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 24
Isa, Ella, Kaitlyn, Kyle, Jorge, Mireia
July 24th, 2026
The time has finally come for your teens to be here with us at Beachside Service here in Playa Junquillal. They arrived yesterday with smiling faces and with 3 buses, we loaded all of them back to homebase before nightfall. They met their new roommates for the week, ate some delicious Casado (traditional Costa Rican dish which typically consists of chicken, rice, beans, plantain, and salad) and went to bed before lights out at 9:30pm — it was a long travel day!
This morning, we woke up for breakfast at 7am, which was traditional Gallo Pinto, eggs, yogurt, cereal, and coffee. We spent most of the morning doing orientation activities — introducing students to homebase, laying ground rules, a cultural norms talk, and community agreements. We also completed swim tests and voted on our service projects for the week.
We will be participating in 3 service projects: a local daycare (CEN), Grupo Ecologico de Avellanas (GEA), and Uniendo Comunidades (UC). Each of these projects will consist of their own activities and assignments according to what the community needs and asks for our help in. Students were able to rank the service projects and were separated based on first or second choice. Tomorrow, service day begins and everyone seems to be really excited!
We also went to a sea turtle hatchery called Verdiazul just down the street from the hotel. We worked with a local biologist, Valerie, to learn how to spot sea turtle tracks and potential nesting spots on the beach! Students simulated this with ping pong balls and they all did so well!
We wrapped up the day with some beach time, sunset circle, dinner (tacos!), and mentor group activities. They are excited for the adventures that await us!
Thank you for trusting us with your teens, we are excited to experience this adventure with them over the next 9 days.
Students will have busy days fostering in-person community and getting to know each other. To keep you in the loop, we’ll send regular blogs and be available as a staff support team 24/7.
Our blogs will start with myself, Kaitlyn Johnson, a mentor, and Isa Bertoli, international director, and will transition to students writing from their perspective.
¡Pura Vida!
BLOG POST FOR JULY 25
Hola from Costa Rica!
Today we all woke up at around 6:30 for breakfast at 7! For breakfast we ate delicious fruits, eggs, rice and beans, and pancakes from the host family this morning before we headed off to our chosen service projects GEA, UC, and CEN.
In GEA, we picked up 48 pounds of garbage with our wonderful guide Frank around a local school, and we learned about their 202nd annexation celebrations and the cultural dances performed. We played a tough game of soccer with the kids of the school to end the day.
In UC we started by weeding this park and hanging out with the local community. After that we ate some amazing fruit. We then painted some tires for the playground fence and added some to the park.
In CEN we visited a daycare and helped clean up the facilities. We also started to paint a mural out in front of the daycare and painted the kitchen. As we were working, we heard the distant sounds of a band playing and we went outside and saw a parade for the annexation of Guanacaste. We had an awesome time and can’t wait to have more fun and keep working on the facility. We finished our trip with a bus ride back to camp.
Then we had a beach day from 2-5 and swam in the ocean and walked along the water and saw unique shells. After we had a nice break and had a sunset circle before a delicious dinner of spaghetti and garlic bread! Then we did leadership activities to explore our values be our leadership styles.
Pura vida!
Camryn, Willa Di Venere, Abby Fryer, Jamedon, Olivia, and Dillo
BLOG POST FOR JULY 26
Day 4 is here!
We started our day bright and early with gallo pinto, a traditional rice and beans, as well as homemade bagels!
Then, we loaded the buses to head out for an impactful day of service.
In CEN, we spent most of the day painting the kitchen and hallway bright, inviting colors. We also began to dig planting holes for when we return to the site. We also solved Kyle’s interesting riddles during our break!
Over at GEA, the day started by picking up 30 pounds of trash and cleaning a beautiful beach. We took the trash to a nearby home to be picked up. After, we went for a swim in the ocean all together.
