Thank you for visiting one of our GLA Program Blogs! Here are a few things you can expect:

1. We typically receive 1-2 Blog Posts Per Week from international staff. It is very unlikely programs will send blog updates daily.
2. Blog Updates sent on weekends may be delayed until Monday morning.
3. Due to many factors including internet accessibility, photos may not always be available to post onto the blog. Sometimes staff are only able to send text.

Thank you for your patience and understanding!

GLA Staff

Sunday March 18, 2018

BIENVENIDOS A LA PURA VIDA
Welcome to the pure life!

Yesterday was a successful and awesome arrival day! Everyone arrived safely and spent the day relaxing and getting to know each other.

Today we have embarked on our long and scenic bus ride toward home base in the Caribbean jungles of Costa Rica, with pit stops for an incredible zip line experience and some typical Costa Rican food!

We are all so excited for our week together! It is just beginning!

Hannah Calloway
International Director

Monday March 19, 2018

Today we woke up to heavy rain in the jungle, and were enveloped by the sounds of nature. We were fortunate enough to have better weather after breakfast, and enjoyed a tour of the property! We got to learn about all of the plants that grow here and even sample some of the water from fresh coconuts. We saw lots of wildlife, including spider monkeys, a sloth, and emerald basilisks. After our tour, we had lunch and spent some time at the beach. The rest of the day was pretty tranquil, but we are all very excited at the moment for our first night patrol tonight!

Tuesday March 20, 2018

Hey, it’s Journey here! It was an incredibly humid day today, waking up to rain once again. After a breakfast of fruit and grilled cheese, we all headed out into the rain to the village to learn more about ASTOP. This program is all about saving and protecting the sea turtles of Parismina.

After we learned more info on Green Turtles and Leatherback Turtles, we went on a guided tour of Parismina where we got to see all the sodas and cantinas! These are restaurants where the locals and tourists alike both go to hang out or have a good meal. Before our tour was over, we enjoyed some delicious chocobananas that helped us cool down in the intense heat.

After our tour, we went back to home base where we all ate lunch and then took some time to rest up before we headed out again. After our naps, we all headed out to the beach lagoon to clean up the shores and pick up the trash for about an hour before we all took a dip into the lagoon. Now we are all relaxing and hanging out awaiting dinner. Adios, amigos!

Wednesday March 21, 2018

We started the day with a breakfast of rice, beans, sausage, and fruit. Then we went on an amazing boat tour, on which we saw snowy egrets, great egrets, blue herons, tiger herons, aracaris, emerald basilisk lizards, a caiman, poison dart frogs, a sloth and a group of crocodiles! We came back to a fantastic lunch of pasta with cream sauce, salad, and garlic bread, after which we had mentor groups on the beach.

After lunch we painted signs for the beach and the Eco Lodge, mostly to encourage visitors to be mindful of the environment. Then we had a Latin dance lesson, which was a lot of fun! Maya taught us the bachata and salsa, and then Journey finished the dance party by teaching us the Caballo Dorado. Dinner was rice, beans, veggies, and fried plantains. Tonight is our second night patrol, wish us luck!
-Maia

Thank you for visiting one of our GLA Program Blogs! Here are a few things you can expect:

1. We typically receive 1-2 Blog Posts Per Week from international staff. It is very unlikely programs will send blog updates daily.
2. Blog Updates sent on weekends may be delayed until Monday morning.
3. Due to many factors including internet accessibility, photos may not always be available to post onto the blog. Sometimes staff are only able to send text.

Thank you for your patience and understanding!

GLA Staff

Sunday March 11, 2018

BIENVENIDOS A SPRING BREAK

Welcome to Spring break!

Yesterday was a successful and awesome arrival day! Everyone arrived safely and spent the day relaxing and getting to know each other.

Monday March 12, 2018

Our first night as a GLA family in the Green Gold Eco Lodge in Parismina was full of new experiences and a beautiful and tropical view that surrounded the Home Base. Waking up this morning to the orchestra of birds, our GLA family was treated to a traditional and homemade Costa Rican breakfast of arepas with freshly squeezed orange juice. Qué rico! Once breakfast was over, the owner of the Eco Lodge Jason led a tour around the farm that surrounds the Home Base. We saw some amazing plants including pineapple, vanilla, and a variety of indigenous plants. We even got to taste the meat and water of a ripe coconut! Yum!! Not only did we get to see beautiful plants, but also some amazing wildlife including birds and even monkeys. The hike through the jungle was long and hot, but overall very educational, as it taught many of us about the unique culture to Parismina.

Next, lunch was a delicious Costa Rican meal consisting of rice and some vegetables grown on the farm behind home base. What’s a better way to enjoy the beauty of nature and Parismina than to eat the foods grown right in the home based backyard? After lunch, the GLA family met in the common room to listen to a special visitor. A representative from ASTOP, the association to save the turtles of Parismina, came to talk to our group about the importance of our volunteer work. He informed us of the dangers that turtles were facing, including extinction from poaching and climate change.

Luckily, our night watches will help turtles lay their eggs in safety! After learning about ASTOP, our family met with their mentor groups and participated in an activity to get to know the people on the trip. In our groups, we reflected on our aspirations in life and got to share them with our group. After a long day of hiking and bonding, it was time for our GLA family to relax. We headed to the beach right off the Home Base for some free time. The water was warm and the spirits were high! It was a beautiful scene and fun memory we’ll all remember. Now it’s time for our first night watch and we are all ready to save some sea turtles!! 🙂
Wish us luck!

