PROGRAM PHOTO ALBUM
Thanks for the checking out the blog for this Global Leadership Adventures program!
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- 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.
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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 7
PURA VIDA!
Wow! We are so excited that most of us were able to join us here at Home Base yesterday to start this incredible adventure together! For those of us that arrived earlier, we already had some great time to be in the pool, got to meet some of our new friends and got to walk around in the jungle we will call home for the next 10 days! It´s definitely hot down here, and a little bit of jungle rain greeted us too, as we all started filling up the bungalows.
As more arrived, it was so neat to see that we all come from such different places and have ideas and stories that we can´t wait to share! Our delicious dinner consisted of chicken Casado, salad and sweet plantains, a traditional dish down here in Costa Rica. After we filled our bellies, we played “Getting-to-Know-You” games so that we could get a jump start on all of the names! We were all pretty exhausted by the time, lights-out time arrived, and so we all pilled into our new rooms excited for a new day tomorrow.
Currently preparing for lunch on our official second day in Costa Rica, we can´t wait for what´s to come! Looking forward to our beach time this afternoon and for getting ready for our full schedule in the up-coming days. Like we said, it´s just exciting for us all to finally be here!
Look forward to more blogs from our Leaders of the Day throughout the week! We are sending you love and good wishes from here!
Your team here in CR,
Michelle, Milena, Emma, Cris, Mireia, Melissa, Marco, Andy, TJ and Digby
BLOG POST FOR JULY 8
Hola!
Here in Costa Rica so many things have been happening and we can´t wait to tell you about them. First, today was the first day of our service groups, and we were able to all choose one of four service projects.
The first one was Grupo Ecologico de Avellanas. There is a town called Los Pargos (the red Snappers) because it was home to many fishermen but now it is home to many tourists. In our group, ¨GEA¨ we collected 161.76 pounds of trash. Caleb found a painted turtle and I climbed in the river to get two empty bottles. We also went to the beach and swam and we saw the boxer (dog) from yesterday and named her Pura Vida and call her Vida and we hand fed her water. Pura Vida is a well known phrase, that translated to Pure Life, and is used in many interactions. One of the locals Frank said at the end of the service ¨I wish we could be here all day doing this.¨
The second group to choose from was Guanacaste. In the Water Center, students learned about all the different locations of watersheds around the world. We learned about the dryest seasons of Costa Rica and how the owner, Alberto, deals with the Water Center at those times. Everyone reapplied bug spray and were very excided to get to work. Students broke into separate groups to help build and maintain the watershed.
“Today was eye-opening, I am more aware of water problems in Costa Rica.” (Bella)
Another one of the service groups is, Verdiazul. We started off with fun games to learn more about turtles and their process of laying eggs, then we started the process of cleaning the sand of the bacteria from the egg shells that the baby turtles hatched from. During our breaks we got to cool off in the ocean and play more fun games. Everyone is having so much fun and learning so much about turtles. Everyone is so excited for the next four days of service because we have such good chemistry within our group and we made the service work fun. One member of the group Chloe said ¨It was thrilling to learn all these new facts about turtles while helping the community¨
The last service group of the day was Uniendo Comunidades. We began the day by working to transplant native trees from inland to a beautiful park along the beach. After this, we began to work along the beach cleaning trash that comes from all over the world. Once finished we listened to Ester talk about the true importance about what we were doing. It truly brought things full circle.
“Seeing someone so passionate about what they do, such as Ester, inspires me to step up in my own community.” (Mason)
After service we had lunch and rest time before we went on a nice beach walk. We walked as far as the tide pools where we got to watch the ocean and its big waves hit against the big rocks. Later, we have the big debate where we are going to debate the Pineapple Industry and learn how to be better consumers in our community. Then we are going to watch the mesmerizing sunset and enjoy dinner before we go into mentor groups and end the day.
Thank you so much for reading!
From our Leaders of the Day,
Mason, Gavin, Bella and Kayla
BLOG POST FOR JULY 9
Pura Vida!!
Today we wrapped up day four and had a blast! It was a day of fulfillment for all on their projects, followed by excitement at the sustainable goat farm, learning about their practices and even milking goats! Today was another excellent 24 hours of nonstop fun, all thanks to GLA.
At Verdiazul today we again were digging up nests and replacing them with clean ones for the hatchery. We had an amazing day optimizing our assembly line organizing ourselves. Today we really became a team, sharpening our skills with the double shovels and had fun competing in digging competitions.
