activities and Appreciation circle 💓

Can’t believe we are going back home tomorrow! Time passed so fast, we wilL miss our Galapagals’ crew!

Thank you!

BLOG POST FOR JULY 19

Hasta luego Galapagals,

And just like that, it’s over. Can you believe it? So much has happened since our first days in Quito. Today was departure day and we had to say goodbye to this awesome community we’ve created along these trip.

The last two weeks have been a whirlwind of fun and adventure. We laughed, we loved, and we cried. We got far closer as a group than we’d ever hoped we would. We (Isa and John) hope all of you students had even half as much fun as we did. If so, you are going home more than happy. If we had a chance to do it all over again, we would do it in a heartbeat.

As we return home, we want to challenge you to remember all of the things we have learned over the last two weeks and to continue to incorporate them into our lives. Remember the goals you set during the OMG activity, including being more open to new adventures, opportunities and friendships. Live in the moment, be kind to others, appreciate what you have, and value your friends. Enjoy your time back home. We are sure you all have many more exciting adventures in your future.

We will always remember snorkeling with the sea turtles and sea lions at La Loberia, hiking to Darwin Bay, planting trees as the tortoises walked past in Santa Cruz, karaoke night in San Cristobal, and enjoying exploring town together, but most of all, we will always remember you for being you. You were an unforgettable group. You should all be very proud of yourselves, the way you’ve all dedicated theirselves during service was very inspiring.

Good job stepping out of your comfort zone, looking out for one another, shouting out one another for every good action you’ve done as individuals and as group.

Remember to be courageous, to live your values, to connect and influence, to voice your opinions, and as always, to have fun. And of course, be more chill!

Leaders aren’t born—they’re made.

Cheers,
John and Isa

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Galapagos: Preserving Nature’s Wonders (June 29 – July 12, 2022)

PROGRAM PHOTO ALBUM

Thanks for the checking out the blog for this Global Leadership Adventures program!

Here are a few things you can expect:

  1. We typically receive 2-3 blog posts per week here at GLA Headquarters from our program staff and students, so please don’t be alarmed if you don’t see a blog post daily – that’s totally normal.
  2. Blog updates sent on weekends may not be posted until Monday.
  3. Due to many factors, including but not limited to internet accessibility, photos may not always be available to post onto the blog. Sometimes onsite program staff are only able to send text back to Headquarters, where our team updates the blog.

Cell Phone Policy: The GLA cell phone policy is currently in place this summer to help foster meaningful connections between students. This means your student’s phone will be collected every day and returned to them throughout the program during designated spaces of time we call ‘tech time’. Actual tech times and regularity will vary greatly by program location. During designated ‘tech time’, your student may use their phones as they wish. Please note that your student may not always choose to use this time to get a hold of their parents. If you are not hearing directly from your student each day, you can assume that no news is good news! We strongly recommend you follow the blog to follow your students’ experience without talking to them every day. If you are a parent and would like to get in touch with your student directly, you can call us at +1-619-758-3031 and we can set up a formal time for you to connect with your student.

Thank you for your patience and understanding, and we hope you enjoy following along on these unforgettable adventures.

For frequently asked questions about the blogs, please visit our Program Blog FAQ page.

-The Global Leadership Adventures HQ Team

Click here to jump down to the most recent posts!

BLOG POST FOR JUNE 30

Today was our first official full day in Ecuador! We started off with an orientation and ice breakers in order to best acquaint ourselves with the program and one another. In the afternoon we traveled through the lush Ecuadorian landscape to visit the Intinan Museum next to the Mitidad del Mundo monument. At this unique, outdoor museum we learned a bit about the indigenous culture from their history of shrunken human heads (even saw a real one!) to the structure of their sturdy homes. We also explored the different physical properties of being exactly on the equator line or at 0 degrees Latitude. At one point we had one leg in the planet’s northern hemisphere and another in the southern hemisphere. We also tested the lighter gravitational pull and Coriolis effect that occurs on the equator and within different hemispheres. In addition to learning about indigenous culture and equatorial physics, we also enjoyed the unique and vibrant plant life (and hummingbirds) throughout the museum.

