Ambassador Girl Scouts in Troop 31151 learned just how far their Girl Scout experience would take them—all the way to Costa Rica!
After planning and saving money for three years, Troop 31151 took a six-day trip to the beautiful country of Costa Rica. There, they enjoyed kayaking, horseback riding, zip lining, hiking and swimming in thermal hot springs near a volcano!
Not only did the troops co-leaders, Debbie Raises and Ponya Santos, attend the trip with their troop, each girl's mom also attended.
“As a troop leader, my favorite part of the trip was seeing the girls and their moms try new things — from the Tarzan swing on the zip line course to the strenuous hikes!” said Debbie Raises.
But how did this troop get the opportunity to travel internationally? The answer: lots of hard work.
“Before we decided on a big destination, we completed the Senior Travel Badge. During this badge, the girls researched various destinations and costs to travel to those destinations,” said Debbie. “Once the group agreed on Costa Rica, we started fundraising. In addition to the Fall & Cookie sales, we did multiple garage sales to help them earn money.”
Debbie said that even though this group of girls had been together since elementary school, they grew so much closer on this trip. But that wasn’t the only benefit of their trip to Central America.
“There are so many benefits to international troop traveling,” said Debbie. “First, they could appreciate how much time and how long it took to save money to make this trip a reality. Second, they experienced first-hand how Costa Rican culture can be very different and, in some ways, the same as back home.”
Speaking of home… Debbie knows for certain one thing the girls took home with them from their trip to Costa Rica: memories to last a lifetime.
“My favorite memory from the trip was the hike we did at Arenal National Park,” said Girl Scout Hailey Zeller. “It was my favorite because I was able to push myself physically and experience something unlike anything I had done before. I had never hiked up a mountain or seen a volcano in person so that experience was unique to me and made it special.”
“My favorite memory was horseback riding in the Monteverde Cloud Forest,” said Girl Scout Mya Santos. “I liked it because of the view we got to see of the forest while going up and down the trail.”
From hiking near the Arenal Volcano to horseback riding in the Monteverde Cloud Forest, this troop went on a once in a lifetime trip to Costa Rica, thanks to Girl Scouts.