Finally at UC, we finished up our painting projects from yesterday, including the playground tires and signs. Then, we painted a neighborhood garbage bin and made a beautiful sign on recycling and composting for the community. Finally, we played soccer and hide and seek with some kids from the community who helped us with our service!
Everyone met back up at homebase for lunch, where we enjoyed chickpea curry with white rice and salad. Students then enjoyed free time activities like tanning, swimming, and taking naps.
After free time, we headed out into a community to take a cooking class and play soccer. We played soccer with locals and enjoyed getting to know them. In the cooking class, led by a kind local woman, we made bean and potato empanadas. They were delicious!
Once we arrived back at homebase, we did our nightly sunset circle. We shared what we learned in service, gave shoutouts, and chose our leaders for tomorrow.
To end the night, we ate yummy mashed potatoes, pork chops, and vegetables. Before bed, we did an inspirational GLA activity. We’re so excited for Day 5 tomorrow!
From today’s leaders:
Celia V, Hayden P, Ella U, Gigi D, Charlie S, Finley W
BLOG POST FOR JULY 27
It’s day 5!
Today we woke up abnormally early for a 2 hour bus ride to La Hacienda Guachipelin. We ate breakfast on the bus: nutritious breakfast burritos.
When we arrived, we got ready for tubing and listened to a 5-minute instruction on how to tube safely. We all enjoyed getting tossed around in the rocks and water.
Next on the agenda was ziplining! Everyone put on the gear, and listened carefully to a 5-minute instruction on switching cables. We then got the opportunity to zip down the first cable one by one, enjoying the beautiful nature view along with the breeze that cooled us down. It was a first time for many, yet a memorable adventure for everyone to say the least.
After everyone returned from zipping we enjoyed an all you can eat buffet for lunch☺️. We enjoyed a traditional Costa Rican lunch with rice, beans, tilapia, and fried plantains. There was also plenty of fruit and vegetables to choose from. The pineapple was extremely ripe and delicious☺️☺️
Once we got back to home base we did our sunset circle talking about highlights of the day and chose new leaders of the day. We then ate dinner which consisted of mashed potatoes, ground beef and salad, our final part of the day was mentor groups where we reflected on our lives.
From today’s leaders:
Lily M, Riley M, Emily D, Thomas F,Julie P, Klara T
BLOG POST FOR JULY 28
Day six! Here we are again with our daily blog posting about our experiences today.
This morning, the students that are involved in the UC group went to a new community with our lovely leader, Esther. We climbed up a steep mountain to go and paint a water tank. After that, we painted tires that we will make into a garden during our service work tomorrow. We did some cool designs, such as fish, nice notes in Spanish, or even sunsets.
Today in the GEA service group we worked at the school to try to clean up as much as we could and help out as much as we could. After that we learned from Frank about the mangroves, which are a huge contributor to keeping our Earth, safe from weather phenomenons.
Today in CEN we split into three groups. One group created a play structure out of tires for the kids to play; one group touched up the paint around the daycare to improve the overall visual quality of the school; and the last group spent the most time dancing, playing, and taking care of the kids alongside CEN’s wonderful staff. Today in CEN was the first day that we were able to interact with the 2 to 6 year-old kids which was a meaningful and educational experience for us and for the kids. Also, today in CEN, our group was presented a certificate of recognition for GLA’s hard work with the daycare this summer.
After our service morning, we all went back and had a delicious lunch of french fries and chicken rice. Then we had free time in which most people headed to the pool to cool off, and then went to have ice cream and go to Sherry’s store to try the snack of the day!
After free time, we had a camp-wide debate on gentrification and how it impacts Costa Rica coming from the POV‘s of tourists, locals, and the government. We learned that gentrification is a very hard problem to figure out a way to solve. Then something very interesting happened, initially we were supposed to have the dance class, but the magic of life brought us the experience of watching baby sea turtles crawl to the ocean so we all were able to watch the birth of the turtles.
After this once in a lifetime experience, we had dinner and went to our Mentor groups to talk about our time on the trip and prepare envelopes to write words of affirmation to each other.