After Ininan, we returned to our hotel for dinner and to prepare for …the Galapagos! We’re so so excited!!

BLOG POST FOR JULY 1

Written by Daniela Cape and Maddy Shantz

This morning, we all woke to Maddy and Dani, the Leaders of the Day, banging on our doors.
(Politely). We rose for an early breakfast of fruit and French toast, before heading to the airport for a slightly delayed flight to the Galapagos islands. Thanks to the lovely airport café, we managed to hold over until a delicious lunch at homebase. To get to home base we took a bus to a ferry, a beautiful ferry ride to a bus, then one more bus ride in which we took time to bond with our peers and listen to music!

After a filling late lunch and time to find our rooms, we set out for the Charles Darwin Sanctuary. We got to learn about different species of Finches and turtles, tortoises, iguanas and more! We made our way back to home base to relax before dinner, and we currently look forward to seeing sharks and getting ice cream in town tonight.

BLOG POST FOR JULY 2

Written by Eytan and Andre

We woke up to the pleasant sound of banging doors as Eytan and Andre woke us up for breakfast bright and early. We indulged on freshly baked bread rolls. We then took a 30-minute bus ride to Primicias Ranch in the Highlands. A turtle greeted us in the middle of the dirt road as we arrived at the serene ranch. We were fitted into our boots and ate the best bananas ever. Our service goal for the day was to enlarge an existing pond and plant trees. In order to do this, we had different teams to complete the tasks. There were boulder collectors, dirt scoopers, bucket transporters, tree planters, orange pickers, and more. Work was as much labor intensive as it was enjoyable!

We took a break to have lemonade and a snack, then headed back to work. We later braked again for lunch which was either freshly cooked chicken, fish, or pasta. Later, we took a tour of the ranch and observed guavas, papayas, coffee plants, and two turtles mating. We stuck ourselves in turtle shells and some of us found our second home. We worked for a bit more and when we left, five turtles and some birds were already using the watering hole that we had worked on all day.

On our way back into town, we stopped at the los gemelos. Los gemelos are two ominous and
beautiful sinkholes. It looked straight out of a movie especially with the cloud forest background. We ate dinner and ventured into the town.

BLOG POST FOR JULY 3

Written by Jack and Stryder

Today, we were woken up to popping balloons and aggressive knocking. We bussed to Las
Grietas, a canyon filled with crystal blue water and giant fish. We swam around, got some ice-cream, and went to the beach. There, we saw some more fish and a small shark. We ate lunch and went to work with the tortoises. We finished the day by visiting a giant tunnel carved out by lava!

BLOG POST FOR JULY 4

Written by Eve Sanford and Izzie Watson

This morning, we woke up at 6:30am to Eve and Izzie playing extremely loud heavy metal. After breakfast, we headed off to continue our volunteer work at Rancho Primicias. With the help of our newly arrived GLA staff member, John, we were able to make a lot of progress. He introduced a new order to our operation. After 4 hours of labor-intensive work, in the rain, we headed back to home base for lunch. Directly after lunch, we dove straight into a leadership activity called Noles Quadrants, where we learned what type of leader we are, individually. Then, we participated in Socratic seminar type activity, relating to the Galapagos, called the Anchor Activity. We were split into five groups, and each group played a different role. The goal of this activity was to come to a common conclusion. The rest of the afternoon was free time. We walked around the shops in groups for a little while before returning to home base. We enjoyed dinner at 7pm and continued chatting until lights out at 10pm.

BLOG POST FOR JULY 5

Written by Olivia Reeder and Kate Wosepka

Today was our final day on Santa Cruz Island, including our last day of service at Las Primicias Ranch. We started off our morning to the peaceful knocking of Kate and Olivia. Following breakfast, we hopped on the bus which then brought us to the entrance of the Tortuga Bay Trail, which was about 2.6 km. It took us around 30 minutes to get to the white sand beach where we viewed pelicans eating baby iguanas and black tipped sharks swimming in the shallows. As we continued walking, we arrived at a small bay where we could safely swim and snorkel. We zipped into our wet suits and then headed into the water where we swam directly above huge white tip sharks reaching up to eight feet in size, and large turtles feeding on the algae at the bottom of the ocean. It was an adrenaline filling experience to see the animals that close. After two hours of adventuring, we stopped at a panaderia to fuel up and recharge.

