Days 612-618! Days definitely fly by in this small slice of paradise! It’s been a bit quiet and rainy in El Tránsito, but when the rain isn’t around, the suns out and there’s plenty of relaxation to be had! I’ve been surfing and doing yoga nonstop, which has been just an unreal lifestyle! I’m really enjoying my time here so far! And I hope that comes across in this week’s post!

A couple pictures from last week I received from friends:

September is already chugging along! I woke up on Thursday, September 4th earlier than I would’ve liked after a late night of karaoke. The power cut out and all the fans in our volunteer dorm stopped working… makes it a bit too hot to sleep comfortably. I took my morning slow, relaxing by the pool and napping on and off until breakfast started.

My friends were going out for a surf after breakfast and I decided to join them. I had to write the activities for the day on the chalk board first, but after that I threw on my swim trunks and rash guard and took an 8ft board out to the ocean.

I tried at first to get out past the break, and was very close again! But there was that final wave I had to conquer and I just couldn’t get past it… but I’m getting closer! I drifted over to my friends and joined them in catching the white wash.

It was a lot of fun having other people out surfing with me and there were still some solid waves to be caught, even though I wasn’t where I wanted to be.

Hostel dog, snoop, photo shoot:

I spent the rest of my morning sitting and chatting with the other volunteers and the few guests we have. Then it was time for lunch!

I took a plate over to the restaurant two doors down from the hostel and ordered my lunch. I then walked over to the local store and bought myself a new SIM card. One of the owners of the hostel was at karaoke night and when I mentioned my data had run out, he said that the hostel would buy one for me since I need it to do my role at the hostel (especially when the power goes out). Ironic since that happened to today!

I spent the early afternoon working on the trivia for tonight’s activity! It’s been a while since I got to create and host a trivia night, but I was really looking forward to it! I made it 4 round with 10 questions each. The first round was all about Nicaragua and El Tránisto, the second round was about surfing, the third round was about the volunteers (much better when there’s multiple of us), and the last round was the music round!

Very similar to my Taco Shack trivia set up, but those worked great! So no need to change it.

I got ready for yoga at 5:30pm, but since I was the only one participating, Samira (the instructor) asked if it was okay if we did it the next day. I said yes and then went downstairs, grabbed the hostel’s bodyboard (a bigger boogie board) and went out into the very big and choppy surf for sunset.

I had a lot of fun getting thrown around by the waves. A couple of the other volunteers came out after a while for a little swim too. It was nice to switch it up and get out for a sunset session!

Also what a beautiful sunset! They haven’t disappointed yet.

To finish off the night, we started trivia not long after the hostel dinner. Everyone gathered around the bar and we ended up having 6 teams of 2 to 3 people! I hosted it very similarly to how I would’ve hosted it at Taco Shack and everyone told me afterwards that they really liked it and enjoyed how I did it! So, thank you Taco Shack for preparing me for this position!

I was pretty proud of my blend of easy and hard questions. And of course the very on brand theme of surfing. Even the music was all surfing related! The scores were fairly similar to the scores the trivia’s would get in Thailand too, which is a good sign of the difficulty.

The night ended fairly abruptly. We were hanging out on the beach and out of nowhere a huge strike of lightning hit nearby on the ocean AND on the other side of the hostel. The lightning strike was so vivid that our vision went white for a second and the crack of thunder sounded directly above us!

It’s fair to say, we all ran back inside and were ready for bed. Before I fell asleep, the volunteers and I were chatting away. Which honestly was a first so far! I think we’re all getting along super well and enjoying each other’s company which is really good!

I’m really enjoying it here!!

Friday, September 5th, I woke up, worked on the activity board, ate breakfast, and then went out for a surf with my friends Samira (the volunteer yoga instructor) and Tom, one of the guests from Australia.

It was a very choppy morning in the ocean, but we had fun catching waves closer to shore. Tom’s a very good surfer but unfortunately for him, he went out into the surf with one of the older surfboards and it broke after getting hit by a wave. The hostel doesn’t have any form of insurance for the renters to sign up for so he actually has to pay for the board… not the best look for the hostel, but it’s a known risk when taking it out.

