Day 1

All 26 students have arrived safe and sound to this beautiful island of the Dominican Republic. Today has been all about settling into the lodge, meeting new people, making new friends and the beginning of creating wonderful memories for this life changing experience.

The DR leadership team

July 3, 2017

Dominican travel is very different than what most of us are accustomed to. For example, the bus we took today to Brison was jam packed with 30 excited and energetic passengers, along with blazing heat that made the bus feel, quite literally, like a sauna. The drive itself was hectic. Drivers were honking excessively, and were not afraid to take risks on the road, to say the least. Views along the way were spectacular, and it only got better once we arrived at the mountain.

The gradient of the hike was extreme, with the majority of the trek being an uphill battle. This fact was not complemented by the extreme heat and sun that everyone was walking in. The road we hiked on led to the house of Dona Maxima, where we were graciously served delicious local foods (we recommend the chicken). There was also an opportunity to buy some homemade bracelets and rugs, as well as delicious ice cream and popsicles from a local vendor. Unfortunately, the ice cream and popsicles had to be enjoyed hastily, because the heat of the day got to them quite quickly. The way down was much more enjoyable; in fact, in some areas, it was possible to run/slide/skip down the path, leading to a much quicker return to the bus. The ride back was exactly the same as the ride there, except this time, it was even hotter, making everyone somewhat impatient, and eager to get home.

Overall, the trip provided interesting insight into the lives of the people living on the mountain. We were shown around 2 different local houses, both of which gave examples of how the people’s lives are different from those in the United States (an example would be the kitchens, which did not have an adequate chimney.) The experience was a great way to kick off the trip, and we are all looking forward to more experiences like this one.

Written by Nick, Eva, and Allie

July 4, 2017

Today we went to the community Cano Dulce, where we helped build a home for Williams Family. William has four children who we spent a lot of time with whilst working on the project. Everyone was really motivated and we managed to make a lot of progress in such a short amount of time. We allocated different groups to certain tasks, such as: Mixing Cement, Applying Cement, Lining the walls with bottles (used for sustainable insulation), and finally lining the bottled walls with wire and hammering them in. All the bottles used to create this house were recycled in order to make an increasingly positive impact on the environment. When we weren’t busy cementing the walls we thoroughly enjoyed meeting and spending time with the children of the community. Everyone was so welcoming and on the whole it was an incredible experience. We are looking forward to going back tomorrow!

 Written by Alexia, Yas and Sasha

 

Day 4

The site was very different when we arrived this morning due to the rain despite the tasks being the same the tasks seemed to be more challenging. The cement was harder to mix as there was more water weight and the house was more crowded as a result of the very heavy rain. Putting on cement on the outside of the house was much more challenging due to the slipperiness of ground outside. However no ones motivation levels faltered and everyone worked extremely well together and intuitively. The family members of the house that we were building and some other locals put in very hard work everyone interacted brilliantly. The tasks appeared easier once the rain had let up after lunch and one half of the group went for a community tour and to see the bee hives, being shown how the honey was made and tasting the delicious honey. Overall it was a wonderful experience being able to revisit and  help the community today, especially seeing the immense progress that had been made compared to yesterday morning.

Written by JJ, Charlotte, Lilly

Day 5

Today we were woken up by the smell of pancakes and eggs, as we got ready to work on reforestation in a local nature preserve, Las Cuevas. We arrived and loaded plants into a boat, then separated into groups of plant-planters and hole diggers. We planted 150 trees along a river while fending off fire ants! We then ventured into the forest and saw the deforestation we were working to restore before cooling off in subterranean aqua holders (caves.) We then left the nature preserve and picked up pizza before heading to Playa Alicia. At Playa Alicia we refreshed ourselves with virgin cocktails and spotty wifi. Later we headed onto the beach for tanning and lounging as well as swimming in the clear Caribbean water. After catching some waves we headed back to the lodge where a group of us engaged in a pick up game of baseball with some locals. We headed back to the lodge to grab dinner and watched a inspirational and educational environmental documentary, “Before the Flood”, starring the esteemed Leonardo DiCaprio, John Kerry, and Elon Musk. Then we headed off to write this blog and enjoy our one hour of freedom!

Written by Kate F., Hope Y., & Tobias B.

