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
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BLOG POST FOR JULY 20
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. We have met joyfully at the airport and are now eagerly awaiting for our trip to ziplining tomorrow. To kick off our journey, we took a tour of our current lodge learning about its duck program and playing 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 heartwarming to hear everyone’s hopes and dreams for the days to come. 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 JULY 21
This morning our day started early. We had a delicious breakfast of typical costa rican gallo pinto, pancakes, eggs and fruit. We then hopped on the bus to go ziplining. Everyone faced their fears, and enjoyed the 700meter Zipline with an awesome surprise of seeing a sloth. After, we continued driving towards home base and stopped at a local supermarket to get snacks. An hour later we arrived at a dock and boarded the boat to get to home base. We even saw a crocodile on the way! After arriving at home base, we settled in in and did Sunset Circle at the beach. We ended the day with a delicious dinner(courtesy of our amazing kitchen staff!) And at the end of the day we had the arrival of the last member of our group. And that’s just the beginning our adventure!
BLOG POST FOR JULY 22
This morning we woke up, and some students started the day with a morning beach walk and meditation. We had a typical Costa Rican breakfast. Next, we split into mentor groups so we could form new connections. We came up with a group community agreement. Then, we had free time, and we went to the beach, were able to swim a little bit, played some volleyball, and then we had lunch.
After lunch, we all came up with questions to get to know each other, and then we traded off asking each other these deeper questions. After this, we felt more connected and closer as a group. One of the highlights of the day was the sea turtle debate, where we were all assigned different perspectives on a sea turtle conservation bill, and tried to convince judges of our side. The students got very into the debate, and passionately defended their sides, whether it be a local fisherman, poacher, conservation, or foreign activists.
Next, we had a sea turtle guide come in and teach us more about the turtles and what the Sea Turtle Association was about. The captivating slides sparked some new questions, that the guide happily answered.We had dinner, and ate pasta with a delicious sauce, bread, and vegetables. We ended the night with our first sea turtle patrol. Hopefully we see a turtle!
Written by Sarah and Laila
BLOG POST FOR JULY 23
We started off the day by having a great breakfast of eggs, fruit, rice, beans, gallo pinto, and arepas. After the breakfast, we all stayed inside for a few hours due to the heavy rain and got to have a chill morning where we either played some games or had fun talking with our friends and listening to music. A few hours later, we had our mentor group were we talked about riddles that some of our teammates shared to the whole group. Later, we had a quick snack of watermelon, cantaloupe and Oreos, an pitched our ideas to turtle tank(our own version of shark tank).
Following that, we had some rice and beans and beef stew for lunch before quickly starting off on the farm tour guided by Jason. Everyone was introduced to new plants and flowers and tried many fruits like lemon, guava and coconut that we harvested ourself. Shortly after the finish of our tour we had a dinner of chips, rice and beans, and green bean stew. To finish our day we got out on our night patrol and had an awesome visitor : A Green Turtle laying her 114 eggs right outside of Homebase! With that motivation we went and patrol the beach for the rest of the night, scaring away poachers and protecting the turtles.
BLOG POST FOR JULY 24
We started off our busy day by enjoying a breakfast of eggs and fruit. Then shortly we after enjoyed a truck ride into the Parismina seeing sights like monkeys and multiple different birds. Once we got into town we were greeted by our tour guides, Mya and Leo, who walked us around their beautiful neighborhood.
Once we got showed around we appreciated an authentic empanada cooking class where we made delicious empanadas and learned the specifics for example not putting to much ingredients avoided the empanadas from being overfilled and pressing the sides of the empanadas so they did not blow up when frying. After we enjoyed our snack, we jumped into lunch, we had the choice to purchase refreshing smoothies like mango and pineapple.
We also got the opportunity to contact our parents, catching them up on our past few days in Costa Rica! Next door to where we ate lunch, we shopped and browsed handmade items sold at arts & craft fair market. We are so excited to show our family what we got for them! With much anticipation we headed over to play volleyball and soccer with the local kids of Parismina. They certainly were awesome players and even better teammates.