After surfing, I was asked to help our handy man carry a few empty propane tanks to the store and carry new ones back. So I of course helped out. I got to practice my Spanish a bit chatting with him, he’s a very nice man. And I also got a good workout in carrying the heavy tanks back and forth.

At 10:30am we had our yoga session for the day! This time other people joined in so it actually happened.

Yesterday when body boarding, I got a kink in my neck so I was looking for some yoga to help stretch it out. The session was really nice, we did Yin yoga which is a lot of stretching and holding the stretches.

Twice a week a fruit and vegetable vendor comes to the hostel. When I saw him last I told him I’d buy the next time I saw him… and he remembered. But he gave me a good deal and I got 3 smaller mangos and a BIG avocado for 100 cordobas (around $3). I snacked on one of the mangos and then I got lunch from the family two doors down and had a feast of pollo asado (grilled chicken).

After lunch I read in a hammock until a big rain storm rolled through. But the rain storm brought with it a game playing mood, so Alfonso, Noah, Ollie, and I (all volunteers) got out the hostel’s Settlers of Catan set and got into a heated match.

The hostel was really quiet tonight because some of the volunteers and most of the guests went to Granada, Nicaragua for a treehouse party. So we decided to push back the beer pong tournament to the following night.

We had dinner and then finished the night with a bunch of games of Cambio (the card game). I called it another early night as I had a feeling the following would be a late one.

Well my feeling was wrong, but I didn’t know that when I woke up on Saturday, September 6th.

I read some, then ate breakfast, then I read some more! A nice way to start the morning. I then took out a 7’8” surfboard (the shortest I’ve ridden on so far) out for my longest surf session in El Tránsito so far.

The water was pretty choppy, but that didn’t stop me from attempting to paddle out to the back to try and catch the “real” waves. I actually got fairly close and then I realized… wait, maybe I should practice in an easier area on this new board. So I road the white wash of a big wave back in and then spent the rest of the session closer to shore.

I actually ended up having a blast and surfed for around an hour and a half! The waves in the “middle section” of the break were a decent size and had enough power to them that I could practice paddling towards the wave, turning around quickly, paddle, and catch the wave. I was also able to work on quick bottom turns and my pop ups as well!

I spent the next bit of the morning in the pool with the other volunteers and reading some more. I also worked on some Instagram stories for the day.

I had lunch and then worked on more social media work. And then before I knew it, it was time for yoga and the sunset!

I honestly can’t get over the sunsets here! They have been so gorgeous pretty much every single night… even with all the storms and clouds!

After dinner, none of the guests wanted to play in the beer pong tournament (that was supposed to be yesterday) so I was off the hook, yet again, for the night.

I decided to call it an early night again, which I felt like I needed after a lot of physical activity today!

On Sunday, September 7th I woke up, did more reading, and then ate breakfast. Not a bad morning routine relaxing in the shade by the ocean.

One of the few hostel guests was actually having a surf lesson today, so a few of the volunteers, including myself, joined the lesson. We worked on our pop ups in the sand and then made our way out into the white wash to practice on waves.

I got a few pointers from the surf instructor, Alfonso, which were helpful. But it wasn’t the best conditions today. Even so, it was still a nice hour plus of surfing!

After surfing, it was time for yoga! For the most part, it’s just Alfonso, Samira, and myself. But every now and then some of the guests join or the other volunteers. Today was a lot of core exercises and stretches, it was a nice session! Doing yoga everyday is really nice, especially after a surf session.

I’m very happy with how active of a lifestyle I have at this hostel!

I also posted the Instagram reel I had made the day before. Continuing my work as the social media manager.

I went to El Ancla for lunch, the spot two doors down from the hostel, and when I came back to pick up my food they insisted on giving me a free fresh juice drink. The day before, I had to wait 2 hours for my food and they felt really bad. I told them it wasn’t necessary, but they insisted, which was very sweet of them. So on top of my delicious lunch, I had passion fruit juice as well!