As we arrived back at home base, we were greeted with lunch, and then geared up for our final hours of working next to the giant tortoises. We arrived at Las Primicias and had a fun last effort in preserving the tortoises´ habitat. After service, we packed our bags and scrubbed our boots in preparation for our journey to San Cristobal Island. We are sad to leave Santa Cruz, but thrilled for the next island´s adventures.

BLOG POST FOR JULY 6

Written by Lola Mainland and Kate Wiedmann

This morning we woke up at 6:45am to Lola and Kate abruptly knocking on our doors. After our last breakfast in Santa Cruz, we loaded onto the bus for our 2 hour boat ride to San Cristobal. Following the nauseating, salty and sleepy boat ride, we walked a few blocks to our hostel. We got our rooms and walked a few more blocks to lunch. Following lunch, we were greeted by many sea lions at the beach. We enjoyed the view from the terrace with hammocks, then scrimmaged each other in soccer in preparation for our game against the ecuadorian soccer team tomorrow. Later, we went to dinner and hung out on the terrace until lights out.

BLOG POST FOR JULY 7

Our day started after a long, well-deserved sleep after our boat ride to San Cristobal Island. After a very fulfilling breakfast, we headed to Galapagos Information Center, where we learned a lot about the history of these islands and how important they are for the world as ecosystem. Afterwards, we headed to Las Tijeretas beach, where we all jumped into the water and had so much fun snorkeling with the turtles! After the walk back, lunch was ready. In the afternoon, we went to a very interesting recycling project, were we learned about the different uses we can give to articles, and the importance of reduce our waste footprint! Lastly, we had some great fun playing soccer with a local team and our diner included a karaoke night.

We’ve added photos from July 6th and 7th!

BLOG POST FOR JULY 11

Yesterday was our last full day of adventure and fun in Ecuador. We had a jam-packed day starting off with salsa lessons in the park! Our teacher showed us some basic salsa moves to impress our friends when we return home. At first, it was slightly awkward, but we got the hang of things and had loads of fun trying to follow along. After our salsa lessons, we headed to a local chocolate shop where we learned the long, intense, and interesting process of how they make the world’s finest chocolate from local Ecuadorian cacao. We listened, sampled and of course bought loads of chocolate.

With chocolate in hand, we toured Old Town and the Fundacion Iglesia de la Compania – also known as the Golden Church – in the center of Quito. This church is a historical and architectural masterpiece with the inside almost completely covered in real gold leaf. The chapels were intricate and laced with religious significance and stories, it was stunning to witness.

After our morning activities, we headed to Crepes & Waffles for some familiar foods and sweets. Full of food and tasty treats we headed back to our hotel for a bit of rest before our nighttime activity – our very own party bus! To celebrate the last night of our program and Dani’s birthday our local director, Patricia, ordered us a bus with music, lights, and so SO much dancing! This was an absolute blast as we toured the town and danced the night away. Our last and final day of the program was an absolute blast!

Today, however, was full of tearful goodbyes. We have made some incredible relationships and hope to continue to foster these friendships through time. Overall, we’ll certainly miss the Galapagos, Ecuador, and one another.

by

Galapagos: Preserving Nature’s Wonders (June 20 – July 3, 2022)

Thanks for the checking out the blog for this Global Leadership Adventures program!

Here are a few things you can expect:

  1. We typically receive 2-3 blog posts per week here at GLA Headquarters from our program staff and students, so please don’t be alarmed if you don’t see a blog post daily – that’s totally normal.
  2. Blog updates sent on weekends may not be posted until Monday.
  3. Due to many factors, including but not limited to internet accessibility, photos may not always be available to post onto the blog. Sometimes onsite program staff are only able to send text back to Headquarters, where our team updates the blog.

