PROGRAM PHOTO ALBUM
Thanks for the checking out the blog for this Global Leadership Adventures program!
Here are a few things to know and expect:
- Blog posts are written by onsite program staff and/or students and sent to our Headquarters team who will post the blog on this page.
- We typically receive 2-3 blog updates per week from each program, so please don’t be alarmed if you don’t see a blog post every day – that’s totally normal.
- Blog updates received late in the evening or overnight will be posted the following day.
- Blog updates received on weekends may not be posted until Monday.
- Due to many factors such as internet accessibility, program staff aren’t always able to send photos, so some blog posts may contain text only.
Thank you for your patience and understanding, and we hope you enjoy following along on these unforgettable adventures.
For frequently asked questions about the blogs, please visit our Program Blog FAQ page.
-The Global Leadership Adventures HQ Team
Click here to jump down to the most recent post!
BLOG POST FOR AUGUST 2
Our Sea turtle adventure in Costa Rica has begun as most of our students have arrived for the Sea Turtle Initiative! One more student will arrive tomorrow morning. To kick off our journey, we took a tour of Hotel Robledal learning about its owl/duck program and played volleyball. As the sun began to set, we gathered for our Sunset Circle. This was a special time where we got to learn everyone’s names and share what we’re most excited about during our time together. It was exciting to hear everyone’s fun fact as well . It’s evident that we have an amazing group of students ready to make the most of this experience.
PS. Once we get to Parismina we’ll be detaching from our phones more, embracing the jungle, and appreciating the beach. We’ll send a daily blog but won’t be calling or texting daily. Of course, our directors can be reached 24/7 if anything comes up.
Pura Vida!
BLOG POST FOR AUGUST 3
Hola from Costa Rica!
We started off the day bright and early at 6:00am where the last nights late arrivals took the swim test in the 4 foot pool. After a quick breakfast of getting to know everyone our group was almost complete! We played icebreakers before heading off to our first adventure: ZIPLINING. We saw beautiful views and even a lucky few named Alessandra, Asher and Lilith saw sloths and toucans. We braved 55 miles per hour zip lines at up to 2000 feet, with our confident leader Aiden and Sophia.
After ziplining we enjoyed lunch of rice and beans, and finally met up with our final camper, Katie. We drove to Maxi Pali, the local supermart and stocked up on snacks and games. Joe and Calvin went ham and got Monolpoly, Uno, 3 liters of 7-up and chips for the rest of the trip. We promptly made our way back to our Homebase via bus and boat. On the bus we played too many games of wavelength where we dubbed Sabine, Jazzy and Faith the winners. On the boat Kiana and Matthew saw a baby crocodile in the river.
Because of how beautiful the ocean water was we all took a much needed dip to cool off from the humid weather. The water was wonderful and the sunset was gorgeous. Vanessa, Maria and Sasha did not shy away from a quick underwater photo shoot, and the entire group played volleyball in the water where the MVPs were no doubt Logan with his height and Alex with his agility. At Homebase there is no WiFi, so if you don’t hear from the campers don’t worry.
Until next time!
Written by Sasha and Aiden
Ps. If you want to contact your student or our team, please don’t hesitate to reach out! We‘ll get back to you quickly if not right away, we have a full and fun schedule.
Amanda, Jason, Julio, and Fernanda
More blog photos will be added as soon as WiFi allows!
BLOG POST FOR AUGUST 4
Some of us woke up at 6:15 for beach meditation with Julio and Amanda, and we were lucky enough to spot some spider monkeys pointed out by Julio, and Capuchin monkeys, spotted by Logan! Joe and Asher were super stoked about the little guys. We walked on the beach, and we saw a lot of sand dollars and really pretty shells. Kianna found a huge sand dollar, Alex and Aiden found a coconut and were able to crack it!
After a breakfast of eggs, gallo pinto, and pineapple grown on the property we took a tour of Jasons property and the farm. We started with the botanical life around the house, we were able to see sensitive plants, pick lemons, and we spotted a caiman eating a fish, baby iguanas, a hawk, vultures, and a two toed sloth!!!! We were able to eat a lot of the local fruits, and Sasha was the first to eat termites, and encouraged the rest, meanwhile Jason was chopping up coconuts, which Katie and Matthew thoroughly enjoyed. We had chicken, rice and beans, and plantains for lunch which was followed by a game a volleyball watched by Fernanda, Venessa and Maria were the score keepers and refs. Calvin’s team won, and the losers (us) had to run ten laps on the rocks. On the short walk back Lilith found a huge grasshopper and was able to pick it up, which was ok because we learned it was an invasive species.
We later had a sea turtle conservation debate, Sasha, Sabine, Sofia, and Jazzy were absolutely on top of it and should be lawyers! After the debate we were lucky enough to have Marco tell us about the local sea turtles, and what caused the massive drop in their populations within the environment, and Faith was very interested and won a candy in the quiz after! Alexandra showed amazing compassion and empathy by helping out a fellow bunk mate who needed a friend. With full stomachs after a exquisite dinner, we are about to get to our first beach patrol feeling energized and connected!!