I spent the rest of the afternoon reading, until the rain came! Pretty much from 2 or 3pm onward the rain consistently came down. It let up for a little bit around sunset but then a lightning storm rolled through. Lots of locals and other surfers were still crazy enough to go out in the stormy condition, but I watched from the back deck of the hostel.

We watched a bit of Shrek 2 in Spanish before the bell rang for dinner. The internet was also acting up because of the storm… so movie night was on pause. Also the activity for the day, the weekly rooftop “party” was also cancelled due to the rain.

After dinner, Alfonso, Samira, Noah, and I decided to play another game of Settlers of Catan. It was another heated battle with lots of trading and backstabbing. But the chaos subsided after Samira won (she almost quit the game at the beginning due to being frustrated because of a rule she didn’t know).

It was another quiet and early night to sleep, I guess we’ll see if this becomes a common trend over the next few weeks or not…

I woke up on the earlier side on Monday, September 8th. I anticipated sitting down and reading until breakfast, like I had been doing, but when I looked out to the ocean I saw something I wasn’t expecting.

A very glassy ocean, with my friend Wilson sitting in it waiting for waves. The wave period between waves looked great (the time between each wave) and the waves themself looked really nice. So I grabbed the 7’8” longboard and went out for my best morning of surfing in El Tránsito so far!

I stayed out for about an hour and a half and actually surfed the regular waves today! The waves were perfect for catching or nosediving and then easily paddling back out. Every now and then a couple of big waves would come through but I was having a blast. I caught some really nice waves and face-planted a bunch of others… but all in all, I had a fantastic morning! It felt like I was back in Australia.

Two other surfers were out when we were, but for the most part it was just Wilson and I enjoying the calm and fun surf in the morning.

I didn’t want to miss breakfast, so I caught a wave back in.

I actually timed it perfectly and right when I finished my breakfast, it was time for yoga! Yoga and surfing every day… what a dream!

It was just Alfonso (another volunteer) and I at yoga again today. We only have 2 guests currently and soon we’ll only have one. It was still a nice yoga class and perfect for after a long surf session. But, when yoga wrapped up, I saw a lot of the hostel out surfing so I decided to go join them!

I was pretty stoked to have two surfs in one day. This session was much more crowded and the waves were nowhere near as nice. But I enjoyed it nonetheless. I missed a number of waves, nose dived a few more, and caught one wave after that. It was just nice to be out with everyone, which made it worth the trip out! Also having the desire and strength to paddle back out made me excited for future surf sessions. Hopefully I’ll keep building up the strength for longer and better sessions!

I got lunch from El Ancla, today they had their incredible pollo asado. And then I settled in to continue reading the book I’ve been devouring. It started drizzling, so I shifted to reading under some cover… and then the rain came for pretty much the rest of the evening and night.

Around 2:30pm we had a volunteer meeting and discussed what’s coming up. Apparently we were going to have two weeks with no guests, so we’d have other tasks to do around the hostel during that time… I’m very interested to see what those tasks are and if any guests come during that time, because that’s pretty much what my position revolves around!

After the meeting, we got into another heated game of Settlers of Catan. The hostel had the expansion pack to allow for more players… so this time we played with 5 people!

It’s been really fun getting back into playing this hectic board game. There’s lots of trading and bickering involved so it’s a pretty comedic game… but also a fairly serious one too for some people.

After we finished up the game, we sat and watched the storm and the sunset. Unlike yesterday, there actually was a sunset tonight.

We had a delicious dinner and then finished off our night hanging out, pretty much just the volunteers hanging out and chatting. Which I guess is what the next couple weeks will entail!

I woke up on Tuesday, September 9th and decided to relax instead of going right out to surf. I thought it’d be best to give my body a little break post the two surf sessions from the day before.

So I spent the morning reading. After breakfast I did yoga, a great way to start the day and much needed after my surf sessions! I dropped off my laundry from the week at the nearby lavandería. I then went back to the hostel to continue reading.

Today we only had one guest, who had been at the hostel for weeks and weeks… so he didn’t really need the activities or the volunteers since he’d been there longer than most of us anyways. So there wasn’t too much to do today (or the next few days too). Which means a lot of relaxation, yoga, and surfing for me!

