PROGRAM PHOTO ALBUM
TIME CAPSULE LETTER
Written by Taylor & the Costa Rica Team
Pura Vida!
We cannot believe how much time has passed since our Costa Rica trip ended! It feels like yesterday that we were all together zip lining through the jungle, planting hundreds of coconut and almond trees, and having an absolute blast swimming and building human towers in the sea! You’re likely back in school and back in the swing of your everyday lives, but we want you to know that we are still always thinking of you and thinking of our time spent together making an impact in Costa Rica!
You truly left an impact on the communities in Montezuma and Parrita with all of your hard work, curiosity, and open mindedness. The time you spent cleaning the beaches in Montezuma of plastic waste and natural debris left the sea turtles with the space they needed to lay their eggs. While we may not have actually seen any turtles on night patrol, we put in the hard work of clearing the beaches to create the best environment possible— we know that the turtles will be grateful for all your efforts later in the season! In Parrita, you learned about the importance of reforestation and planted hundreds of coconut and almond trees. We hope you realize that while you might not have tangibly seen the impact of all of your service, your hard work and effort will continue to serve the communities here for months and years to come as the trees slowly begin to grow and turtles come to shore to discover the newly cleared stretches of sand. We hope that the knowledge you all have gained from this experience will stick with you throughout your lives and that you will continue to educate those around you on the importance of marine conservation in order to protect and respect our environment and all those who inhabit it!
Another thing we simply cannot forget is all the crazy FUN we had together! We are so proud of how welcoming and accepting you all were towards each other, towards us, and towards the local communities here in Costa Rica. We went trekking to a waterfall and cliff jumping, cooked local cuisine with LuLu and tried so many new foods (remember all those fruits/treats you bought from the local fruit stand) and felt our stomachs drop as we fell fast on the zip line. At homebase, we spent afternoons in the pool, hours playing at the pool table, and we showcased all kinds of strange talents during Send Me Your Champion.
We had gorgeous beach days where we played volleyball and spent afternoons eating ice cream and exploring some incredible coastal towns.
We’re so proud of how committed you all were to the program, to the local communities, and to yourselves. We so appreciated all of your genuine curiosity and desire to learn and grow as individuals throughout this experience. We saw the growth in all of you guys and hope that you continue to use what you learned during your time here to grow even more upon returning home.
On that note, who remembers our OMG – “one meaningful goal” we created together at the end of our session? — We pledged to intentionally clean up garbage at least once a day in order to leave the environment around us a little bit better than how we found it. How has that been going? Has anyone gotten their community involved? We would love to hear about it!
Remember those personal goals you all created as well. We hope and truly believe that you’ll continue to BE THE CHANGE wherever you are in the world!
We want to thank you all from the bottom of our hearts for making these two weeks so special. Best of luck to everyone in the future and remember to always dream big and continue working towards all of your goals!!!
Much Love,
Taylor and the Costa Rica Team
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.
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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 17
Hola!!
Happy arrival day everyone!
Today, we all arrived to our very first homebase in Costa Rica and we are so excited for everything that lies ahead in the next two weeks!!
We spent the day getting to know one another, taking our swim tests, and enjoying some chill time settling in.
We enjoyed getting a small taste of the Costa Rican cuisine and talking about what other foods we are excited to try!
Tomorrow we leave for our journey to Montezuma and we can’t wait…
We are looking forward to bioluminescent kayaking, waterfalls, surf lessons, and beginning our volunteer service!
Tonight, we are getting some good rest to prepare for a long day of orientation and travel tomorrow.
Hasta Luego, and as they say here in Costa Rica…
PURA VIDA!!!!
BLOG POST FOR JULY 19
Hola!
Today was our first day of volunteer work, we started the day off by having breakfast, then headed to the beach. At the beach, we worked with a group called ASVO, who do sea turtle conservation projects to help protect the turtles eggs. Our job today was clearing an area that was filled with natural debris and litter, so that the turtles can lay their eggs in a safe spot that they feel comfortable in. We learned some fun facts about the sea turtles in our area before returning for lunch.
After lunch, we headed to a beach about five minutes away to get some sun and cool off in the water. The water was lovely with a bit of wind, and the sun came out for most of the time we were there. After a while, we headed back to home base, and spent some time relaxing in the hammocks before spending some time in a big group reflecting on the trip so far and what we look forward to.
