Global Leadership Adventures (GLA) Reviews

Imagine being surrounded by like minded people and people of a completely different culture than the one you have always known. Imagine dancing with a Maasai tribe, teaching primary school children, and observing lions in their natural habitat. Now stop imaging and experience it. My time in Tanzania was the best of my life. I learned gratitude, patience, and appreciation. I learned my passions. I learned my potential. I learned about myself. I felt incredibly safe and respected throughout the program. The directors and mentors make a huge effort to get to know each student. Every part of my trip changed me and molded me into a better person. I am so excited for my next trip with GLA! Take the leap and join Global Leadership Adventures!!!!!!

This past summer I participated in Global Leadership Adventures Belize: The Initiative for Children. I had THE most amazing and life-changing experience of my life. The staff is amazing and very well-qualified/equipped to deal with any situation or emergency (should one even arise at all). The best part about this experience is that it is a totally authentic and service-oriented approach to exploring new cultures. On my particular trip we went to a poetry night a few villages over from home base, snorkeled around Tobacco Caye, and explored ancient Maya ruins.These direct and genuine interactions with Belizean culture are what sets GLA apart. Further, the service we participated in is beneficial to all involved. We got to teach the local youth English, paint their playground, and encourage them to reach their full potential. Even more, though, the service we completed changed our lives equally, if not more so, by opening our eyes to poverty, the privilege of public education, and social justice.

Global Leadership Adventures, or GLA, is incomparable to any other program. Every staff member is always there for you, especially your mentors. All of the mentors are very supportive and kind hearted people. When I got back home, the first thing I said to my mom and dad was, "Can I do another next year?" Everyday we woke so excited to scarf down our delicious breakfast and head out into the jungle to join the smiling faces of the locals. I will never forget these 10 days, the best 10 days of my life.

I traveled to Tanzania with Global Lewdeship Adventures for two weeks in August 2017. I am someone who is very attached to the their friends and family, and couldn't imagine traveling with a group of strangers for two weeks abroad. As my trip neared, I thought I was crazy for signing myself up! But I wouldn't have wanted to go with any other program. Global Leadership Adventures made my trip the most amazing thing I have ever done. I made friends I still talk to and hope to see soon, and I made relationships with Tanzanians that I hope to never lose touch with. This program made me realize how incredible the world around us is, and forced me to put myself out there and engage in this wonderful world. I could not recommend this program enough. The staff and experience made me appreciat life more, and gave me a bad case of th travel bug. I'll be back, Tanzania!!

This trip left me totally inspired and motivated. I have a new love for Dominican and the people there, it is just gorgeous. We spent a lot of time in the communities setting up pop-up clinics, and helping with the construction of labs and clinics. It sparked my interest in nursing and I was able to learn a lot from shadowing the doctors there and taking notes.
What I liked was that it was away from all the tourism, you got to see more of the raw, real Dominican. I have a friend that went on vacation to Dominican, and our trips turned out to be very different. I was happy I got to see the real thing, and learn about the struggles the communities face. It is also interesting to actually be there and not fully relying on different forms of media to tell you what its like. You get to actually be there!
I do wish that I had practised more spanish before the trip. Although I was able to still communicate through motions and pointing, it would be totally different if I could actually speak that language. It was an overall amazing experience.

