Hey guys! Welcome back to my blog! Today I’m sharing with you one of my most memorable trips this year which was to Costa Rica! So I went to Costa Rica for a middle school service adventure with GLA for 10 days. Global Leadership Adventures (GLA) is a program that offers abroad community service for high and middle schoolers. In those 10 days I made a ton of friends, helped out a whole bunch, and enjoyed the adventures to the fullest! Scroll down to hear my Costa Rican adventure!

In those 10 days, you have 5 days of community service, 3 adventure days, one arrival and departure day. The community service I chose to do was at the animal rescue center. At the center, we helped feed the animals, clean their cages, and make enrichment for them. We met so many animals there including sloths, monkeys, peccaries, deer, macaws, parrots, and many more.

This particular program combines the animal rescue and the school/children tracks on the same schedule. On the other track, students engaged in social activities with the children. Once the children went on their summer break, the GLA students helped repaint the basketball court floor with new games and colorful decorations. On the last day of community service, me and one of my friends were asked to help finish with the basketball court so we got lucky enough to help out at the school and rescue center.

Then for the adventure days, we went to the beach at the end of a rainforest, a chocolate tour + the Baldi hot springs, and lastly the four in one Jaco adventure. The beach day was a relaxing and fun filled day along with some souvenir shopping as well. During the the chocolate tour, we got to see how chocolate was made and how it evolved in time. On the same day of the chocolate tour, we went to the Baldi Hot Springs waterpark! There a variety of waterslides, one even at a speed of 30 mph! Then for the last adventure day, we went to Jaco. We saw a butterfly garden, we went on a 30 minute tram ride, went ziplining through the rainforest, and we also did the high ropes course in the rainforest.

Costa Rica was one of the best things this year! It was a service and fun filled trip I’ll never forget! I made some amazing friends too! And my favorite part of the trip were the long bus rides that brought everyone closer! See you next time! Adios!

-Monkey Me