For lunch, we went to a new restaurant, just around the corner from our hostel. I felt like I was cheating on El Ancla a little bit, but it’s good to try other places too! The restaurant was called Comedor Doña Urania and it had very similar food to El Ancla but a for few cordobas less. I think I like El Ancla more, but I’ll definitely add this to my lunch rotation every now and then.

Later in the day, the surf looked alright and I decided I still wanted to get my one surf in for the day. But the waves were looking a bit “heavy.” So I decided I’d try a shorter board today, a 6’10” fish surfboard. I asked one of the surf instructors for advice on how to duck dive the board and he told me to hop in the pool and he’d teach me.

Duck diving is a common thing shortboard surfers use to get past the surf break. They push their surfboard under the water, shove their leashed foot into the back of the board and then kick themselves down with their non-leashed foot. It looks easier than it is… but I started to pick it up, thanks to my friend Matt, and I went into the ocean.

It was high tide and some big waves were coming through. But I was able to use what Matt taught me to get out into the surf lineup. I had a lot of successful duck dives… I also had many unsuccessful duck dives as well. I was able to catch one wave on the new surfboard, I was still trying to figure out the best position for my feet, body weight, etc. lots to learn!

I tried a couple more waves, but after getting thrashed about a couple too many times and almost taking out my friend Theo at one point, I decided to head back in and call it a day.

As the sun set, my friend Dinh, the hostel director, had his guitar out, so I went and grabbed the hostels guitar and we jammed a bit together! He then let me play his guitar, which is an acoustic guitar with a small built in speaker. I ended up playing it for the remainder of the sunset.

We finished off our night with vegi-burgers for dinner and had a little movie night where we watched the matrix! I had never seen it before and was blown away. It lived up to the hype and the movie itself was incredible to watch knowing it was pre-cgi.

The following morning was Wednesday, September 10th, another week in the travel books!

Today started off even slower than the others. I read literally all morning. I got pretty close to finishing the book I had been reading (and found at the hostel), so I made it my goal for the day to finish it off.

But before that happened, myself and the other volunteers went on a little adventure to a tide pool we hadn’t been to yet. We ended up walking down the beach until we found an abandoned hotel that had a half man made, half natural tide pool. It was a bit murky, so we decided to trek back and see if we could find another one. We actually did and ended up floating around in it for a little bit.

This tide pool was actually fairly deep and at the current tide, we were getting splashed by waves over the break wall and getting moved around a bit. Eventually the tide came too far in and we decided to head back to the hostel.

I was itching for a surf, so at the beginning of the sunset I set back out on the 6’10” fish surfboard and attempted another session of duck dives and catching waves on a smaller board. The waves were very similar to the day before and I was able to duck dive my way to where I needed to be to catch the waves (I of course had my fair share of messed up duck dives… one of which sent the surfboard into my nose! A bit unpleasant but I was okay).

I again caught one wave and attempted few others. I took my fair share of tumbles during this session as well and got a bunch of water up my nose while duck diving… it was a challenging session. After around 30-45 minutes I decided to call the session. Yoga was starting soon and my shoulders (and body) were exhausted. But I’m glad I got out and attempted this new style of surfing another day!

There was a gorgeous sunset, which paired perfectly with another night of beer yoga. I didn’t use a beer this time, I felt like it really took away from the stretching and zen nature of it. But it was fun watching everyone else mix beer into their yoga routine.

After dinner, a couple of the volunteers wanted to do karaoke, even though the one guest had no interest tonight. So I set it all up for them… only for the microphones to not be charged and they only sang a few songs… a little frustrating, but it is what it is. This meant an early night for me and hopefully an early morning surf session!

We’re already coming onto 2 weeks of being in El Tránsito… crazy how time flys! I’m still super happy with my choice to come here and I’m excited to see how the next weeks go as well! I’m sure they’ll be filled with plenty of surfing, yoga, relaxation… and most likely, rain.

But as always, only time will tell!

See you next week!

– Elie