GLA Costa Rica: Beachside Service Adventure

This summer I went to Costa Rica with GLA teens, and I had an amazing time that I will always cherish. I learned so much getting to work in a turtle hatchery, and I even got to release baby turtles. I also got to learn about the community and culture of the area, partaking in special activities very unique to this program. Overall, I could not recommend this program enough, the experience I had was truly once in a lifetime.

This summer I went to Costa Rica with GLA teens, and I had an amazing time that will always be cherished. I learned so much getting to work in a turtle hatchery learning all about the dangers to turtles and helping to build turtle nests. I also got to learn about the community and culture of the area, partaking in special activities very unique to the program. Overall, I could not recommend this program enough.

My 16 year old son had an incredible experience and came home planning for where he wants to go with GLA next summer. (Peru!). The kids worked hard digging nests on the beach to help the nesting sea turtles, learned an incredible amount about the environment and ecotourism, and fell in love with the Costa Rican culture. The visited a local school, took a dance class, and were also given a cooking class by some of the Costa Rican natives who were all so incredibly warm, welcoming, end excited to share their culture. Thank you, GLA, for the experience of a lifetime.

I learned the value of teamwork especially working in verdi where we all had to work together to make sure no one was doing all the work and getting tired and everyone could equally play a part in the work. Some of my favorites were the goal setting in our mentor groups because my group really tried to lift each other up and i felt confident in my ability to achieve my goal because of my peers and mentor.

I love GLA this was an awesome experience! Experiencing a different culture than I am used to and understanding how others live outside of my bubble was the biggest impact. I also loved the salsa dance class.

The food was very good! They were so good about my diet making so many amazing vegan meals. The staff also stood out. There were amazing mentors and always working to help us and were so easy to come to with anything. They really helped this program be so fun for me.

Mentors were really good vibes the whole trip! Love them so much. For growth, I was able to practice my spanish with the youth and make a positive impact on their community. Some activities weren't my favorite but overall it was so so good.

Going into this trip I was very apprehensive about going and thought it would be horrible. After completing the trip I now do not want to leave and loved it so much. All of the camper mentors and everyone I met were all so great and I hope to see them again in the future. Many people I met don’t know but they had huge impacts on my life and have changed a lot of my perspectives and ways of living. This trip has actually had me make a huge change in my life. It is going to solve a lot of problems in my everyday life and make everything that much better. I don’t mean that lightly this experience has changed so much about me. I hope to come back next summer and experience new things and places. I also hope to see all my mentors again. I loved the boat ride and snorkeling. It was one of the most fun things I’ve done.

I have never experienced such a sense of community before as I have in GLA, not just on home-base but with others outside of GLA who are willing to work to make a positive impact on their community. My service program with Esther was nothing short of amazing. Every day was a new adventure and being able to contribute towards something that had a great impact on those around was very fulfilling. GLA has changed me in ways I cannot put into words, and I will be back for another summer! Overall, this program has been the experience of a lifetime, and I am so thankful to have experienced it with some incredible people, much love!??

Made amazing friends and good relationships :) I learned a lot and this did help me with deciding what I want to do in the future, I am very interested in environmental science :) I learned somewhat how to be a leader and just learned so much from the mentors. I loved everything and got to practice my spanish. Everyone at Home Base was so nice, I loved the family and our rooms, everything! My biggest challenge was how hot it was there.

I grew by seeing that hard work really does pay off and working in a team and keeping a positive attitude makes everything more productive and fun. I also learned that some things are worth waiting for cause we spent the whole week doing things meant to save the turtles with no indication that we would w even see a turtle and when we actually did it was amazing. The most rewarding was the zipling and tubing because I had to be brave and adventurous and take risks in order to do those but it ended up being one of the most fun things I have here done in my entire life. I had so much fun and made life long friendships and memories and will never ever forgot this place, people, or trip.