Our discussion was followed by dinner, and a little bit more relaxing before we broke into small mentor groups to get to know one another better. We also wrote letters to our future selves that we will open at the end of the trip. After that, we all spent time chatting and relaxing in the common area. Today was definitely our first big challenge physically, but we all met it with excitement and enthusiasm.
See you Soon!
-Emmett and Claire
BLOG POST FOR JULY 20
Hi parents!
Today we started off by eating breakfast at the home base and drinking the juice of the day, a strawberry and banana drink!
After breakfast we went to the local sea turtle hatchery to complete our service! We picked up plastic and debris off the beach while listening to Spanish music!
After rinsing off the sand and eating lunch, we headed to explore town. We went to the local supermarket and bought Costa Rican snacks. We got ice cream and bought handmade jewelry and souvenirs.
Later in the day, we drove to the kayaking location and enjoyed a picnic dinner. The weather almost canceled our excursion to see the bioluminescent algae, but luckily the rain stopped and we had a wonderful time.
When we got back from kayaking, we had a special birthday surprise for Lucy on the trip! We ate cake and other snacks, and hit a piñata (or didn’t in some cases). Lights out was at ten o’clock so we all headed to bed!
Pura Vida,
Max and Amelia
BLOG POST FOR JULY 21
Hi everyone!
Today was an amazing day 5 in Costa Rica! We started the morning with a delicious meal of pancakes and avocado sandwiches.
We then headed to the sea turtle hatchery and cleaned sticks and logs up off the beach. We used our collaborative skills and strength to complete these tasks. After our hard work, we returned to home base to eat a healthy meal of rice, beans, meat, and salad.
After lunch we went on a challenging hike to a beautiful waterfall called La Cascada. This hiking trail was basically in the backyard of our hotel and was a 30 minute hike to the waterfall. Many students jumped into the water from a cliff!! It was so breathtaking and refreshing after a long day of service.
Home from the hike we had a leadership activity where we all planned goals for the rest of our trip. These were both individual and group goals. We then ate a quick dinner before we headed out to night patrol. We split into groups and search the beach for turtle tracks and eggs. Today was an amazing 5th day and we are excited for many more days to come!
Love
Lily and Lucy
BLOG POST FOR JULY 22
Join us on today’s adventure! Our day started off strong with a guided tour in the wildlife refuge: Curú. There, we saw many local animals such as howler monkeys (who later took a trip to our homebase), coatimundis, crocodiles, and various tropical plants. During our exploration, we were given the opportunity to test our survival skills by trying termites straight out of their nest!
After the tour, we headed to a nearby beach where we settled down for a picnic and attempted human pyramids in the water with the company from the refuge’s jellyfish and iguanas!
After our monkey encounter back at home base, we practiced our leadership skills with a nature based debate that was cut short due to a bit of a storm. Instead of letting the water ruin our night we kept a positive outlook and used the shared experience to bond through singing and dancing!
After dinner, the leaders of the day hosted an epic base wide camera scavenger hunt which tested the contestants teamworks and forced them to step out of their comfort zone.
Lights out was at 10, to prepare for an exciting surf trip to Santa Teresa in the morning.
Tuanis🤙
Chloé & Theo
BLOG POST FOR JULY 23
Today we had an early morning as we set off for Santa Teresa: a beautiful coastal town. While we were walking to the beach we saw some howler monkeys in a tree next to the pathway. At the beach were playing volleyball, swimming in the water and SURFING.
When you were finished surfing, we received a fresh coconut to replenish our energy. Once we were done with our coconuts, we set up a picnic at a different beach nearby where we made sandwiches, got juice boxes and had all sorts of snacks.
After we finished lunch we went shopping in the town of Santa Teresa where there were souvenir shops, a grocery store, boutiques, cafes, and even a place to get açaí bowls.
Once we had finished shopping we all headed back to the beach to watch the sunset. Unfortunately due to the rain, we didn’t get to see much and headed home a little early.
By the time we got back from Santa Teresa it was close to dinner time so everyone got ready for the final dinner in Montezuma. When we got to the dining room we were greeted by a surprise. There were live musicians playing guitar and the xylophone! The musicians played some traditional Costa Rican music.
Once dinner wrapped up we moved the tables so that people could dance. We even got to see one of the Costa Rican lady’s named Itza do a Nicoyan folklore dance.
After we finished dancing we started some karaoke where we heard some singing as well as some guitarist. Some songs we sang were riptide, a thousand years, and the cup song. On guitar we heard cigarette daydreams and the hardest button to button.