Day 6

Today we woke up to a ten minute rain storm. Fortunately, the day took a turn for the better and the sun was shining for another service day. The group traveled to a community called Severe which houses both people of Haitian and Dominican descent. Once we got there, half of the group began mixing cement immediately to begin repairs on a local school while the other half went on a tour of the village led by two mentors. On the tour we learned about their surroundings such as how close the nearest clinical was, their agriculture which is based off of cattle, chickens and pigs and their education system. Upon returning the group continued to work in the scorching sun. Despite the heat, the group accomplished a great deal of progress. During the breaks, we enjoyed playing with a group of kids who gathered at the site.

After a long day we enjoyed some free time either lounging by the pool listening to music or enjoying the ocean.

Written by Stephanie, Kate, Alex

Day 7

While a few of us woke up early to frolic in the morning sunshine, most of us got to sleep in and rest up for our exhilarating day at Dudu Lagoon. We relaxed and swam in the beautiful blue waters, and some of us even dropped from the 30 foot zip line. Later, we explored a dark, ominous cueva and practiced using eco location. We utilized the volleyball court and soccer field, too. After our adventure, we trekked to Playa Preciosa and enjoyed the incredible scenery. We took lots of photos and supported the local vendors by buying handmade jewelry and delicious pina coladas.

We went full send today and really bonded with each other. After several days of working as a team in our local communities, it was nice to take a step back and just enjoy each others’ company. These are the events through which we filled the majority of our day.

With reserved love,
Your dependents
PS Sophie, Tucker, and Anna crafted this message

Day 8

Today was the final day of service at Cano Dulce, we were sad to leave the community and the bonds we made with the people, but we all worked hard in the heat to complete as much work on the house as we could. We continued to work on the bottle house and began cementing the walls. We also started a side project of repainting the front of the school, which was a map of the world. It was great for us to see how much progress we made on the bottle house and it taught most of us that if you work hard, and work together you can get a lot done.

During the past 5 service days we have experienced in the Dominican, many new and meaningful relationships were made with community members, and we were exposed to lots of new environments. (one more sentence please ☺)

-Courtney

DAY 3

We woke up to the sound of cows, chickens, and girls swimming in the pool downstairs. Funky bacon for breakfast and mashed potatoes. A little taste of our Home land on the bus ride up to the working site with Miley Cyrus 2009 top song of the year “Born in the USA”. We settled quickly into a work routine of cutting chicken wire, nailing them to each of the wooden frame work and finally inserting recycled plastic bottles into the hollow walls. The plastic bottles were gathered by locals from the shore La Boca, a place where the river meets the ocean. Throughout the day, friendly interactions between students and locals were recurrent. Neighborhood youth danced to American rap songs that were playing through the speaker that we brought, a basketball scrimmage started after lunch and the local adolescents dominated the game. After a day of hard work and cultural exchange, we spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying the sun and surf in the Caribbean Ocean.

Hello families!

Today was another eventful, wonderful day in the DR. It started with a crazy morning at Dudu Lagoon where we zip lined into the beautiful clear water. We stayed here for our delicious lunch played volleyball, soccer and Frisbee while others tanned. After, we boarded the bus and headed off to La Playa Preciosa where we once again swam, tanned and drank Piña Coladas (virgin). We came home to our lovely meal of fish, rice and avocado and watched a movie about climate change. What a day! Cannot wait for tomorrow.

By: Hannah Dudiak, Bridget Duncan, Amelia Heckman, Anna Ogan, Jenna Conrades

June 26, 2017

We had pancakes this morning! The cooks read our minds and we miss food from home, but the fruit is really good. Then we left for our last workday at the bottle house and got a lot of work done however we weren’t able to finish. We were able to finish most of the bottling and get some cement on the walls. Halfway through, it began pouring and we all worked in the rain. For lunch we had chicken, rice, and beans. Towards the end we played with the little kids. They loved pretending we were horses and getting piggy back rides. It was really fulfilling to be able to create a house for a less fortunate community family. We have so much privilege and it’s great to know that we have an opportunity to help out. They helped out on the site.