Today at the Guanacaste Water Center we gathered signs, gathered our cement materials and headed off to start our day. Our goal of today was to put these signs in the ground which Marcina our leader had been wanting to get done for weeks. We first dug a hole and made sure it was big enough to fit our sign in. After that we made cement and filled the holes with rocks and the previous made cement. We repeated this process three other times which filled our four hours of work.
Quote from our advisor Marcina who states, “I love when the people in general can be different, try new things, and remember the importance of togetherness´´.
Over at Uniendo Comunidades we began by sorting through trash at a recycling center placed recently by legislature. We finished in just over an hour and then took a quick swimming break. Then we began painting a Costa Rican tourist shop. This shop is highly important for the park and surrounding areas because all the funds raised in the shop goes to improve the community.
The founder of Uniendo Comunidades, Ester says, ¨No es nuestra basura, pero es nuestro planeta.¨ This means, It is not our trash, but it is our planet.¨
At GEA today, we started the day off by sorting out the trash we picked up yesterday into plastic, glass, and garbage. We then took a walk to playa Negra to find some trash on the beach. For this we split up into two groups. We ended up tallying a total of 30lbs which is amazing. Then we headed over to the beach volleyball court for some action-packed fun with Sebastian, our invaluable helper. And finally topping it off we hit the waves for a good end to our service day!
Sending good vibes!
Our Leaders of the Day,
Giorgio, Arshaan, Sophia and Ella
BLOG POST FOR JULY 10
Pura Vida!
Today we woke up bright and early at six am to pile into the bus for our first adventure day! The entire group was very enthusiastic and excited to go tubing and ziplining. During the duration of the 2 hour bus rides, the service groups enjoyed empanadas and appreciated each other’s company by spending time playing cards, karaoke, and sharing funny stories.
The fresh cold water woke us all up from our sleepy bus ride. The crazy current carried us down the stream, and an unfortunate few fell out of our tubes, which we found quite comical. It was nice to take a break and connect with all of our peers outside of service. After tubing we went to a hotel restaurant for lunch and had a buffet style meal, which all of us enjoyed and went back for seconds.
After a delicious lunch, we started our journey ziplining. There was a total of eleven different zip lines. We went through forests, canyons, and got so close to many different waterfalls. We had so much fun. There was an optional activity to jump off of a thirty-foot platform thirty feet high and rock climb back up, and around half of the people here participated. One of the best parts was massive swing we were strapped to, where we went from one side of the canyon to the other after taking a leap of faith. Lastly, there was a section where you slid down a slide into the zipline above a waterfall. Most people found ziplining to be the highlight of their day due to the stellar sights and different activities along the way.
The bus ride back took 3 hours but was filled with groups laughing and bonding about the day. We stopped along the way back at gift shop to buy gifts for our loved ones back home, and for some of us buy tourists t-shirts as we were running out of clean ones. Afterwards, the bus ride continues and we finish the night by eating a delicious dinner and completing our chow circle.
¨I enjoyed the tubing most! It was a once in a lifetime experience and I found it absolutely breathtaking. The bus rides were lots of fun and helped us get to know each other better. The best part was getting to watch my friends face their fears both in the water and on the ziplines.” – Hailey B
“My favorite part of today was the ziplining because it was such an eye-opening experience to glide through the canyons and explore among the forest.” – Milo K
“It was so fun riding back from the adventure because my bus was talking about our lives back home, and throwing marshmallows into each other’s mouths. Shout out to Andy for letting us play music and scream songs the entire ride.” – Fiona C
“My favourite part of the day was ziplining because of the great views and the thrill of it.” – Eli B
“My favourite part of the day was bonding with my friends on the bus and going through the rapids while tubing.” – Sierra
BLOG POST FOR JULY 11
Hola!
Today we woke up to another beautiful Costa Rican morning!
After a nutritious breakfast, we dispersed into our service groups. Uniendo Cominidades finished painting the building in the park with sea animals and finished up with leaving our handprints on the inside to finish off a great 3- day long project.
“Today was hard work, but it was good because we did it with love and passion, which made it good. You guys give me hope for the future. “—Ester, Uniendo Comunidades service leader.