Pura Vida!!
From your leaders of the day: Mackaela, Kleio, Atlas, Sarah, Reagan, and Max.
BLOG POST FOR JULY 29
Buenos días!
To start the day we had breakfast. We had our usual breakfast of eggs, cereal, rice and beans, yogurt, chia pudding, and fruit. The breakfast was very enjoyable per usual and started us off great for our morning service.
For CEN, we had 4 main tasks today: decorating the back wall, painting the tires, planted some sprouts, and fixed up an open wall with concrete. For the most part all of our tasks were completed except painting over the concrete. we also had the opportunity to hangout with the kids at the school and bond with them further. Jorge also was very kind by buying the group mangoes, lychee, and a mystery fruit.
For UC, we helped finish painting tires, designing the water tank, painting the walls of an important community water well, and collecting trash from a dried out river.
For GEA, we did many fun things and learned a lot. We learned about the different types of mangroves that are in Costa Rica and how to identify them. Then we finished painting our signs to create awareness about climate change and pollution, and hung them up on the beach. Afterwards we took an exam about what we learned during the duration of our trip. Finally we ate some delicious lychee and swam in the ocean before buying smoothies.
After service we had lunch which today was tacos with a beef or a chicken option and vegetarian.
For our second activity we played Beach Olympics, where we played pool volleyball, had a sandcastle contest, and a lip sync battle. The black team was victorious.
After the Beach Olympics, we had a dance class in which we learned salsa, reggaeton, and a traditional Costa Rican dance.
Lastly we had dinner which was rice, chicken, plantains, and salad!
Leaders of the day: Sabina, Avery, Delaney, Harry, Alishya, Jameson
BLOG POST FOR JULY 30
¡Buenos días!
Today was our last full day in Costa Rica, and we definitely made the most of it! We started bright and early, waking up at 6:30 a.m. before hopping on the buses for our catamaran adventure. On the way, we enjoyed breakfast with empanadas, cookies, and chips to fuel up for the day ahead.
Once we arrived at Tamarindo Beach, we boarded the catamaran and set sail along the beautiful Pacific coast. After cruising for a while, we stopped near a secluded beach where we got to snorkel, explore the water, and—even better—jump off the boat (safely, of course)! It was the perfect way to spend a sunny morning in Costa Rica.
After all that excitement, we were definitely ready for lunch. We enjoyed chicken, chips, salsa, and plenty of refreshing non-alcoholic drinks, including piña coladas and strawberry daiquiris. With great food, amazing views, and good company, it was hard to imagine a better afternoon.
When we returned to home base, we had some time to relax, pack our bags, and start preparing for our trip home. Later, we grabbed some chips and salsa before heading to one of the most unique events of the trip: the fair!
The fair was a special local market organized just for our group. Local vendors set up booths selling T-shirts, jewelry, ice cream, handmade crafts, and other Costa Rican products. It was a great chance to support local businesses, pick up souvenirs, and spend time with friends before our final evening together.
After the fair, we met for our last mentor group and then got dressed up for sunset photos. Everyone put on their nicest outfits, and we gathered one final time for our sunset circle. As the sun dipped below the horizon, we reflected on everything we had experienced over the past few weeks—the service work, adventures, friendships, and memories that made this trip so special.
Dinner was a crowd favorite: burgers! Once everyone was full, we completed our end-of-program survey and then participated in an appreciation circle. This gave us the chance to recognize one another and share how much our fellow group members had meant to us throughout the journey. There were lots of laughs, a few tears, and many heartfelt words.
To close out our final night together, we celebrated with a pool party and karaoke. Whether people were singing their hearts out, cheering on their friends, or simply enjoying one last evening together, it was the perfect ending to an unforgettable trip.
Tomorrow we head to the airport and begin our journeys home. But before we go, we’ll hold on to the memories, friendships, and experiences that made this adventure so incredible.
For the final time from Costa Rica: ¡Pura Vida!
