Time Capsule Letter
Hey Session 2 Sea Turtle Initiative Squad!
Seems like just yesterday we were hanging around in the hammocks at Jason’s place, trudging through the sand at night to protect nesting turtles from poachers, swimming in the waves and waking up to the sounds of birds and rain drops. The Sea Turtle Initiative staff (Allie, Jason, Juliana and Michael) all miss you so much!
We were inspired by each of your positivity, hard work, and dedication to learning and service (even the late-night early-morning yoga turtle egg crew). We hope that your spring break in Costa Rica had a lasting impact on the ways you think about the world and your role in it. We also hope you have shared some of the things you learned with others, specifically about conservation, and the impact humans have on our beautiful planet.
Let’s take this time to remember some moments from our time together.
- Digging for turtle eggs at midnight OR meeting Michelle
- Boys in the lagoon moss
- Werewolf, our favorite game
- Christian saving the spider (with a lil’ help from Juli)
- Ryan and AJ never being allowed to play rap
- Feeding our “pet” bird, Pecko
- Petting Jason’s baby cow
- Making incredibly creative empanadas
- 1 fish 2 fish red fish blue fish
- Seeing 2 sloths and a monkey family on the farm tour
- Amazing food from the sweet kitchen ladies
- Retrieving the Bucket of Dreams & Jenna figuring out the “Leadership” connection
- TRASHKETBALL!!!!
- Dance offs
- Swimming in the waves and that whistle ruining all the fun
- Competing in the Survivor Challenge with a come-from-behind win for Beans!
Thanks for all the incredible memories! Keep exploring and asking questions – we are excited to see all the things you do in the future!
Much love,
Allie, Jason, Juliana, and Michael
Click here to jump down to the most recent posts!
Saturday March 23, 2019
Hello friends and family! We are so excited to have all of our 8 students here in Costa Rica – ready for the Sea Turtle Initiative adventure!
After a long day (or night) of travel, our participants checked in to the hotel and took naps, and then explored the quiet neighborhood of Alajuela. We explored the central plaza, local bookstore and market. After a typical Costa Rican dinner we played some games and went over the schedule for the next day.
This morning our last students arrived and we are headed to spend the morning ziplining before heading to our home base in Parismina! We are so excited for the next week and all the adventures to come.
Pura vida! ✌🏼🌴🐵🐸
– GLA staff Allie, Michael, Juliana and Jason
Sunday March 24, 2018
Today we went on a bus ride to go zip lining through the jungle it was so fun even though we got wet because of the rain also we saw many spiders and a Tapir and it’s baby as well next we took a very long bumpy ride because of the terrible potholes in the road to get to our home base that included a 10 minute boat ride and then we played games had dinner and went over the schedule for the next day
Blog post written by A.J
Monday March 25 and Tuesday March 26, 2019
On Monday had a relaxing morning of yoga, then ate a delicious breakfast. After this we took a nice walk around the farm and sampled the many parts of a coconut fresh from the tree. During the tour we saw two sloths, one of which we were able to see move! After this we took a trip to the lagoon and spent some time in the beach, then having an exciting relay race of which team beans won. A relaxing siesta and lunch with an informative talk about sea turtles and the ASTOP program were then followed up with some group activities and then an amazing night patrol in which another group found a turtle and were able to save the eggs!
On Tuesday we started with another session of yoga to de stress, and had another filling breakfast before taking a peaceful mindfullness walk and then we were driven to the city of Parismina. Here we walked around the city and took a cooking lesson and learned how to make empinadas, then had a friendly cooking competition in which the beans prevailed one again. After lunch and siesta we partook in a group activity and then went back to the beach and had some more fun in the water, afterwards picking up some trash along the coast. We returned to the home base and ate dinner in preparation for another night patrol!
Blog by Stevie and Clara 🙂
Wednesday March 27, 2018
On Wednesday after breakfast, we went on a boat tour, where we saw many different types of wildlife, such as spider monkeys, tiger birds, red dart frogs, and many other species. We then went back to the lodge where we had lunch, and a siesta. Afterwards, we had environmental trivia and beach cleanup. Once we got back the lodge, we had a dance lesson where we got to learn how to salsa. We then played a game of werewolf and had dinner. After dinner, we played werewolf several times again and then the first group went out for turtle patrol. While on the patrol, the first group was able to come across a leatherback turtle and later on, the second group also came across a leatherback turtle, which fulfilled the last night of patrol!
Thursday March 28, 2019
We woke up after a fun night of seeing turtles and handling turtle eggs and ate breakfast. After breakfast we started to plan and get ready to go to the local school in Parismina. When we went to the school it was really fun because the kids were so excited to play games about recycling with us. After the school visit we went to ASTOP for lunch and to buy crafts made by people in the town. It was really hot so we got really good smoothies and walked back to a volleyball court where we played volleyball with the local kids. Then we went to the beach for the last time and on the drive back to Home Base we enjoyed a beautiful sunset. There was no night patrol so we sat and enjoyed our last night in Parismina together. 🙂
Friday March 29, 2019
The final day of our trip has finally arrived. The morning was an interesting one, we were woken up by the screeching of a tree full of howler monkeys. Then, we ate a hearty breakfast and packed the remaining bits and pieces of our luggage. Next came the long ride back to our hotel in Alajuela where we’ll spend our last night together and take a look back on all the fun we all had!
After our final night celebrating our past week over pizza and smoothies, the Sea Turtle Initiative crew reflected on our time together with an appreciation circle and last games of werewolf at the hotel in Alajuela. All students are on their way back to the USA!
Staff send our love and appreciation to our students and their families for their support. What an incredible week we had together! PURA VIDA and until next time!
Much love from your program staff,
Allie, Juli, Michael, and Jason
(Included are some photos we didn’t include from earlier the week!) 