Later that day we spent time in the pool, beach, and had dinner. We finished up the documentary, “Before the flood” and we learned about CLIMATE CHANGE. It was interesting to learn how much we impact the environment and what we could do to make it better at home. Also we were too rowdy last night so we have to go to bed 15 minutes earlier. It sucks. And we might’ve learned our lesson. Also there are a lot of bugs here and it really sucks. Really bad. its so bad. You have no idea.
Day 6 done.
From the best leaders of the day to ever exist at a GLA program,

Claire, Ashley, Kate, Abrielle, and Robyn

Day 7

The group woke up to booming thunder and rain. Although the rain was strong, the group persisted. After a hardy breakfast, the Beach Side Service Adventure departed to Severe. The bus ride was long and bumpy, but the work that was done made it worth it. The Severe School was in need of much work. The walls were dirty, the windows and doors were rocky and falling apart, and the ground was uneven and filthy. The fact that kids have to sit in the grotesque environment while trying to learn is heartbreaking. The group set to work, sanding the walls, painting, and mixing concrete with the help of workers and the local kids. The group went on a tour to learn about the local customs. After a lot of hard work, the group left for a local market. The market changed the lives of many people. The kids aggressively begged for money, and the venders viciously tried to sell their products. The environment was  terrifying and everyone was put into an awkward position.
Once we returned to the lodge, we had a delicious dinner and the group had an active discussion about charity and its pros and cons.  We are very excited for the activities coming up in these last few days!

-Hunter, Brynn, Sophie, Dylan, Kelly

DAY 9!!!

Day 1

Bienvenidos a Costa Rica! All 24 of our students are here and ready for an awesome Costa Rican adventure! After all of our students arrived today, we had a barbeque dinner catered by our local director’s cousin–he once won an award for having the best barbeque in all of Costa Rica! Yum! We did a short orientation, get to know you game, and also had our first mentor group meeting. Tomorrow we will drive to our Home Base in Gandoca, with a stop along the way for zip lining and lunch at a local restaurant.

Pura Vida! We are having an absolute blast here in Costa Rica.  Yesterday was our main travel day, as we went from our hotel in San Jose to our “home base” which is in Gandoca.  We are extremely close to the Panama border.  In the morning, we woke up in the hotel around 7 am.  After meandering downstairs to the outside porch, we were served a delicious, fresh breakfast full of variety.  There was hot coffee, milk, rice and beans (of course!), scrambled eggs, and fresh bread with different jellies and marmalades. The bags were packed onto our bus, and we started our journey to the organic farm that we’d be staying in for the next week.

After traveling for about an hour or two, we stopped for zip lining in the rainforest.  It was 11 lines long, each longer and faster than the last.  It was full of interesting wildlife, such as the bullet ant, tiger ant, toucans, and sometimes sloths.  The people that worked there encouraged us to try our Spanish on them.  The last line, nicknamed the “Adrena-line”, was a half mile long and had the most incredible view.  We collectively bought the pictures of us on a flash drive, which will be shared later.  Next, we stopped for lunch at this giant buffet area that had every chicken, rice, and fruit dish you could ever imagine, along with flavorful juice.  Everyone left with full stomachs and big smiles.

On the bus, we went another few hours, then stopped at a crowded grocery store for a quick bathroom break and food stop.  The bus ride consisted of counting dogs, goats, chickens, ticos y ticas (the name for Costa Ricans), and horses, as well as games, singing, and a little bit of sleeping.  The sun sets earlier in the Caribbean, so when we arrived at 7pm, it was already nightfall.  The family that lives here was very inviting and kind, even though we all screamed after encountering some huntsman spiders.  Everyone showered in the cold but refreshing water, we played cards for a little, and then we were all off to bed for another exciting day.

We have all become such great friends already!