After that, we headed back to homebase where we had our sunset circle and ate dinner. Currently we are about to head out to night patrol, yesterday we saw a beautiful turtle lay about 114 eggs. It was one of the coolest things we experienced on the trip and hoping it happens again!!
Pura Vida
Written by Gwen and Catalina
BLOG POST FOR JULY 25
Today was packed with animal sights, amazing food and valuable information. We started the morning with deliciously fluffy pancakes and scrambled eggs before embarking on a boat tour ä for sightseeing of all the beautiful natural wildlife that we could find around our home base. On this tour we saw many animals native to Costa Rica including a group of Howler Monkeys, a baby crocodile, an emerald basilisk and a couple of iguanas. After the tour, we relaxed and had an amazing lunch of Caribbean style Rice n‘ beans, coconut chicken and fried patacones (plantain chips).
Later in the day we enjoyed a short tour of an organic vanilla farm before sitting down for a deeper lesson on the vanilla plant itself. Shortly after learning this information iwe recieved a fun-filled but sweat inducing dancing lesson who taught us Salsa, Merengue, Bachata and the Boogie-Boogie. Before ending the day with our last night patrol we filled ourselved with homemade Mac n’ Cheese, and delicious cake made from the vanilla of the organic vanilla farm. And last but not least, our last night patrol, where we got to see our second turtle but it decided it wasn’t the right place to lay eggs and found its way back to the ocean.
BLOG POST FOR JULY 26
For breakfast today, we had arepas, gallos pinto, watermelon, and pineapple. We all loved it and ate a ton. Then we split into two groups to complete community service. One group went to town to help restore a bench and the other group did a beach clean up. We then met up and ate lunch together. We ate bread fruit, rice, beans, picadillo, various vegetables. After our scrumdelicious lunch, we did leadership building games. Including group charades, sandcastle building competition, and drawing telephone. We learned how to trust others and lead groups. Our dinner that night was empanadas of our choice. Cheese, beans, and both.
We all thought they were delicious. Today, we’re very excited for white water rafting tomorrow. We will also play another game as another group building exercise.
Written by Julia and Abby
BLOG POST FOR JULY 27
Today we celebrated the birthdays of Lily and Laila!
It was sadly our last full day at home base. After breakfast, we took a boat ride to the bus to go to whitewater rafting. On the bus, we enjoyed music and movies. At whitewater rafting, we were split into 5 boats, where we were all accompanied by a guide who helped us through Class 3 and 4 rapids. Both were harsh and everybody got soaked by the river. Halfway through, we ate lunch consisting of build-your-own tacos and sandwiches with watermelon, pineapple, and chips. During rafting, there were some gentle portions where we were allowed to swim. As we passed each other in our rafts, it was common practice to splash the people in the other boat with our paddles. We all had a great time!
After rafting, we headed back to home base (with a stop at the Maxi Palí supermarket). At home base, we relaxed, listened to music, and did Sunset Circle and played a game where we choreographed a dance to the song We’re All In This Together before eating dinner. After dinner, we had an activity called the appreciation circle, where we tapped each other after statements to show how much we have grown together. We then played a long game of Mafia (sadly, the Mafia won). Finally, we packed our things in preparation for heading back to San Jose, stretching bedtime to get it all done. We’re all excited and sad to be leaving.
Pura Vida!
Lily and Eva
BLOG POST FOR JULY 28
We started the day early. Some went to the beach to meditate while others finished packing. We enjoyed a delicious breakfast of rice and beans, scrambled eggs, fruit, and arepas. After breakfast, we had some time to clean up. Everyone made their way to the boat as we said goodbye to our homebase. After the boat ride, we split into two buses and made our way to the hotel. On the way, we stopped for lunch. Everyone enjoyed their Casado, and when everyone was done, some bought various pastries from the restaurant while others went back to the buses. Then we finished the bus ride and arrived at the hotel. We had some time to spare before our last sunset circle and dinner. During this time, many chose to start getting ready for dinner and take some photos with each other for our last night. All the students voted for who they thought were the leaders in the group, and these individuals were acknowledged during dinner. Today was bittersweet, but every moment was cherished. Pura Vida
Written by Georgia and Edvard
