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
Click here to jump down to the most recent post!
BLOG POST FOR JULY 6
After many hours of airport arrivals, most of the gang is finally here! Those who arrived early had a full day in Ollantaytambo (our homebase for the next two weeks), exploring a traditional Incan house! The rest of the group had the afternoon to rest and walk into town to visit the local plaza and craft market. In the evening we played a name game to get to know each other more, and had our first ever chow circle where we did shout outs and went over the schedule for tomorrow. We also got to tune in to two exciting World Cup games – Portugal versus Spain, and the US versus Belgium! We are excited to welcome our students who are arriving this evening and tomorrow morning: Nova, Anushka, Macy, and Henry!
BLOG POST FOR JULY 7
Hola Hola!
After a fun arrival day here in Peru we set out with all of the students for our first day of fun in Ollantaytambo. Our morning started out with breakfast and orientation where we learned a bit more about GLA and our staff team and all of the fun things that we have in store on this trip. After orientation we set out into town to explore. We wandered around Incan ruins, shopped at the local markets, and had lunch out at a restaurant in town.
Back at homebase we had some chill time to get to know our roommates and unpack and then enjoyed some dinner. After dinner we had our first mentor group and played a fun and competitive game of “Get to Know Your Mentor.” We ended the night with some card games and chill time around homebase and then headed to bed to get ready for our first day of service tomorrow.
We’re excited to share about it soon!
¡Hasta Luego!
– GLA Staff
BLOG POST FOR JULY 8
Buenas Días!
Today we started the day off with a quick breakfast followed by a one hour drive to our town in which we are doing service, Patacancha. We started our trip by learning an indigenous dance sacred to the community. After that, we performed a sacred ritual to honor their deities. quickly after, following the ritual, we got to work, building infrastructure with the local community, stripping logs, transporting dirt, and moving clay slabs. We noticed a profound difference even after an hour, showing the impact we all made on the community. During our service, we had a quick lunch prepared by the locals to help reenergize us.
Afterwards, we took the bus back to Ollantaytambo and rested before we hit the pitch to play fútbol. After two hours of heated gameplay, we headed to town to explore the markets. Next, we had our brief Chow circle, where we shouted eachother out for the day and announced our new leaders of the day, Will and Juliana.
Then, we had a fulfilling dinner and met with our mentor groups to discuss what we value most. Finally, we had some free time and headed to bed.
Gracias,
Hayden & Jordyn
BLOG POST FOR JULY 9
All the kids woke up from roosters bright and early for breakfast at 7am. After breakfast we made our way to Patacancha to do service. We painted, sifted, shoveled, peeled bark, pickaxed a garden, and sanded💪😓. Then we had lunch which was soup and pasta🤤. Then we went back to home base where we watched the world cup game, France vs. Morocco. France took the W 🇫🇷🏆. After that we went out into town. Some people got pizza, some people shopped, and most got ice-cream. Then for dinner we had burgers and potato’s 🍔😋. Then we had a quick mentor group where we talked about our highlights and lowlights. Lastly everyone hung out and then got cozy for bed. Best wishes from Ollantaytambo.
❤️🇵🇪🥰
Leaders of the day: Laney and Aiden
BLOG POST FOR JULY 11 & 12
Welcome back! This is going to be a long post so strap in for the ride!
We started off the morning bright and really early to get on the bus to Calca, a town about two and a half hours away. In Calca, we stopped at a market and grabbed marbles and coca leaves for the local people that we encountered. After making a few small purchases, we continued with another two-hour drive to the town of Lares, where we began our hike.
We hiked for around three miles on a relatively flat section of the mountain before stopping in the town of Wacawasi for a lunch and a much needed rest. After an hour or so, we layered up and continued our hike. This second section was substantially steeper than the first, gaining nearly 3000 feet of elevation over another three miles. As the sun began to set, we finally reached our campsite at a final altitude of 14,000 feet. Laney asked me to note that she beat everyone on the hike. Take that with a grain of salt.
The evening brought colder temperatures and teeth-chattering wind. We put more and more layers on, before finally taking refuge in the meal tent and playing games, like poker, and enjoying hot chocolate. Shortly after, dinner was served from a makeshift kitchen as a feast of fortune including numerous dishes.
After dinner, we exited the tent to a series of awestruck faces as we gazed longingly at the beautiful night sky. The campsite turned its lights off, and observed the ethereal night view. Numerous asteroids arced the sky. After scores of pictures, wow’s, and hours of staring at the sky, the group retired to our sleeping tents for the night.
The night was ominous from the start. Screaming winds blasted across the high-altitude plane of our campsite. Horses whinnied loudly. No one really slept. Besides Dominic, who somehow slept through the night and then some.
We woke up around 5:30, utterly exhausted, freezing, and really ready to sleep in our own beds. After packing up the campsite and preparing for the second day of hiking, we returned to the tent for pancakes and tea, before leaving around 7:30.
The next mile was the steepest of the trek as we climbed through the mountain pass, reaching 15,000 feet of elevation. The views were breathtaking, as was the now comfortable weather. After reaching the peak, the path abruptly dropped before mellowing out into a plateau. After a quick rest near a lake, we prepped for the last stretch of the hike toward Patacancha for lunch.