-Kyleigh Marshall

July 16th, 2017

Abby and Gabi comin’ at you from Gandoca, Costa Rica. Today, July 16, we enjoyed a delicious breakfast of an egg, meat, and vegetable scramble, rice and beans, and of course a hot cup of Costa Rican coffee. The locals served us a special treat of arepas, similar to biscuits, with jam. After breakfast we had free time that was spent throwing Frisbee, spotting monkeys, and challenging our neighbors across the pond to a game of “football”. We’re proud to announce that the Americans defeated the British yet again in our “friendly” games of ultimate Frisbee and soccer. In the early afternoon we split into groups of twelve and set off on a tour of the organic farm we’re staying on. Both groups’ guides picked us fruits from the trees as they informed us about their various harmful or helpful characteristics of their many unique fruits. As well as learn about all their fruits, we got to enjoy many delicious organic fruits straight off of the tree. This would be an appropriate time to inform our dear readers that Vincent Brady’s favorite fruit was the uncooked cacao fruit. On the tour we spotted wildlife such as toucans and, Vincent’s favorite, really, really scary, big, venomous, metallic spiders. When at home base we found two bowls, one containing roasted cacao and one that would soon contain the shelled cacao beans. We crushed the shelled beans and fed them into a rustic looking hand crank that surprisingly produced bitter tasting cacao paste. However, when this paste is mixed with milk and a little bit of sugar it turns into the most delicious hot chocolate after a few hours of stewing. While we waited for this to become hot chocolate, we started up a volleyball tournament against the British school group of kids. We were on a losing streak of 4 losses until the underdog team of us (Gabi and Abby), Colin, Vince, Adam, Kyleigh, Meredith, and Arielle pulled out our first and only win of the night. To quickly remedy our loss we enjoyed a hot, organic cup of hot chocolate before setting out on our first night walk on the beach. We dressed up in full bank robbing attire and headlights, and set out to the beach in suffocating darkness with a galaxy above our heads. After splitting up into two groups we set out on our walk in opposite directions. One group saw nothing, but the other saw the menacing red eyes of a crocodile! Upon returning to home base, we quickly settled into a well deserved slumber.

From: Gabriella Gyurkovics and Abigail Boutrous.

Day 4

Today we spent our morning in the kitchen chopping, seasoning, and boiling up ingredients to make picadillo with plantains. For the plantains we got a bunch and cut the ends off and peeled them, after we got a tool that looks like a waffle wand thing but instead we took the cut up plantains and squished them and fried them in oil. It was a really fun activity to prepare and have hands on with the food you’re going to consume later on. I’m really thankful to have had the privileged to enter into our host’s home and be allowed and invited into the kitchen to prepare a traditional delicious dish.

In the afternoon we got a Costa Rica talk which I found really informational since JP went deep on the historical and geographical places in Costa Rica. After lunch we went on a mangrove boat tour where we were excited to see sloths! It took all of us a really long time to actually spot it out, but once we did we looked at it for about 10 minutes. Apart from spotting the sloths we saw 4 spider monkeys one of which had a baby monkey on her back, it was wild to see them jumping across the air and falling on the trees from the other side. Later that hour we continued our boat tour and we were taken to the beach where we all rushed into the ocean and swam in the delicious warm salty water.