Verdiazul continued digging holes and preparing a habitat for the baby turtles to hatch in. Ecologic group de Avellanas painted inspirational phrases on boards to post up around the community. One great example was “Trabajamos juntos para hacer el cambio”, which means “We work together to make change.”
Our service leader, Frank, said “This next generation of people will be the ones to make the change needed and this is the first step towards it”
Guanacaste Water Center dug holes, planted trees, and measured native species populations in the river.
After service finished, we had lunch and some free time by the pool. Students grabbed ice cream and hung out with their peers. After that the mentors gave us time to practice for the talent show. We were all finishing up with our practices when the mentors looked excited and told us that they had a surprise for us today. We had no idea what was going to come next! So we gathered quickly and went to the beach across the street! That´s when they announced that 56 sea turtles were hatching!! We watched the sea turtles hatch and waddle their way to the ocean! It was such an incredible experience. Then a speaker came and talked to us about Costa Rica and its history. At the end of the night, we performed in our Talent Show. We had magicians, singers, dancers and even a special guest! It was so fun!
“My favourite part of the day was watching the turtle´s life begin and crawl to the ocean into their new world¨ Justin Ghiselli
Can´t wait for our next surprise here in our last few days in Costa Rica!
“Never put off till tomorrow, what can be done today.“ Sensei Wu
All from our Leaders of the Day,
Noah, Will, Fallon and Sydney
BLOG POST FOR JULY 12
Pura Vida!
Our day started off with a wonderful 7 am breakfast that consisted of French toast and sausages.
With Verdiazul today, we visited a local mangrove and learned about why it is important to preserve the wildlife in the area. Throughout our visit, we picked up trash and plastics around the area to maintain the cleanliness of the environment.
With the Guanacaste Water Center we visited a local elementary school. We helped out their garden by creating a compost as well as weeding and planting or replanting trees and plants. Some of us also created a fence to protect the greenhouse there from animals and insects while others built an insect hotel to give shelter and a place to live for many bugs, safe from birds and other predators.
With Uniendos Comuninades today we visited the community of Florcita. The community is new, only around 5 years old. We painted signs with positive messages of recycling for their community center. We had some locals helping out with painting, they were very kind. They brought their children to help out too. They gave us watermelon and banana for snacks.
With GEA today, for the first time we went to a different beach with nobody on it. Once again Sebastian and Kaunu were there on their dirt bike ready to help and have a good time. After Frank taught us about mangroves and environmental issues, we split into our usual two groups and walked down the beach, hanging up our signs that we made yesterday as we went. On our way back, we picked up any trash that we saw, which unfortunately ended up being a lot. One group primarily picked up microplastics, while the other group found many piles of trash on their side of the beach. The final tally was 108.6 pounds of trash. Afterwards, we went back to home base, and Chris let us stop at a coffee shop for drinks and pastries.
Once our services were finished, we all had pasta as our lovely lunch. We had downtime and were very entertained with things like hanging out by the poolside and spending time with friends in our rooms. After some free time, we split into groups and went to play rally games, learn juggling, and were taught how to cook potato and bean empanadas which had mixed reviews. We then headed back to home base, had chow circle and dinner, then went to mentor groups and were done for the day.
From today´s leaders of the day,
¨Cooking and playing games with Frank was super fun.¨ -Jason O
¨Learning new skills can be challenging, but are worth it in the end.¨ -Karli F
¨Changing our mindsets is the first essential step towards making a change.¨
-Caleb E (Inspired by Frank)
“If you devote your time and energy to a cause, your actions will be recognized, and spread the right message” -Zach M
BLOG POST FOR JULY 13
Hola!
We started our day today with a big breakfast and hoped on the bus to head to service.
Today at Verdiazul we started of with digging holes and filling then back in. Today we reached a goal of completing 5 holes. After we began to sort the trash, we collected at the mangrove yesterday into different categories. We learned more about the turtles and had a great time together. We all were very connected today and had a great time playing in the pool after. We played many different games and had some laughs.