Cell Phone Policy: The GLA cell phone policy is currently in place this summer to help foster meaningful connections between students. This means your student’s phone will be collected every day and returned to them throughout the program during designated spaces of time we call ‘tech time’. Actual tech times and regularity will vary greatly by program location. During designated ‘tech time’, your student may use their phones as they wish. Please note that your student may not always choose to use this time to get a hold of their parents. If you are not hearing directly from your student each day, you can assume that no news is good news! We strongly recommend you follow the blog to follow your students’ experience without talking to them every day. If you are a parent and would like to get in touch with your student directly, you can call us at +1-619-758-3031 and we can set up a formal time for you to connect with your student.

Thank you for your patience and understanding, and we hope you enjoy following along on these unforgettable adventures.

For frequently asked questions about the blogs, please visit our Program Blog FAQ page.

-The Global Leadership Adventures HQ Team

Click here to jump down to the most recent posts!

BLOG POST FOR JUNE 21

Greetings from Quito,

The program is officially underway. We all made it to our Home Base in Quito where we will be staying until we fly to the Galapagos tomorrow. Quito is beautiful! From the colorful murals to the colonial architecture, the city is full of wonders. It is surrounded by the towering mountains of Ecuador. We are so happy and excited to be here.

We’ve spent our time learning everyone’s names, making friends, and getting an overview of what our time at GLA will look like. It’s going to be a great two weeks. Some of the things we are most looking forward to are learning about conservation and the history of the Galapagos, the wildlife, working on our Spanish, being immersed in the Ecuadorian culture, doing service, and making friends. The GLA staff are super nice and funny, we can’t wait to get to know them better. The WIFI here can be a little spotty but expect to read more about our adventures the day after tomorrow. We hope you like our group picture.

Hasta luego,
Team Ecuador

BLOG POST FOR JUNE 23

Our group arrived for service fully prepared for the day at 11am. We were greeted with massive tortoises and smiling staff who debriefed us on the tasks for the day. After an inclusive game with John, our nerves were settled and we felt prepared to dive in to work with our groups.

Serious companionship, along with social connection shortly followed our beginning tasks. Working fervishly, one group started and organized the remains of the fallen tree. This protected endemic species while also keeping the paths of the tortoises clear. The second group ambitiously shoveled gravel from an important water source into the main road to be later repurposed on site. Previously this combination of mud and rocks hindered the tortoises from clean lagoon water.

After a few hours of intense work, we regrouped at the local restaurant for lunch. The four delicious lunch dishes served as fuel for the rest of the work day; but not until we observed massive tortoises and learned about their anatomy. Shortly after, we returned to our worksites and continued laboriously. Before long, 5pm sprang up and we were ready to head out. The highlight of the day occurred when we collectively walked through the lava coves. We all agreed that our first day of service was successful and invigorating.

BLOG POST FOR JUNE 24

We woke up early for an expedition to las Grietas, a swimming spot that’s a hole in the volcanic rock. Filled with salt water, the swim hole is home to fish and was absolutely beautiful. It took an early start and a walk to the boat docks plus a trip on a speed boat to get there, but it was definitely worth it! The water was crystal blue and the cliffs on the two sides of the crack were very impressive. On the way back to home base we got ice cream. Back at base we did the NOLS Leadership Quadrant activity where we learned about four different leadership types and which type best describes us. After a hearty lunch, we went back to service where we continued to clear invasive plant species and remove gravel from one the lagoons the tortoises drink from—hard but very rewarding. We spent the evening singing and dancing, then went into town for a night walk.

BLOG POST FOR JUNE 26

Today we woke up at 7:00 (thanks for letting us sleep in an extra thirty minutes) to enjoy a delicious breakfast. After eating, we took a bus to Tortuga Bay where we walked on the beautiful trail down to the beach. After around forty five minutes of walking, we made it to the sand. The water was crystal clear, and we went in where it was nice and calm. We brought our snorkeling stuff and even got to see some little sharks. They were so cute! The water was cold, but it was definitely worth it. After swimming, Isa led us through meditation on the beach. Can I get an ommmmmm? On the way back to the hotel, we went through town and stopped for snacks and drinks.