-Tania Estrada

Students enjoy playing group games after dinner

Day 6

*Wave Sound* As another day comes to a close on the driftwood covered shores of Gandoca, Costa Rica, we can look back on another day full of experiences and fun. Today, day 6 on our magical mystery tour, we woke up to heavy rain, as can be expected during the RAINY season. For breakfast, we shared eggs, rice and beans (quite a surprise here in Costa Rica), and coffee and hot chocolate. After our breakfast and waking up through the wonder of caffeine, we moved to our first activity of the day, sign making. Sign making is a crucial part of our primary directive of protecting turtles. Gandoca is unique in that it has promoted turtle conservation for almost 30 years, since our guide Ariel was a kid. Many communities are still working towards protecting the sea creatures as gathering and eating the eggs has been a practice for many years. These signs will be placed around the beach to help promote turtle conservation and increase the conservation effort on the Caribbean Coast. The group was able to let their creative ideas fly as we worked with different paints and worked to find the best way to write letters. As we worked on our sign we quickly realized that our letters were never going to fit and decided to cover smear the letters creating a lime green background that ended up working out better than anything we had planned previously. Honestly, it was a miracle our sign was ever finished. After several hours of sign painting and A LOT of person painting, personally I received many smears of paint, dots up my arm, and a flower. Essentially, my arm resembled something of a modern art piece. However artistic our arms and signs looked, nothing can match the true art of Gladis’s cooking. Something of a hidden gem in Costa Rica, the reigning matriarch of the house continues to impress. Combined with another homemade fruit juice, we were served tuna pasta salad, fried potatoes, and rice and beans (I am beginning to think it may be somewhat of a staple here). Lunch then quickly transformed itself into a game of mafia. In the first game, the mafia were quickly eliminated. However in the second game, Ariel, a crafty mafia in our small Costa Rican village, took down 22 out of 24 of us before being eliminated. Due to the rain, some of our local game time was cut short. However, we then moved on to a game on the beach where each one of us had a different trait as we tried to build an SOS sign out of driftwood. Four leaders were chosen to lead the group, myself being one. Needless to say, we never made an SOS. The activity was meant to show how international groups face obstacles in the workplace. A short walk back to the soccer field to play some field games. Several games of soccer and volleyball broke out featuring a wild Kibou (the young cat on the farm) running around the field. Soon however, it got dark, and after another wonderful dinner, we dressed back in black for our turtle walk. This turtle walk however, would be much different than the last. Seemingly normal, although slightly more cloudy than before leading to a lack of stars, the turtle walk would be nowhere near a regular walk. After we started, we soon realized that the waves were coming up high on the beach. Personally, I noticed when a wave came up to my shoulders although I was 30 feet back. As I continued, we soon hit a layer of mud. As we struggled through the mud, we had several lost shoes and a lot of near miss falls. We then reached a river where I was told, “there might be caimens or sharks coming back and forth”. Disreagarding that we crossed anyways and continued through into the dark. Once reaching the end of our path, we rested some and then started back. I was also able to scare the entire second group on our way back. I was quite proud. After a long walk back through the river and mud, we finally made it back to home base around 11:30. All of us exhausted, we ended our day there falling quickly asleep after showers. Overall, day 6 was another in a great series of adventure.

– Colin Kelly

Leadership and cross-cultural game on Gandoca Beach

Day 7

The day started off fairly early with an amazingly good breakfast at 7:30. After we ate we departed for a trip to the local elementary (Central Educativo Gandoca). We learned that the schools run from February to November, leaving them to have December and January off which is the dry season so it’s similar to summer. Their schools hours are from 7-11am and only 23 students in the school. The school consisted of 4 rooms; principal’s office, 2 classroom and a cafeteria along with a play area and field. We went into the first room which had students from grades 1-5 and afterwards we went into the kindergartener’s room. The children all told us their names and we told them ours. Afterwards we went into the field to play “pato pato ganzo” aka duck duck goose. Once we finished we cleaned up and we ate snacks with the kids. Then we grabbed a rope and played games like “jump the snake” where we wiggled the rope and had to jump over it. Along with it we played jump rope. The kids were very sweet and super excited to show us their performances which consisted of them singing and dancing.

After we got back to home base we all relaxed for a bit as we were tired from the night patrol the previous night. At 2:30we had an amazing dance class where we learned the salsa and other local dances. It was tiring but at the same time exciting and energetic. Then we played volleyball with Pablo and Ariel, some of our hosts. The whole group got together and we played a huge game of capture the flag with our mentors and hosts. At 7:30 we started getting ready for our final night patrol. When we were out we saw sea turtle tracks and a nest with hatched turtle eggs. Unfortunately we didn’t see any sea turtles but we still had an amazing time and we are beyond thankful for these experiences.

Polina Chowdhury and Noelle Nicolls

Day 1, 2017

Welcome to Costa Rica! Our students arrived in waves throughout the day and are now all fast asleep in a local hotel after a busy day of travel and meeting new friends! For those who arrived earlier in the day, we took a walking tour of Alejuela led by our local director, including a stop at a local ice cream parlor. Tonight we enjoyed a catered barbeque dinner at the hotel as well as had our first mentor group meeting. We look forward to heading to Home Base tomorrow and getting settled in for a great program!

CR Sea Turtle Staff

Day Two

I woke up a bit later than the other volunteers on this morning. I caught breakfast really quick and was out the door. The plan today was to go to the Jaguar rehabilitation center. Many volunteers got to know each other the day before and I found myself fairly comfortable. I sat beside a girl named Cholena on the 6 hour bus ride, she’s from California. When we finally got to the animal center we were very tired, but excited. We saw many exotic and interesting animals and learned tons of information about them. Some of my favorites (I’m Canadian) include the toucans, monkeys and baby sloths! Their main objective and end goal at the rehabilitation center was to help injured/sick animals and release them into the wild. After that amazing experience, we were ready to get settled into our home base. What is interesting about home base is that it is on an organic farm with a family who lives off the land. The two main people who aid us with our activities are Pablo and Ariel. They are native to Costa Rica and are absolute experts, we’d probably be in a ditch somewhere without them. Our first dinner included rice, beans and potato salad. After that we pretty much talked and got to know each other. A great second day!

