We are diving into high season with Girl Scout and Open Enrollment groups out on course! Here is what each group has been up to this and last week:

Scuba & Sea Turtle Adventure (Session #1)

On Saturday, June 16th, our staff greeted the girls at Juan Santamaria Airport and brought them back to base where they met their course instructors, Molly and Mariany. After their brief stay on base for orientation, they set out for the Panama border to meet with the biologists working on sea turtle conservation projects in the indigenous village of San San Pond Sak. They were able to receive hands-on instruction by professionals in the field and even released many baby turtles back into the ocean! One of the more exciting aspects of this stage of their adventure was when they had the opportunity to zipline through the canopy. The girls also found time to canoe, go ziplining, try new foods, snorkel, wakeboard, kneeboard and make friends with some local kids in the community. The group then enjoyed some time at Rana Roja Beach before starting their service project. They helped clean up polluted parts of the adjacent mangroves to protect wildlife. Over the next few days, they’ll continue learning essential scuba diving skills toward earning their certifications. While learning to scuba can be challenging, this group has proven to be quick, adept learners. Great job so far girls; we can’t wait to hear all of your stories in full when you get back to base!

Service Challenge (Session #1)

What a great group! After flying into Juan Santamaria Airport on Saturday, June 16th, the girls arrived on base for an orientation with Roger and Grace. A day of preparation and exploration followed, giving them time to familiarize themselves with the base. The girls were already bonding by the time they departed for the scenic village of Talamanca on Costa Rica’s Caribbean slopes. Talamanca is home to 34% of Costa Rica’s total indigenous population and 88% of its 1084 square miles of land is protected. The girls worked with the Bribri indigenous people. They quickly became acquainted with their community and jumped right in to help paint one of the its structures a beautiful new shade of blue! In their downtime, the girls gathered to watch a sea turtle documentary and played a pickup game of soccer. They seem to be a pretty formidable team on the pitch, giving Roger a run for his money. Currently, they are making their way back to Costa Rica after spending a few days in Panama helping out with sea turtle conservation efforts. Year after year, Costa Rican sea turtles return to the same beaches to lay their eggs under the new moon in a spectacular annual display known as the arribada. The girls helped release 154 baby sea turtles on the first night, saw 1 massive sea turtle on their second night patrolling, and released 100 baby sea turtles on their last night in San San Pond Sak. We are lucky to have such a great group of girls helping to preserve these unique communities!

OPEN ENROLLMENT

Service, Hike & Homestay (Session #1)

Four students arrived last Saturday and met their instructors, Diego, Mike, and Heather, who are leading them as they trek across the varied and beautiful landscape of Costa Rica. Costa Rica’s surface area is less than that of Lake Michigan, but accounts for 5% of the world’s biodiversity. Our Service Hike & Homestay group will trek in high and low elevations and will notice how the flora and fauna change as their journey progresses from campsite to homestay. One thing they are bound to notice are the abundance of flying animals. Costa Rica contains 90% of Central America’s butterfly species and over 50 species of hummingbird! Once they wrap up the initial hike to their homestays, they will spend time with their homestays learning how to make sugar the traditional way and getting a chance to learn some Spanish. More to come on this group, but they sure have already enjoyed some of the fantastic waterfalls that cover their way to each homestay! We can’t wait to share more about this group’s adventures!

Surf, Service, & CPR (Session #1)

Our surf students arrived on base last Saturday for home-cooked meals and orientation and then departed the next day to the beaches of the Pacific coast to learn some basic surfing techniques. They woke up at our Manuel Antonio beach base and headed out for their first substantive surfing practice and plenty of time to hone the techniques they had been learning over the past two days. Surfing popularity has grown tremendously over the past half century with over 20 million annual enthusiasts and will officially be an olympic sport in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. In their downtime from surfing, the group has been training for their CPR certification and delving into nearby community service projects. Towards the end of their stay, they will have the chance to zoom through the rainforest on a zipline and city tour San Jose. Off to a great start!

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