PROGRAM PHOTO ALBUM
Thanks for the checking out the blog for this Global Leadership Adventures program!
Here are a few things you can expect:
- We typically receive 2-3 blog posts per week here at GLA Headquarters from our program staff and students, so please don’t be alarmed if you don’t see a blog post daily – that’s totally normal.
- Blog updates sent on weekends may not be posted until Monday.
- Due to many factors, including but not limited to internet accessibility, photos may not always be available to post onto the blog. Sometimes onsite program staff are only able to send text back to Headquarters, where our team updates the blog.
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 MARCH 19
Hola!
It is Spring Break here! And we are excited to start our second session of Costa Rica: Spring Break Service Adventure!
Today, our students made their way to Guanacaste Province in Costa Rica to jump into their adventures and learning opportunities that are coming along! We hope that you will enjoy using this blog as a way to experience this journey with us!
Our group has safely arrived and is getting comfortable in their new home on the beach of Junquillal. Most of the students shared that a long day of traveling tired them, but they are all super enthusiastic and looking forward to the adventure and service days to come!
We picked up our first two students in the early morning at the Liberia airport. After their 1.5-hour van ride they reached their home for a coming week to get settled, walk around, and start living the Pura Vida. In the afternoon another 3 students joined us just in time for delicious homemade dinner. One student arrived in the evening but we are complete now! This week we have a small group of six students but we are excited to make meaningful connections and work at the turtle project!
We can’t wait for the week of service learning , lifelong memories, and deep friendships that await.
Pura vida from Mag (International director) and Juan Carlos (Local director)
BLOG POST FOR MARCH 20
Written by: Ada, Natalie, Tessa, and Emily
Hola from sunny Costa Rica! Today we started off with breakfast that including Gallo Pinto a traditional Costa Rican breakfast. We then headed to Playa Avellanas, where we swam and boogie boarded as well as exploring the beautiful mangrove forest where we saw plentiful birds and crabs. Afterwards we then got delicious smoothies and homemade fries at Lola’s. We then headed back and had some delicious lunch, which included quesadillas and casado.
After lunch we had a long group discussion on the code of conduct and community. Then later we all got together and had sunset circle at the beach where we talked about our popsicles and popsicles of the day, and then hyped each other up. Afterwards we then finished off our day having a nice pasta dinner. We are all looking forward to tomorrow where we get to start doing service work and hopefully meeting baby turtles.
Pura Vida!
BLOG POST FOR MARCH 21
Written by Natalie, Tessa, Ada, Niya, Emily, Thibault
Greetings from your adventurous children in Costa Rica!
Our first day of service started off early with a breakfast of gallo pinto and pancakes. We then prepared ourselves for the long day helping the turtles. The first task was cleaning the beach by moving palm fronds and picking up trash. Then, we repaired nets in which the baby turtles hatch. Valeri, the director of our service project, lead a discussion about her work with the sea turtles and conservation efforts.
After a rest and lunch we returned to our work. With our newfound energy we started our mission of changing the sand in the turtle nests. To accomplish this we created a chain to pass buckets of sand up and down the beach. Our reward was watching the freshly hatched turtles crawl across the beach to the ocean. We were able to unwind with dinner and a guest speaker who shared her knowledge of the country. A long day is ahead of us tomorrow as it is adventure day. We’ll be out the door by 6 to tube and zip-line.
Talk soon! Pura Vida!
BLOG POST FOR MARCH 22
Written by Natalie, Tessa, Ada, Niya, Emily, & Thibault
Hello from Costa Rica! Today we left early for a day of adventure! We woke up bright and early for a 6Am bus. Our 2 hour bus ride was full of music, conversation, and naps. Our first stop was a waterfall, which we had a refreshing swim in! On the way back we saw a trail of leafcutter ants!