The final stretch to Patacancha took around two hours, and we arrived in the town around 11:30. Due to our incredible hiking ability, we arrived nearly an hour early, and the lunch tent was not set up. We would wait for around an hour and a half, before enjoying a final meal from the cooks who traveled with us on this journey. At around 2 PM, we finally completed the journey as we rode the buses back to home base.
The rest of the day was relatively mellow. Happy to be back, we took a quick trip to downtown Ollantaytambo to pass the time, before completing chow circle, nominating tomorrows leaders, eating dinner, and mentor groups.
Thanks for reading! This blog post was written by Sahil Velamoor and Katie Snyman
BLOG POST FOR JULY 13
We woke up 7:00 am, basically sleeping in compared to yesterday, and everyone started getting ready for a day at machu piccu. At 7:15 everyone ate breakfast and saw the schedule for the day, which was breakfast machu piccu, then lights out essentially.
After that, everyone started walking to the train, and we started our adventure.
The train ride showed the beautiful forests of Perus national park. And on the train ride, some were lulled to sleep while others ate a whole bag of snacks and did not share with anyone. After an hour and a half or so of being on the train we eventually landed in aguas calientes, macchu piccus town.
On our way to the bus that would take us to this new world wonder, some people grabbed some snacks and we saw a preview of the market that we would be going to later. We also took a lovely group photo with paddington the bear.
Eventually our group settled down for some lunch, which we had already preordered the day before. After our stomaches were settled, we went on the bus ride up to machu piccu, which was an additional fourty five minutes, with beautiful surrounding scenery of the sub tropical forest that surrounds machu piccu.
Continuing on, our group split into two, one which saw the top of machu picchu and one which saw the bottom. The top was a bigger panoramic view of the city of Machu piccu.
From the bottom we learned about the different temples such as the BIRD CONDOR and the temple in which the Inca would sacrifice llamas to the earth. Machu piccu was a city in which the highest of the Inca empire would reside and educate themselfs about various subjects, ranging from astronomy, to religion, to how to become the next leaders of this great empire. We also saw the beautiful moutans surrounding and protecting this city, and took plenty of photos. After learning and observing this incredible city, we went back on the bus and went down to the market.
Everyone found some nice souvenirs for themselfs and family, and many also got some food to wrap up this experience. With everyone content we went back to the train to head home, where many fell back asleep again, full circle.
To wrap up the day, we had chow circle, shouted out some people for their contributions of that day, picked the next leaders of the day, and, finally, ate dinner and went to bed.
BLOG POST FOR JULY 14
We started off the day with a delicious breakfast made here in our lodge. After breakfast we left to do service for the Patacancha community, where we are continuing to create a community center for them. Once we finished working we then played a match of soccer against local kids from the community. Unfortunately we gracefully took the loss by 1, because James (MVP) injured his back. After the match we ate another yummy meal made for us by the Patacancha women. We soon headed back to watch France get destroyed by Spain. After the devastating loss we headed into the town of Ollantaytambo where we had a choice of eating or shopping at the local market. Afterwards everyone cleaned up for chow circle and dinner. And we ended the day with a group wide GLA activity, the debate, for which we had fun dressing up in costume.
Written by Leaders of the the Day: Vadim and Kennedy 😘
BLOG POST FOR JULY 15
¡Hola!
Today was our last day in Patacancha Village, and it was definitely one of the best days of the trip. We spent the morning finishing our service work by moving stones, sanding wood, and painting benches for the community.
After that, we got to help make a traditional Peruvian meal by placing chicken, potatoes, herbs, and cheese on hot stones, then covering it all with dirt to cook underground. It was really cool to see how it’s made, and the food was delicious.
Later, the community showed us how they make clothing from alpaca and sheep wool, teaching us how they clean, dye, spin, and weave it by hand. It was amazing to see how much time and skill goes into every piece. After lunch, we said goodbye by singing songs together, which was a really nice way to thank everyone for welcoming us.
Back at home base, we watched the England vs. Argentina game, then split into teams for some fun competitions with different mini games, including a most digits of pi challenge and taking the best group selfie.
We ended the day by going into town one last time before coming back to pack our bags and get ready to head to Cusco tomorrow. It’s hard to believe our time in the village is already over, but we’re really excited for the next part of the trip.
-Ethan & Claudia
BLOG POST FOR JULY 16
This morning, we woke up in Ollantaytambo for the last time! We got a later start than usual, with breakfast being at 8:15. We said goodbye to our home base and host family and headed towards Cusco. On the way, we stopped at the Maras Salt Mines, where salt is mined from salt water reserves found in the surrounding mountains. Many of us bought salt to bring home for family members.
Next, we continued on to have lunch at a traditional Peruvian restaurant close to the salt mines. After lunch, we drove another hour and a half to get to our hotel in Cusco. We had some time to go to our rooms and settle in before we went on a walking tour of the historic center of Cusco. We saw various Inca ruins, including the sun temple. We learned about the Spanish colonization of the city and had opportunities to shop in town.
Next, we walked to dinner, which was at Don Pollero, a Peruvian chain that serves chicken and fries. After dinner, we walked back to our hotel, where we celebrated Kaya’s birthday with chocolate cake and ended the night with mentor groups.