Today was the last day of service with Uniendo Comunidades. We went to a local park today as the last place we visited as a group. After we had a tour of the community we started work by carrying lots of tires all the way over to the playground to start our end goal. We were building little tables for all the kids who come to play at the park, by stacking tires, painting tires and filling them with gravel to create the tables and chairs. We carried stacked and then painted the tires. We dug lots of holes in the ground to keep the tires in place, we carried lots and lots of gravel across the park to fill inside the tires to keep them in place. It was very hot and sweaty. And hard and tiring work, but it felt good to do something that would make a clear difference by the time we were done. We built a little tunnel of tires and a little hopscotch course with them too. And some of us even tried it out, even though we were probably a little too big for it. By the time we were finished, we´d built three tables with chairs of standing tires planted all around it, painting them so they stood out and were a lot more fun, and added to the playground beautifully. It being the last day of service we talked a bit about all wed done over the last five days once we were finished, and I think we all feel very proud of the work we´ve done. It´s a special thing to know that we created something here. Something that will stay. And be used and hopefully loved by everyone who comes by.
The Guanacaste group stayed at the water center today to finish projects that we started on day one. We split into several groups doing tasks such as composting, clearing a fallen tree, and building plant beds. The day was a huge success and we were able to finish all of our tasks with plenty of time. With that time, we played games with local high schoolers who were also volunteering. Despite the language barrier, we had lots of fun with a lot of laughs. Our experience over the five days was amazing and very rewarding.
Today in the GEA group we went to a beach resort. Frank showed us several types of mangrove trees as we walked through the dense forest. We saw many different species of animals as we walked on the boardwalk. Frank taught us how the resort installed solar panels instead of powerlines to protect the monkeys. As we arrived at the beach some local kids joined us in picking up trash. We went to an isolated spot with them on the beach and picked up trash. Shortly after picking up trash, we played a game with Frank where he gave us treats for answering questions.
The rest pf the day was full many fun activities. We immediately hopped on the bus and went to the beach, where we swam, played soccer with some local kids on the beach and walked through tidepools. After that we headed back to homebase where we had a dance class with a local. We learned the salsa and reggaeton and a local dance that is specific to this community. We ended the night with dinner and our final mentor groups and talking about how the trip has been overall.
From today´s leaders of the day,
Elly, Chloe, Asher and Alex
¨The salsa was one of my favorite activities of the trip.¨ -Elly K
¨Seeing everyone work was magical.¨ (inspired by Valerie) -Chloe M
¨It was super rewarding seeing the finished plant beds after 5 days of work¨
-Asher E
BLOG POST FOR JULY 14
Hola!
Today was our last full day in Costa Rica and it was very bittersweet. We started off the morning bright and early to head over to the catamaran. Everyone had been looking forward to this adventure day and it was finally here! During the ride over, we had breakfast burritos and spent time resting or playing games. Our service groups have bonded over these long bus rides which have been so fun!
Unfortunately, it was raining this morning but that didn´t stop us from having a good time! It was the most rain we have had so far on this trip. We loaded onto small boats that brought us over and were impressed with the catamaran. We then all got settled in and got some drinks!
Once everyone was on the catamaran, we set sail and headed towards a secluded bay to swim. On our way there a massive pod of dolphins swam up to our boat. We could see them swimming right under the boat! It was a really cool experience. When we arrived at the bay, we all jumped off the edge of the boat. We had to use pool noodles which was pretty funny. There was even a slide that went off the back of the boat! After spending some time in the warm blue water, we feasted on a meal prepared for us by the crew. This meal consisted of BBQ chicken, other sides, and cookies which were gone in seconds! As we started our journey back to shore the rain finally went away and music began to play. Everyone piled into the main cabin and it soon turned into a full-blown dance party. We all made everlasting memories that we will never forget!
Once we arrived back at shore, we again enjoyed the bus ride home and had some free time. Our last afternoon consisted of getting ready for the feria and packing up our things. Everyone looked beautiful in their sun dresses and linen shirts. The feria was super cool and right at home base! We all picked up some souvenirs which ranged from bracelets to kitchen utensils. Afterwards, we went to sunset which was filled with laughing and bonding about the day. The night soon concluded with a wonderful last dinner and an appreciation circle.
“I had the best time enjoying the catamaran today! It was such a perfect way to end this wonderful trip and I loved bonding with all the kind people I have met.” -Madison B
“The catamaran was for sure one of my highlights of the trip, especially the dance party on the ride back. I am looking forward to the dinner we will have tonight as we say our final goodbyes.” -Justin G
“The catamaran trip was a great way to end this amazing experience. I will remember it for the rest of my life.” -Carter T
“The catamaran ride was so fun and swimming in the water was so refreshing! It was such a nice ending being able to relax and hangout with all the amazing people I met here!” -Lola P