After lunch we did our last day of service at Las Primicias. Instead of our usual routine of clearing the gravel and cutting down invasive trees, today we got to plant endemic plants for the tortoises to eat. It was hard work but very fun. We pushed on through the rain and the fire ants to plant a total of fifteen trees! Afterward, John took us on a walk down to a lagoon to see the tortoises relaxing in the water. After that, we headed back to the hotel. It was a lovely day, and while we are tired from service and a hike, we still had a great time going into town to get ice cream after a wonderful dinner. While we are sad to be leaving Santa Cruz, we can’t wait to get to the next island tomorrow. We are all having so much fun, this really has been a great trip!

BLOG POST FOR JUNE 29

Today we woke up early and had scrambled eggs and plantains for breakfast. We hiked, and on the way we went to the Las Tejeras museum and we learned about the history Galapagos archipelago and the significant figures in its discovery.

We then continued our hike to go snorkeling. in the water, we swam with sea lions and schools of fish. Our favorite animal we saw was a sea turtle that stayed with us and swam alongside us. we also saw an infamous Galapagos blue footed booby standing majestically on a boulder.

Afterwards, we walked around the town, and shopped for souvenirs for our families and ice cream to cool us down after so much adventure.

At around 4pm, we all gathered together for a presentation on recycling and the Galapagos. After an educational slideshow on the importance of recycling and the impact of our pollution, the presenter showed us how to repurpose old glass bottles into cute cups for home, which we all made and decorated. She pre cut the glass bottles for us and we used sand paper to soften the edges.

After dinner at the end of the day, the students and leaders gathered together and bonded at night over Brazilian music while we sang along. After such a long day, we all went to sleep to rest and get ready for the next adventure.

BLOG POST FOR JUNE 30

Today is the 30th of June and it was a very fun day. In the morning we woke up at around 8:00 and went to breakfast and had toast. It was very good. Straight from breakfast we went to snorkel on this beach that wasn’t very far away. We took a bus from breakfeast to the beach that didn’t take very long and then a short walk. The snorkeling was amazing. There were fish, sea turtles and sea lions like right next to us. One of the best experiences of my life and the coolest thing i’ve seen. We stayed there for about an hour and a half until driving back to lunch.

After lunch we did like a final activity called OMG and talked about our goals for the trip and what we would like to take away from it. It was very helpful to hear the perspectives of the students around me and what they took away from the trip also. We also have been on many snaps runs to grab some snacks. One of our personal favorite snacks that the entire group likes is oreos. We have been to many stores to find them and have bought out the entire oreo section at one store. After lunch and a snack run, we went to the beach and relaxed. We watched the sunset from the beach with all the sea lions around us. It was a very cool and pretty experience.

At dinner, we ate pork and then had to go on our nightly ice cream run. We have tried out two places here and found one very very good ice cream shop. After that we went to the hotel to wind down for bed and hear about what we are going to do the next day. This day was an incredible day with fantastic swimming and adventures that will last a lifetime.

BLOG POST FOR JULY 3

And just like that, it’s over. Can you believe it? So much has happened since our first days in Quito. The last two weeks have been a whirlwind of fun and adventure. We laughed, we loved, and we cried. We got far closer as a group than we’d ever hoped we would. We (Isa and John) hope all of you students had even half as much fun as we did. If so, you are going home more than happy. If we had a chance to do it all over again, we would do it in a heartbeat.

As we return home, we want to challenge you to remember all of the things we have learned over the last two weeks and to continue to incorporate them into our lives. Remember the goals you set during the OMG activity (or what some of you called the BAT—Big Amazing Takeaway). Live in the moment, be kind to others, appreciate what you have, and value your friends. Enjoy your time back home. We are sure you all have many more exciting adventures in your future.

We will always remember snorkeling with the sea turtles and sea lions at La Loberia, hiking to Darwin Bay, planting trees as the tortoises walked past in Santa Cruz, playing games in Quito, and enjoying exploring town together, but most of all, we will always remember you for being you. You were an unforgettable group. You should all be very proud of yourselves. Good job stepping out of your comfort zone, looking out for one another, doing amazing work at service, and always putting a smile on our faces. Remember to be courageous, to live your values, to connect and influence, to voice your opinions, and as always, to have fun. Leaders aren’t born—they’re made.

Cheers,
John and Isa

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