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 1
After a long day of travel, the students finally made it to Hawaii! Before heading from Kona to Waimea, we stopped for some well-earned pizza. Then, we hit the road, taking in the beautiful coastline and the island’s lush, green landscapes.
As we arrived at our home base, we were greeted by a gorgeous double rainbow! Once everyone settled in and unpacked, we spent the evening playing board games and gathered for a quick meeting to go over the plan for tomorrow.
After a full day of traveling, everyone was ready for some rest. We headed to bed excited for tomorrow’s adventures, including some pool time!
-Jocelyn Rodriguez
BLOG POST FOR JULY 2
Today was day 2 of the GLA program. We woke up and went to breakfast. After breakfast, we then changed into our swimsuits and we completed the swim test. After we did the swim test, we had some free time in the pool where we hung out, played marco polo, and some fun other games. After the pool, we got changed, and we started to play monopoly. We played monopoly into lunch and after orientation we played some more so we could finish our game! After playing monopoly, we then got to enjoy the sun and play a volleyball game together. Finally, we ended our night talking about our values in mentor groups and playing some board games together before bed. We are excited to get rest and make our way to the volcano park tomorrow!
Leader of the Day: Imani Purnell
BLOG POST FOR JULY 3
This morning we ate breakfast on home base. Then, we left for a two hour drive to the Volcano National Park. When we arrived, we participated in lei making where we made bracelets. Then we ate lunch outside and then went on a hike down closer to the volcano. After that, we went to Walmart to get groceries for our room. Then we got dinner and had Poké bowls. Lastly, we drove to home base for the night.
Leaders of the Day: Addison & Margot
BLOG POST FOR JULY 4
Today, we started our day eating breakfast in the dining hall. After eating breakfast, we went to our first market of the day. We ate pizza for breakfast, bought boba and fruits, and ate delicious mango sticky rice! After the market, we went back to home base to get ready to explore and learn more about O Honaunau National Historical Park. After exploring the park and taking pictures, we went to fill ourselves up with pizza before we departed for our night snorkeling with manta rays! It was a great experience for us! We ended our night with some much needed rest after such an eventful 4th of July!
BLOG POST FOR JULY 5
Today, we were able to sleep in and start our day a little later. We had breakfast at the dining hall. After breakfast, we drove to Akaka Falls where we walked through the park and looked at the falls. While we were there we sat together under the trees while it rained. Once we were done at the falls we had lunch at a birria taco place. We had delicious tacos and shaved ice together before heading back to home base to change into bathing suits to go to the beach. At the beach we swam in the water and played volleyball together. After the beach we all dried off and headed to dinner together. When we came back we had mentor groups and our chow circle before heading to bed.
Leaders of the Day: Cameron & Julian
BLOG POST FOR JULY 6
Today, our group woke up, ate breakfast, and got ready for our first community service project at Mauna Kea. At service, we deseeded two different species of legumes and strictly collected the intact and ungerminated seeds to plant later. After service, we went to a nearby beach called Spencer Beach, swam, and played volleyball with two brothers that we met. We then came back to homebase and had dinner, chow circle, and mentor groups before hanging out for the night.
Leader of the Day: Sebastian
BLOG POST FOR JULY 7
Today, we started our day with breakfast in the dining hall. We then walked up to the Energy Lab, the science center at our homebase, where we met our hula instructor. We practiced hula for a couple hours and learned more about the history of Hawai’i. We then finally had time to hang out at home base, where we got some rest, played just dance, and spent time together. We finished our night at Mauna Kea where we ate dinner, watched the sunset, and got to stargaze. It was a great day!
Leaders of the Day: Caydence & Caitlin
BLOG POST FOR JULY 8
This morning, we got to sleep in until 7:00. We changed and got ready for breakfast. Shortly after breakfast, we took a 35 minute drive up to Pu’u Wa’awa’a Mountain Reserve for our second and final day of service work. Alongside our park ranger, Nicole, we spent a few hours weeding the park grounds to help prevent possible wildfires. For lunch, we ate Bento boxes while sitting inside the forest preserve house. We then returned to home base and prepared to go back to Hāpuna beach. After a few hours, we returned to home base and enjoyed a group dinner followed by a short hike to the top of the HPA campus to watch the sunset. Finally, before lights out, everyone gathered in the common room to play games together. We are excited for snorkeling and spending our final day together tomorrow!
Leaders of the Day: Sage & Imani
BLOG POST FOR JULY 9
Today we woke up at 6:00 AM to go snorkeling in the morning, along the Kona coast. We rode a boat to Kealakekua Bay where we went snorkeling for about 2 1/2 hours. We saw many types of fish including 3 species of triggerfish (humuhumunukunukuāpuaʻa, humuhumuʻeleʻele, and humuhumu hiʻu kole), trumpet fish, angel fish, sea urchins, and more! Then we returned to Kona, where we went shopping and got gelato. Later, we went out to dinner at Jade Palace, a Chinese restaurant. Finally, we returned back to home base, for the last time, where we finished packing, played games, and had our appreciation circle.
Leaders of the Day: Alexandria, Matthew, and Brian
BLOG POST FOR JULY 10
Today, we said goodbye to our first student that departed early in the morning. Afterwards, we went to the dining hall to enjoy our final breakfast. After breakfast, we finished tidying up our rooms and homebase before our next shuttle left to the airport with our second group of students. We ended the day saying goodbyes to one another and sharing hugs before having our final dinner and heading to the airport! We had such a great time in Hawai’i together and will miss our group!