I spent three weeks this summer in Belize with Global Leadership Adventures and even though I had spent the summer before in Guatemala, also with GLA, this trip was one of the most amazingly scary things I’ve ever done. Not only being without family but being surrounded with strangers in a whole new country is stressful to say the least, and as should be expected, had a slightly rocky beginning, with lost bags and awkward hellos, but once we reached the Tropical Education Center, which would be our home for the next three weeks, things settled down. We played a few “get to know you” games, nothing like the boring icebreakers I was used to from past summers, and got a tour of home base, and as we did this I started to get to know the other girls I was there with.
The food was always great at the TEC, they had wonderful gluten free options and always something without red meat for me.
Our first day at the school was easy, we split into groups and organized our classrooms, children occasionally stopping in to say hello, four little girls gathered by the fence that separated their yard from the school, telling us how excited they were for tomorrow.
When we did get to the school on our first day teaching, kids were there waiting for us, happy and willing to learn. The kids I taught all spoke very good english, some were better spellers than me. My fellow teachers and I made lesson plans every night after dinner, a quick job once you get it down, we also always had a few back up games incase the kids were especially energetic. We did have a few problems with fighting, teasing, and bullying, and the kids sometimes tried to sneak out when they thought we weren’t looking but all in all they were well behaved.
The day trips we went on we always interesting, though some more than others, I would have to say our trip to the ATM caves was my favorite, but that is only available on the three week program. On the last few days we took a trip to Caye Caulker, a two mile wide island just off the coast without cars, the locals having bicycles and tricked out golf carts instead. We stayed at a pretty nice hotel with AC right by the sea, explored the island, shopped a little, and spent the whole next day snorkeling from which I earned a nasty sunburn, but it was definitely worth the pain.
All in all it was a great trip with amazing mentors, the kids were hilarious, and the other girls on the trip with me were some of the sweetest, most down to earth people I’ve ever met.
If I were to suggest a summer program I wouldn’t hesitate to say this one.

We sent our god daughter on the two week animal rescue program in Costa Rica. She is a dog fanatic so we knew that this program would be great for her. We did research other programs and companies, but decided on GLA because we felt they were the highest quality program at the best price. Their communication before, during and after the program has been first-rate. Our god daughter returned from the experience feeling that it was a life-changer for her. She hadn't been away from home for an extended period of time without family, so this was important to have her do to give her the chance to be on her own. She will go to college next year, so this was a great stepping stone to being able to go away from home for college.

My daughter went with GLA to both Ghana and Peru and loved both of them. She has traveled before on her own, so we weren't that worried about her, but also always knew she was in good hands! GLA made the application process really simple, and we loved all the communication we got! They set up a blog that would be updated pretty frequently! GLA is awesome! Feel free to contact me if you have any questions!

It was with great anxiety that we sent our daughter last summer (2016) on her Global Leadership Adventures trip to Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands for the Preserving Nature's Wonders program. But it was soon apparent that it was the very best decision we could have made for her! Communication was immediate and sufficient throughout the trip. We were able to speak with our daughter on several occasions, most importantly when they first arrived safely in Ecuador. The excitement and pure joy we could hear in her voice was music to our ears and the enjoyment the group was having was evident in the daily updated blogs the program provided. But we still were not prepared for the incredible transformation we witnesses when we picked her up from the airport. The shy, quiet 16 year old we had dropped off just two weeks prior, was now confident and full of self-esteem! And oh how happy she was! The only sadness felt was that she had to say good-bye to the friends she had made and have come to mean so much to her. It has now been nearly a year since she had this incredible experience and she is still in daily contact with many of these new friends. I am so proud of the service work she completed on this trip and how it has changed her into a thoughtful, thinking young person who truly has compassion for the world around her.

I was fortunate enough to travel to Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands though Global Leadership Adventures on the "Preserving Natures Wonders" trip during the summer of 2016. This program was honestly one of the greatest experiences of my life. It was unique in that I was able to surround myself in one of the worlds most special ecosystems as I snorkeled with sea lions, sea turtles and many tropical fish, saw countless crabs and iguanas, and was able to meet the Galapagos tortoises up close. What made these experiences with the animals and nature of the Galapagos even more impactful, was the fact that I was able to volunteer and help the land I was visiting. On this program everyone was very kind and I am still friends with many of the other kids that I met to this day. Our mentors were very helpful and made sure that everyone felt and was kept safe throughout the trip. Post program, I was impacted mostly by the friendships I had made and the knowledge that I now had regarding conservation and the importance of it. Some useful tips that I have are to bring snacks along if you have any dietary restrictions. I am vegan and the program was very accommodating so I didn't miss out on many of the delicious foods that they served, but bringing along snacks was very helpful. Another tip is to bring a camera along and to keep a journal because there are so many memories that will be made on a trip like this, and since many activities are packed into one day, it is easy to lose some of them. I took many pictures and journaled every day so now I have something to look back on.