By Ryan Madsen

Day 3

Turtles are becoming endangered, and not many people realize their importance. The reason turtle conservation is so important is because of many factors; whether it be the food chain cycle being stable or less jellyfish, saving the turtles is extremely needed.

I experienced an amazing thing yesterday, which was the fourth of July. My group saw a turtle lay eggs! We released her into the water to ensure no turtle hunters cook her. It’s an unfortunate truth about sea turtles in Costa Rica. After releasing the mama of the 169 eggs, we buried them into a safe spot in the ground.

Hours before this amazing event, we went on a farm tour. I loved the cacao! What a day we had!

Joshua Samford

Day 5

After an early morning we, the GLA family, hopped in the van for an hour long car ride to a beautiful beach called Playa Grande for an exciting surfing adventure. The group was split into two for different sessions of surfing lessons. Personally I went in confident, but once the beach was visible I was in shock by the wave size. After a few struggles, I stood up. Once I understood how I did what I did I was capable of standing up nonstop. And believe me I felt like I was surfing Maverick.  After four hours of surfing and hanging on the beach, we had lunch. Our lunch was served in a banana leaf.  After the delicious lunch, we went to a small town for some cookies and shopping. At first multiple of my friends and I thought the mentors would be keeping us on a leash, but we were pleasantly surprised to find out that they trusted us and gave us a large amount of freedom. In the town, I personally got a few cornrows and a grilled cheese. Today was filled with many adventures and new experiences.

–Emilija Vanagunas

Sstudents  digging organic yucca and picking organic plantains for dinner tonight.
Living on an organic farm has been really great for the students both educationally and healthwise.

Students work with the local staff to feed the chickens and collect eggs for breakfast.

Students and local staff pose before heading out on a turtle patrol. We found a turtle nest and buried the eggs in a safe spot!

Days 7 and 8 

Hola! The last two days have been an absolute blast! Yesterday the gang woke up around 7 and had a really yummy breakfast! Early in the morning we went on a long walk on the beach to collect and plant mangrove seeds. Mangrove trees are so important to the environment here because they act as a sponge and help filter the water before reaching the ocean. Once we were done planting the seeds we went back to home base and had a very nice resting time. During this period I had an amazing two hour nap! I was able to take such a great nap due to our dance instructor being late. Once he arrived I had a blast learning different types of dance. Some of the different types of dance that we learned were salsa and bachata. I got really into this activity, it was so tiring! After this lesson we went straight on another turtle walk, this was sadly a bust. No turtles today but I am still grateful for the first turtle we saw.
Today, bright and early, everyone was up and ready to go on another walk. The walk was very tiring, probably the most physically draining out of all the walks we have done. After we walked to the cove we had a really great beach day! I had the opportunity to snorkel for the very first time! It was pretty cloudy but I still saw a bunch of fish and it was so pretty! After beach time we walked back home in the pouring rain. After we showered we had a great game of soccer and volleyball with the family on the farm. Everyone here is so nice and amazing! Today is the last day and I am so sad to be leaving my new friends in Gandoca! Costa Rica has been such an amazing experience that I will never forget. I have met so many different people that I am so grateful for!

-Hewan Weldai! 😉

Costa Rica Sea Turtle Blog June 20 (day 1)

Written by Remy Jennings (mentor)

Welcome to Costa Rica! We loved meeting all 24 of our awesome students today, and we look forward to a great program! Between airport pickups, we had lunch at a local restaurant and spent plenty of time getting to know each other, including playing several rounds of the card game Uno. Tonight we had a barbeque dinner at our hotel, catered by our local director’s cousin (yum!) as well as our first mentor group meeting. Tomorrow morning we will head to the Caribbean coast and settle in at our Home Base!