– GLA Sea Turtle Initiative Family

Tuesday March 13, 2018

The GLA family trekked through the beach last night on our night patrol with our guide Carlos. Unfortunately we did not see any turtles but we learned a lot about the stars and discussed life theories.

Our adventurer began as walked into town while spotting monkeys and enjoying the tropical surroundings. When we got into town Maco informed us about Leather Back and Green turtles. Then we walked around the town and viewed the culture of the people including the clinic, the school, and soda (soda is what you call a Costa Rican restaurant). Lunch was great! We tried banana chips. Muy delicioso!

At the beach we picked up trash. The GLA family worked hard and filled up fifteen trash bags. Having worked hard, we cooled off in the ocean. After washing off the sand we discussed our plan to teach the students English in the town. Overall we had an AMAZING day and we are all excited to experience a new adventure tomorrow!

-Olyvia

 

Wednesday March 14, 2018

We continued our journey today with a tour of the mangrove. We spotted exotic reptiles like an emerald basilisc, crocodiles, and red dart frogs. After lunch we chilled in the hammocks and played an intense game of uno.
During service we learned about the importance of taking care of our environment and some ways to produce less trash. After our discussion some of the students filled up trash bags along the beach.

While other students painted signs in Spanish with phrases such as keep the lagoon clean, we protect the environment, and we take care of nature. The GLA family gathered together and learned how to dance salsa with our instructor Maya. We went on our second night patrol Carlos showed us a leather back turtle nesting area.

Thursday March 15, 2018

Today so far we have learned how to make buñuelo which has yuca, cheese, and honey. Que Rico! Now we are enjoying smoothies from a small restaurant and later we will go to am artisan market and visit a local school! Tonight is our final night patrol.

Thank you for visiting one of our GLA Program Blogs! Here are a few things you can expect:

1. We typically receive 1-2 Blog Posts Per Week from international staff. It is very unlikely programs will send blog updates daily.
2. Blog Updates sent on weekends may be delayed until Monday morning.
3. Due to many factors including internet accessibility, photos may not always be available to post onto the blog. Sometimes staff are only able to send text.

Thank you for your patience and understanding!

GLA Staff

March 3, 2018

Greetings from the land of PURA VIDA!

Our entire staff is ecstatic to begin our GLA spring season. Our first session has begun and all students arrived safely.

Our students are eager to begin working with sea turtles and learn about the Costa Rican culture. Arrival day is always relaxed, and after lunch we did a tour of Alajuela, visiting the Central Park and a traditional market.

We ended our day with our first traditional Costa Rican casado meal. We head out bright and early tomorrow morning to our home base in Parismina on the Caribbean coast, stopping to zipline on the way!

We are all excited for our busy, fun week ahead!

 

March 5, 2018

Yesterday was our first full day in Costa Rica.

It was mostly a travel day from the hotel in Alajuela to home base in Parismina, but we got to stop a few times on the way. First, we stopped to go ziplining through the jungle (!!!), and we got to see some really incredible views. Then we stopped at a buffet style restaurant for lunch of typical Costa Rican food.

Once we we got to Home Base we settled in, and then we visited the beach.

Today, we took a tour around the property and got to see a bunch of very cool animals, like monkeys, birds and lizards. We also saw a ton of cool plants, and got to taste coconut.

Afterwards we met someone working with ASTOP (the sea turtle conservation organization) and learned about how we will help the turtles. Then, we got some time to relax and play Uno, and went down to the beach again before dinner. The meals so far have been different and delicious, and it’s been so cool seeing all the different animals, plants and aspects of Costa Rican culture.

These two days have been an amazing start to our trip!
-Auden

 

March 6, 2018

Today we went on an awesome boat tour through the rivers, and it was super fun to stop and go with the locals to a spot where poison dart frogs were found every two feet.

After the frog adventure, we went and saw some crocodiles chilling on the shore.

Following the boat tour, we came back to Home Base and ate lunch. And then, after a little bit of competitive UNO, we went and did beach clean-up. We collected three bags of full of plastic and Styrofoam, and after we were done we went and played in the ocean.

Once we were back from the ocean, we had dance classes which was super fun and very inclusive. Then we did some group activities ate and dinner to close out the day.

-Jason

 

March 8, 2018

Today started with a good breakfast and then a walk to a part of the beach where there was a big lagoon. There, we got on a truck and went to Parismina.

When got to Parismina we went across a runway and came to the ASTOP building, where we got off the truck and were greeted by a ASTOP member. The ASTOP member took us on a tour of the town, which was fun and good learning experience.

After the tour we came back to the ASTOP building, where we were greeted by Mako, who was the ASTOP member we met the other day. Mako gave us a lesson about sea turtles. After learning all about sea turtles, we left to go back to HQ.

Once we got back, we painted signs for Jason, which was fun and exciting, then after that we cleaned up the beach, which had a lot of plastic and trash washed ashore.

After all of that we swam before coming back. Then we had dinner and got ready for the second night watch, which I am super excited for and I hope we see a sea turtle (and if not, the night watches are fun no matter what).

-Payton