Written by Logan and Lilith
BLOG POST FOR AUGUST 5
Last night (August 4) we went on our first night patrol! We walked along the beach admiring the stars and watching for turtle tracks. On our way back we were fortunate to witness a large green sea turtle nesting and laying eggs! Her shell was 103cm long and she laid 79 eggs that were relocated to a hatchery. After she finished covering the nest we watched as she made her way back to the ocean.
We woke up to another morning in the beautiful warm jungle and for breakfast we ate arepas, fresh fruit, eggs, cucumbers, flavourful guyabana jam. We all got ready for the beach and then split into two groups and went into opposite directions to collect garbage that had washed ashore. This ended in a friendly competition to see who got the most trash. After being in the sun we all jumped in the ocean and spent some time riding the waves! After taking some time to relax and rinse off we had a volleyball tournament where the non champions will give us a vocal performance of the lions sleep tonight after dinner! We had a leadership activity based on shark tank where students create leadership activities to develop skill sets they want to expand on. We’re about to go collect some organic herbs to create natural bug repellent before dinner followed by another night patrol.
Love Kiana and Sabine!!
More pics coming soon!
BLOG POST FOR AUGUST 6
Buenas dias families!!
Today we had an activity filled excursion in town! Our day started with a quick breakfast before heading off on our adventure. Our first stop was the turtle hatchery, where we were lucky enough to see a baby leatherback before it headed to the ocean. Next, we took a walking tour around town which led us to our empanada cooking lesson before walking to lunch where we had delicious smoothies and sandwiches. We then partook in thirty minutes of community service where we cleaned and prepped kids turtle play sculptures to be painted. After we finished washing the turtles we were taken to the local market where we shopped for gifts from local artisans and craftsman. These gifts included bracelets, wood sculptures, paintings, and keychains. A few other students stayed at the market longer to braid and wrap their hair. To finish off our time in town we played a game of volleyball and soccer with the locals. We then headed back and ate dinner to energize before our night walk.
Sincerely,
Team leaders of the day, Faith and Vanessa
BLOG POST FOR AUGUST 7
We started the day off with a relaxing yet super exciting boat tour! We saw tons of crocodiles, poison dart frogs, tiger herons, spider monkeys and iguanas! After a very nutritious lunch, we had a guest speaker, Jerry, show around an organic vanilla farm and talk to us about the safety of being organic and the importance of Vanilla! We learned that there’s 12 different types of vanilla trees that grow in all of Costa Rica and 150 in the world!
Then Maya, the dance instructor, showed us various local dances and we got to be the first people to see the choreography for the Leatherback festival that will be next week! We had such a blast and loved dancing with everyone! Tonight will be our last night walk and we have already been so lucky of seen so many turtles and we are hoping to see even more! We’ll update you tomorrow about it!
Keep shelling on! 🐢
Calvin and Asher
BLOG POST FOR AUGUST 8
Hola a todos!
We started the day off in town to do some community service which consisted of planting trees and painting areas that needed fixing. After a lot of hard work we went to grab a smoothie and then had a delicious lunch of rice and beans at home base. After lunch, some of our teammates organized a scavenger hunt which had challenges such as cracking open coconuts, finding the hidden frog, playing volleyball, and much more! Then, we had the opportunity to spend some time at the beach enjoying the waves. After a busy day, we all came together to eat some delicious empanadas! To end the night, we played a game of mystery (“poachers” as we call it) and went to bed early to rest up for our full day of rafting tomorrow!
Written by Maria and Katie
BLOG POST FOR AUGUST 9
Buenos Dias!
Today, we woke up early to see the beautiful sunrise and enjoy the early morning views of the beach. After an enjoyable breakfast, we embarked on a fulfilling journey to go rafting. Everyone seemed to love the rafting even though there were some tough and challenging parts . The weather was perfect, we saw awesome views of the jungle an even swam between a canyon. After the first half of rafting, we enjoyed some amazing burritos and sandwiches to fill us up for the final half of our rafting journey. The last part of rafting was exhausting but everyone prevailed and as soon as we got home almost everyone took a nap.
After a long day, we had a well deserved final dinner in Parismina and shared a bonding moment together to commemorate the end of our GLA experience. Singing a song helped bond the group together as many people in our group can sing really well. We also went to see long nosed bats and heard a story at the dock. To end our day, we had a packing party with some music to add some spice to our last night here. It’s been a nice journey here with GLA, and everyone has decided on goals to bring home with them to better improve themselves!
More photos soon ✨
BLOG POST FOR AUGUST 10
Final day together!!
Today is the last day we are all together as a group! Today we started the day with a breakfast of rice and beans. This was to fuel up for the next 3.5 hours being in the travel bus. We stopped for a good lunch and sweet snacks. After our long bus ride we finally arrived at hotel Robledal for a chill afternoon. Later that night we had our closing dinner, photo signing with a beautiful picture of the group, a secret santa circle which led to final hugs and we got to show our appreciation for one another.
Written by Alessandra and Sophia