After we finished karaoke we went to our rooms to pack for our journey to Parrita the next day.
From,
Maddie and Emy
BLOG POST FOR JULY 25
Hi everyone!!!
Today is our first day in La Isla, our second home base of the trip. Where we are surrounded by luscious nature, and are given the opportunity to swim in the pool on base and order fun mocktails.
We started our day with a slightly earlier breakfast starting at 7:30 in order to arrive at service in time.
After breakfast, we departed for todays service at the hatchery here, which is about an hour bus ride away from our current home base.
Before beginning service, we were given an interesting presentation on the contributions the hatchery is making and how the work we are doing will make an impact.
Today was a long and rewarding day of work, we helped the hatchery by shoveling dirt into planters and sand into future turtle nests, making sure to finish with a ping pong game and one last shovel of sand before leaving.
After service, we had our first lunch time meal at our new home base before getting ready for our next activity, which was our favorite….Dancing!!!
We were assigned a random dancing partner and learned 4 new dances from our talented and patient dance instructor.
After dancing and much fun, we were given free time for a couple of hours to explore our new home, most of us decided to cool off and enjoy pool time!!
We played games of volleyball and other bonding activities.
Our mentors took into considerations how much time we spend together daily and decided that we were going to spend 30 minutes of “selfie time”, which was time to ourselves where we got to choose to either read or journal silently in order to decompress and reflect on the trip so far.
Next we had a competitive leadership activity, where we were split into groups and had to compete with each other based on different questions made up by our leaders. This allowed for many laughs and strengthened our knowledge of each other.
After dinner, we split into our mentor groups and played the card game “we’re not really strangers” where we got to know and understand each other on a deeper more personal level.
Light outs was at 10, to prepare for an exciting day of zip lining!!!
Adios!
-Sophie and Caleb
BLOG POST FOR JULY 26
PURA VIDA!!
Join us on day 10 of our marine conservation journey! We started off our day with a nutritional breakfast at 7:00 AM to prepare us for zip lining! Some of our friends decided to face their fears and do a front flip or going upside down.
After our zip lining excursion we walked through a butterfly sanctuary and at the end we saw crocodiles!! We made our way back to the home base and continued a leadership activity containing teamwork, agility, and problem solving skills.
We had a guest speaker come in and educate us on sea turtles and how to tell them apart. Maurillio Cordero taught us skills that we can use while preserving sea turtles in their habitats.
As we finished off our night, we practiced our pool skills in the common area. This has helped us grow closer together and bond more!
PURA VIDA!!
Chloe S. and Quinton
BLOG POST FOR JULY 27
Hola families!
Today started off with a 8:30 breakfast which gave us time to sleep in after yesterday’s long day and early wake up.
After breakfast we met up with our guest speaker from yesterday, Maurillio Cordero. He taught us about reforestation with coconut and almond trees.
Service was on the beach right in front of our homebase and was a mix of planting coconut trees and potting almond saplings to be planted in the future.
After service we had a good lunch and had free time to get ready for our afternoon activity of a cooking class!
We drove to Parrita and were warmly welcomed into a local community member named Lulu’s home.
In her outdoor kitchen, we learned how to make tortillas to be used in a traditional Costa Rican dish called Picadillo de papaya.
On the way back to home base we stopped at a local fresh fruit stand where we could buy things like cacao nuts, mango, fruit juices, and local sweet treats.
Back at the homebase we had a great dinner of mac and cheese with salad. We finished off the night with a leadership activity of a whole group goal, and then got into our mentor groups to think of personal goals for after the trip.
Pura Vida!
-Eva & Ella
BLOG POST FOR JULY 29
Today was the final day of our 2 weeks here in Costa Rica and we spent the day saying our last goodbyes to our new friends.
We reflected on our last night and how much fun we had at our last dinner. We all got dressed up and enjoyed a final Costa Rican meal and took LOTS of pictures.
After dinner, our mentors handed back the letters we wrote to ourselves all the way back around day 3 and we got to look back on all of the thoughts, feelings, and emotions we were experiencing at the beginning of this journey.
Then, we received our envelope full of letters that we all wrote to each other over the course of the last few days. We read our kind notes to ourselves while sitting outside in a circle and there were many happy (and sad) tears!
We are leaving Costa Rica with so many new memories and incredible friendships!
See you all soon!
PURA VIDA