Day 2

CR Sea Turtle Staff

We woke up to sun streaming through our hotel windows in San Jose this morning. The city was drenched in a coat of mystical fog, which illuminated it’s exotic beauty. We enjoyed a breakfast of the Costa Rican staple, “gallo pinto,” a delicious blend of rice, beans, and something special. We also enjoyed eggs, fresh bread, coffee, and hot chocolate. After a group photo, which I’m sure you already saw, we piled into one big van. The six hour drive was ample time for chatting, playing games, and catching up on some much needed sleep. After a stop for a buffet lunch, we headed towards a zip lining adventure.

As we pulled up to our next stop on the edge of the jungle everyone became eager to get off and zip line as soon as possible. We got into our shuttle and took off into the jungle. Our eyes widened and we laughed as we sat passengers to a hilly ride much like a rollercoaster. After a short five minutes, we met our many knowledgeable tour guides who told us about jungle wildlife and got us geared up for zip lining. With our harnesses, helmets, and gloves all set up we headed off deeper into the jungle to begin our adventure. Eager we took our first leap to hover fast through the canopy on a short zip line to get a hang of it. Along the way we even spotted some leaf cutter ants working their hardest and learned a little bit about how they survive and how they live. While going from platform to platform over the next hour or so we learned pro zip lining techniques and soon made it to the largest zip line of them all. We took deep breaths, leaned back, and flew almost a mile throughout the breathtaking jungle canopy. With our hearts racing and foreheads sweating we said goodbye to friendly tour guides and headed off on a long ride to home base.

So a six hour drive later, a good lunch, and a fascinating zip lining tour, we arrived at home base. We unloaded the bags and headed to our rooms where everyone had to shoo out a few unwanted insects. However, we quickly settled in our beds with our bug nets. The cold water showers were not as bad as I, and many others expected, so we took our much needed showers and went to bed.

Written by:

Hazel Siff, Kaitlyn Ringe, Sara Holland

Day 3

Today, GLA members spent some time getting to know each other with games and activities. We learned each other’s names in a fun memory game in which we stood in a big circle, then said our name one by one and something that we could have brought to camp that started with the first letter of our name. For example: JP said he brought Jellyfish, Ruth said she brought Rompers and JP brought Jellyfish, Caitlyn said she brought Cats, Ruth brought Rompers, and JP brought Jellyfish. Some of the more fun things that were mentioned were Ring Pops by Ryan, Anteaters by Anya, and Coyotes by Clint. Another game that we played, which also doubled as a trust exercise and practice for the night patrol, involved pairing off into teams of two. One person in the team would be blindfolded, then the other person would have to safely walk the blindfolded person around camp without letting them fall. Talking was also not allowed, as in the field, talking will sometimes scare away the sea turtles back into the ocean. Everyone had a turn being blindfolded and being the leader, and overall it was a very fun experience filled with (surprisingly) few falls. The night patrol itself was incredible when we did go out- the stars in the sky were unlike anything visible in the sky of lit-up cities and suburbs. One could even see the spirals of the Milky Way itself. There was no moon visible, and there were no clouds; we walked by the light of the stars and our red headlights (which we had to turn on occasionally when there was an excess of driftwood and debris).

A major highlight of today was a tour of the organic farm which we are currently staying at. Cabinas Colibri has a two hectare farm, and the food that they produce often goes into the delicious meals that we have here. They have 19 variations of cacao plants alone! We saw water apples, bananas, pineapples, and more! The animal diversity in the farm is also incredible. There were butterflies, hummingbirds, howler monkeys, spiders, termites, beetles, spider monkeys, snakes, and many more animals past the trail that we followed. We were split into two groups for this tour, led by our hosts Pablo and Ariel Rodriguez. They let us sample some of the fruit, and once we returned, they showed us the chocolate making process that they use here. At the end, hot chocolate was made with the chocolate, and we drank it with our lunch. It was a delicious and fun time for all! So far, the experiences here have been incredible and diverse, and we look forward to each new day and what it will bring!

-Ruth Fernands

Day 4

Waking up to chirping birds in the morning is better than any alarm you could ever set. Not only were the chirping birds a pleasant surprise but it just so happened to be the sunniest day here in Costa Rica that we have seen so far. We were all so excited to go to the beach on the sunniest day of the trip and the palest of us were dying to get a nice tan.