After the waterfall we went tubing. The river was great and almost everyone made it through without flipping. While walking down the trail to the river we spotted a tarantula outside of it’s burrow! We tubed through beautiful scenery and exciting rapids! Next we had a delicious unlimited buffet lunch before going ziplining! The food was great and we were served cas juice which is a juice from a type of guava typical in Costa Rica.
We ziplined through the forest canopy, went on a “tarzan swing”, repelled down a canyon side and climbed back up, and to finish off the adventure we ziplined through a slot canyon with a river underneath. Before we left we saw oxen with a traditional painted wagon. We even took pictures on the ox. After ziplining we drove back to home base and played volleyball in the pool. We wrapped the day up with sunset circle and a dinner of wings.
BLOG POST FOR MARCH 23
Written by Niya, Natalie, Ada, Thibault, Emily and Tessa
Dear Family,
Yesterday was a jam packed day. We got a break from waking up super early. We started off the day with the option yoga class that was run by Mag, who was amazing! We then headed to breakfast and fueled up French toast before the service. After the food we travelled to the hatchery. We spent the majority of our time carrying buckets of sand to make a sand bank that protects the hatchery from the erosion of the waves. We walked back to home base, had lunch and got right into the pool to cool off from the hard work.
Everyone was pretty tired from the work and sun so we had some nap/rest time. After we had recovered we went to dance class! All of us got our grove on and learnt salsa dancing, pop dancing, the traditional Torrito dance and then to end it with a bang we had a super fun dance competition. We then watched the sunset at the beach and then made our way back up for some dinner, which was a delicious taco bar. Together we went back to the hatchery to get started on our night patrolling. The goal was to walk the beaches looking for mamma turtles that were or had been laying there eggs.
After an hour and half we spotted a Olive Ridley turtle walking back to the ocean after laying eggs. We followed the turtle tracks up to the nest and began searching for the eggs. (The guide carfuelly poked holes all around the nest until he found a soft spot in the sand that it’s easier for the stick to go into.) Each of us took out the ping pong ball looking eggs out of the nest and put them in a bag to go bring back to the hatchery, there ended up being 102 eggs. Once we got back we made a new nest in the hatchery and started on walking the other side of the beach. We did not see another turtle. We had walked for four hours (yes our feet were sore after) but it was beyond worth it. It was a very special moment for all of us! It was a long day so we headed back and went straight to bed.
Pura vida from tired but very happy students!
BLOG POST FOR MARCH 24
Written by Tessa, Niya, Natalie, Ada, Thibault, Emily and Tessa
Hola parents! Today was our last full day in Costa Rica, it was amazing but we are so sad to leave! We had an early start to our morning with breakfast sandwiches and headed off at 7 am to the Catamaran. We got to the boat around 8:30, and we immediately saw jellyfish on the beach and got on our boat. We fortunately got a private boat with only 8 people. We headed to Honeymoon beach on the boat and we snorkelled. We were able to see puffer fish, trigger fish, sea urchins and many more. We were also able to ocean kayak and paddle board before we were given a lunch of pasta, salad, and burritos for lunch. Heading back to the shore on the Catamaran, we listened to music and danced, and we were able to see spotted dolphins super close to the boat. Our dancing was so good that other people came out of their boats to join our dancing.
After our morning adventure we went back to our eco-resort to clean up and rest. We then went to Anaise’s home where she taught us how to make homemade tortillas. There was a mango tree in her yard, they picked many for us, and there was also baby cows, roosters, ducks, and a cat and dog. We then went across the street from their house to play football (soccer) with the local kids in the area. Juan Carlos’ team wi won. We saw the beautiful sunset from the field, and then headed back to the beach across the street from where we were staying. We did our last sunset circle reflection, and then headed to dinner for hamburgers, and we all had ice cream treats. Big thank you to Mag, Juan Carlos, and Orlando for making this trip so amazing! We are now all talking about how much we connected and how much fun we all had, we are kind of excited to go back home but also really sad we can’t stay for longer.
