PROGRAM PHOTO ALBUM
Thanks for the checking out the blog for this Global Leadership Adventures program!
Here are a few things to know and expect:
- Blog posts are written by onsite program staff and/or students and sent to our Headquarters team who will post the blog on this page.
- We typically receive 2-3 blog updates per week from each program, so please don’t be alarmed if you don’t see a blog post every day – that’s totally normal.
- Blog updates received late in the evening or overnight will be posted the following day.
- Blog updates received on weekends may not be posted until Monday.
- Due to many factors such as internet accessibility, program staff aren’t always able to send photos, so some blog posts may contain text only.
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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BLOG POST FOR JULY 31
Hello Families!
Today, 13 of our 14 students arrived in beautiful, sunny Belize! After greeting everyone at the airport and having some delicious food, we set off for a 3ish hour van ride to Sarteneja. We made a quick stop at a local supermarket for last minute essentials and snacks.
First group to arrive at home base had the chance to enjoy their very first beautiful sunset together and then enjoy dinner at HB!
We look forward for orientation day, a tour of Sertaneja, and the chance to meet our first service partners tomorrow!
Buenas Noches,
Belize Staff – Dayana, Jema, Juli & Adela.
BLOG POST FOR AUGUST 1 & 2
Hello families!
Yesterday, August 1st, we went through orientation where the code of conduct and other important messages were reviewed. After that we went on a tour of Sarteneja village, and learned about the history and culture while stopping at a few local stores with paintings, jewelry, and ice cream. We then went to the pier to complete our swim tests before having fun in the water for a while. As the sun set we gathered together in our first sunset circle to review the highlights and takeaways of the day, as well as bringing notice to helpful people. Finally, after dinner we were split into our two mentor groups and worked together to make a poster of our values and goals for this trip.
Today we took a boat tour down the New River, and learned about it’s history as a Mayan transport route and passageway.
We explored the mangrove’s benefits to reduce pollutants in the water and air, and planted some seedlings of our own! We then took a swim in the Corozal Bay to cool off after the long day, and headed back to our home base. After dinner we played a competitive game of Chalupa where the winners got delicious fruit, and learned more about our mentors! The day was finished when we celebrated the birthday of one of our mentors, Adela, and had a delicious cake.
BLOG POST FOR AUGUST 3 & 4
On Sunday we started our morning early with a boat ride to the edge of a lagoon to pick sea grass for manatees. After a long while we hoped on the boat and headed back to home base for lunch and to change into appropriate attire to visit the wildtracks nature reserve. At the nature reserve we learned lots about manatees, spider monkeys, and howler monkeys. We got to witness the manatees kit and kat being bottle fed. Around the same time we put the sea grass in a PVC mechanism for the gentle giants to fead from. On the way home we got to enjoy some ice pops from local icecream shop. Our night activitie was watching a documentary about plastic pollution.
Today we started the day off with a beautiful boat ride to learn about fishing traps located in Sarteneja, then made our way to a local fisherman’s house to learn how to filet fish and crabs and eat it for lunch.
After lunch we learned all about lion fish, and got the opportunity to make lion fish jewelry. To wrap up the day we ended with a beautiful sunset swim where we told riddles and swam to a little pavilion near the pier.
Quinn & Gracie
BLOG POST FOR AUGUST 5 & 6
Hello Families and friends!
We are having lots of fun here in Belize.
Yesterday, we did a clean up for 2 hours around the community to accomplish more hours of service and stopped by a sweet shop and got great snacks! Then we prepared for the conservation camp with the local kids and ended the night with the movie zootopia!
Today we started the day off with omelets and toast and prepared for local kids to arrive for our conservation camp. While campers arrived, we played games including jellyfish, hunters, and turtles, rock paper scissors, and sharks/minnows. We presented our posters to the kids about sustainability, mangroves, manatees, and sea pollution. Then we made friendship bracelets and drew while watching The Wild Robot. We walked to a park and played soccer and volleyball. When the campers left, we went swimming in the bay/sunset circle and made tamales for dinner.
Nyla, Amalia and Jackson
BLOG POST FOR AUGUST 7 & 8
Hello families!!
We just came back from our overnight excursion to the most magical place we have been!
We started yesterday off bright and early with a 7am boat ride to Bacalar Chico Marine Preserve. Once we got there, we settled into our rooms had breakfast and explored their museum where we learned a lot of interesting facts about the protected species in the preserve and Mayan culture. After the tour, we got our safety briefing and got on the boat and drove through a Mayan canal to get to our snorkeling spot where we snorkeled for a while in beautiful water. We went home and had a delicious lunch and then swam and fished the rest of the day around the lodge before dinner.
Today we woke up early to a beautiful day and an excellent breakfast. We again grabbed our snorkeling gear and headed to Rocky Point, where the coral reef meets the coast (unique in the world). Here we helped find lionfish to spear and dissect to better understand what types of fish they eat and how they damage the coral reef.
While we did that we swam and saw bunch of fishes, a sea turtle, manta ray, nurse shark and other marine life. After lunch, we returned to Sarteneja for our last sunset circle and a storytelling activity with Princess (local lady).
Andy
BLOG POST FOR AUGUST 9 & 10
Yesterday we left Sarteneja, our homebase in Belize, to travel to the center of the country to our new home in TEC. During the trip, we stopped at the supermarket to buy some snacks and continued on to Altun Ha, a Mayan archaeological site, where we had a delicious lunch and our guide explained many interesting facts about this culture. We were able to climb the temples and see the entire complex from above. Upon arriving at TEC, some of us enjoyed the pool, and after dinner, we participated in a debate. based on tourism and fishing in Belize.
Today we embarked on a journey to Swallow key. We joined an amazing crew on a catamaran and went snorkelling for the last time in our trip. We saw an abundance of marine life in the reef and had lunch on the boat. We also saw many pods of dolphins and a manatee. I also saw two spotted eagles rays.
At the end of the day we worked on a leadership activity to create our OMG (one meaningful goal) as a group, where we committed to reduce plastic use (particularly single use).
Thanks for reading, we will keep you posted!
Suraya and Calvin
BLOG POST FOR AUGUST 11 & 12
Hello families, we are about to finish this great adventure in Belize!
Yesterday was service day at the Zoo!
We woke up, had a quick breakfast, and headed off to the Belize Zoo for a tour with the animals. We saw lots of animals ranging from harpy eagles to a small river otter. We also encountered Belize’s national animal, which is the tapir. After lunch, we went to work on painting railing for the zoo as well as helping lay the rock foundations for a new white tailed deer and a tapir. We headed back to base for a quick swim and food before heading back to the zoo for a night tour. The night tour allowed us to see the nocturnal animals at the zoo such as jaguars, barn owls, and kinkajous. We had an amazing day and look forward to the last adventure day tomorrow!
We had a blast today doing zip lining and cave tubing!
After breakfast, we drove to the adventure spot and got ready with all our gear to start zip lining! Many of us dared to go upside down on the cables. We also did one that went over the river where later we will do cave tubing.
For cave tubing, we had to walk through the forest, learning more about Belize’s flora and fauna, as well as the importance of caves to the Mayans. After crossing the river and swimming in its crystal-clear waters, we floated inside the caves for about 40 minutes and then went downriver on our tubes! Being in the caves was amazing.
Then we had lunch and headed back to the road to our last stop, the Art Box, where many people bought their last souvenirs and delicious ice cream and frappuccinos. Back at TEC, we did some closing activities to acknowledge our new friendships and memories.
We are sad to go back home but happy for our time here in Belize!