Breakfast was early because of the long trek ahead of us. Along with our daily choices of coffee, tea, and hot chocolate, we ate sausage, butter toast, beans with rice, pineapple and cereal with milk. The meals here really prepare you for the day ahead and on this particular day we needed all of the energy we could get as we had an hour walk to our snorkeling adventure. An hour walk in the heat may seem impossible but when walking along the edge of the ocean there are no worries, the view is breathtaking and if you get hot the ocean is always right there to cool you off.

We arrived to our snorkeling destination and were taken away by the clear blue water as we rushed to the ocean and dove in. The salty water was warm yet refreshing and this was a very special occasion for some that had never been in the ocean before. We swam, snorkeled, and enjoyed some fresh local fruits. During the snorkeling we spotted fish and sea urchins among the coral reef below, amazing every person as we gazed wide eyed through our snorkeling masks.

After what seemed like an even longer walk back to home base, we settled down for a healthy lunch which included a refreshing fruit smoothie. The walk tuckered everyone out so we headed to our cabins for a two and a half hour break which most of us used to nap or journal.

The last activity of the day was a relaxing beach cleanup at dusk, we spotted sand crabs and a setting sun as we collected pieces of trash that could interfere with the nesting sea turtles. After a fish dinner and a game or two, we headed off to take refreshing showers and got into bed to rest up for the next active day ahead.

By: Kaitlyn Ringe

Day 5

Waking up this morning to the soft sound of rain splashing on the tropical, green foliage, I found myself feeling so much appreciation just for being here. People, including me, had been complaining about sickness and sunburns, but I had a moment of clarity. I am in a place in which I am awoken each morning by the sound of monkeys howling and toucans chirping, and that in itself is a miracle. Above all, I am appreciative of the friendships I’ve been developing. There’s something very special about meeting people from all over the country; people that speak different languages, literal and figurative. Today the plan was to go surfing, something foreign and exciting to me.

After a breakfast of fresh fruit, we took an hour-long ride to the beach. This was no normal beach. The place could have been photoshopped. The sun shone on the crystal clear, teal water, and the sand glimmered. We split in half, loaded up on sunscreen, and made our way into the ocean. Half started on surfboards, while the others swam. I could have stayed in the water all day. Having a moment to relax amongst the waves was pure bliss.

We switched, and I took to the board. The conditions were perfect, and everyone was in a state of complete contentment. Of course, the salt burned my eyes and choked my lungs, but the fun was worth it. Surfing was way more peaceful than I could have imagined. Looking at the waves head on was terrifying, but being on the board was pure, chill fun.

We lunched on the beach, eating the typical Costa Rican way, out of banana leaves. We then loaded into the van and headed into the town of Puerto Viejo. Our first stop was a café called Bread and Chocolate. Most of us ordered smoothies or sundaes, and I can’t tell you how much I appreciated the cold, sweet stuff. I have never appreciated it more in my life. We then ventured into town, where we did some shopping (maybe you’ll be getting some presents later), then loaded into the van again.

We headed back home for dinner and a night patrol that was cut short. Everyone was burnt, and I would argue that I had turned into a crisp. Despite this, the food was good, the people are awesome, and life is great. Pura vida!!!

-Hazel Siff

Day 6

Today we started around 9:00 with breakfast. Our delicious breakfast featured pancakes and pineapple that were prepared by the local family. We had a lot free time because we had a full day yesterday which consisted of surfing with our amazing surf instructors. We played a fun game of mafia and more importantly got to know each other better.  The local family has an amazing field which made it easier for us to play Frisbee, soccer, and volleyball. Our chill day was so fun because I was able to learn soccer with Pablo and play volleyball with Ariel. I used today to learn more about the local staff and become more immersed in their way of life.

Lunch was Caribbean style–it consisted of chicken, rice, beans, and salad. It was amazingly prepared and I enjoyed every bite of it. The family prepares delicious meals and always leaves us with full bellies. Our day was very exciting because we got closer as a group and became more of a family; I have met some amazing people on this trip. While most of us played a game of capture the flag, I was able to talk a lot more with Pablo and Ariel and really learn more about their way of life. Our day ended with dinner which was spaghetti with seafood, chips made out of bread fruit, and rice. I can’t wait for our last couple days of adventure in the beautiful Country of Costa Rica.

-Gabriela Damasceno