Days 626-632! I gotta say, this probably is my best week of surfing EVER (outside of starting it with no surfing). I also got some unfortunate news about the length of my stay here in El Transito… but luckily, I might’ve stumbled into the next hostel volunteering. Oh! And the hostel finally had some guests!

Thursday, September 18th started out pretty special… I began it with yoga, that’s not the special part. What made the morning special was at the end of yoga, someone in the hostel spotted a pod of whales!

They were pretty far out but we could see the spouts shooting water into the air and also see them breaching the water. We even saw their tails every so often, but none jumped out of the water. I’m fairly certain they were humpback whales, based on the migration time, but blue whales also migrate through the coast of Nicaragua as well. Pretty freaking cool!

We also unfortunately had to say see you later to Ollie, one of the volunteers. It was time for her to head on with her travels and go home soon to be an aunt!

I spent a lot of the day relaxing. But since I had finished my book, I played a couple hours of guitar instead of reading. We had one newer guest still, but she was pretty content hanging by herself, so there wasn’t much hostel work to be done. I played some cards with another volunteer, Emilee. We played a game called Skip-Bo which was a new card game for me (a very simple but fun one).

I then FaceTimed my pseudo niece, who I got to spend time with in North Carolina (prior to heading to Central America). It was her birthday today and I got to hear all about the fun day she was having.

When I got off the phone, some of the volunteers wanted to do an evening of karaoke. So I set it up for them and joined in myself! We spent the next couple of hours leading up to sunset singing our hearts out.

We finished off our night with post dinner surf theory! One of our managers, Bailey, had been working on a presentation to give us some more in depth knowledge on surfing. It ended up being a fairly thorough, over hour long presentation with lots of good information. I knew most of it from my surf lessons, YouTube videos, and asking questions, but it was a good refresher! He also dove into more specific information for the El Tránsito beach break, which was nice too.

Friday, September 19th would finally be the end to my surf drought. Also it was time for our long term guest, Theo, to head back to the US.

I woke up to rain in the middle of the night and it lasted well into the morning. But once it stopped, it was sunshine and fairly clear skies the rest of the day! I started this semi-dreary morning scouring Facebook marketplace for something I’ve been interested in a while now… but I just haven’t pulled the trigger on purchasing.

A kindle!

Seeing how I’ve gotten into reading while traveling but struggle to find the books I want to read, I thought this was the perfect time to look into it. I also felt like I could potentially find it cheaper in Nicaragua than elsewhere in the world… Turns out, that was right and I found one for $60 (pretty much new condition 11th edition Paper-White).

Facebook marketplace in this part of the world is a bit different… for some reason, before the negotiations, the seller will already start heading to your location. They really want to make the sale. So only after a few messages with this seller, he was already on his way from Leon. It was a bit fast, but I was definitely willing to buy the kindle if it was what he was saying and showing it as.

And sure enough, an hour or so later, he arrived with a good looking working kindle. I paid him and gave him gas money… and I was now the owner of all the books I could ever want! Just like that.

I didn’t get to dive into reading right away. I had some video editing to do for the engineering firm I used to work for. But I got to read while I waited for things to download, render, and upload.

I was really happy with my purchase. The kindle was working perfectly! The main reason I was interested was my friend, Maddie, told me the library apps (that let you borrow ebooks) work with kindles! I’d rather not read on my phone and audio books aren’t always my favorite, so this was going to work out perfectly!

I was very excited to have a book again after a day of not reading. I started the 3rd book of the reckoners series, which I got for free through the library app I have!

When I got done video editing, I saw people out in the surf. My ear was feeling heaps better and the waves looked rideable, so I decided it was time to get back in the water! I paddled out… and struggled a bit, 4-5 days off definitely didn’t do wonders to my endurance. I did make it out to the lineup, twice, both times just in time to get smacked by big sets of waves. I persisted and caught a wave (pretty messily) and after 30 minutes I was spent from all the paddling.

I went back in and took a break, determined to go back out and catch a couple waves. 10-15 minutes later, my friend Matt was going out and I decided to take another crack at getting to the green waves and into the lineup. I followed Matt into the ocean and slowly paddled my way all the way to the lineup. I was tired, but I had successfully made it!

I then spent the next hour paddling around and caught two nice waves! I also got dumped by a couple as well. Glad to know the time off didn’t completely set me back. But either way, it was really nice to be back in the water.

El Ancla, the restaurant we frequent for lunch, has unfortunately been closed all week and was still closed today. So I got food at another restaurant in town again. After lunch I continued reading, I’m really happy with the kindle, it was a great purchase. And then I got asked to help with a little manual labor job. There was some construction materials (wood, roofing, big outdoor shades, etc.) that needed moving and the area needed sweeping as well. So Matt and I spent 15 minutes doing that.

Over the next couple of days there’ll be more tasks like that. Since there aren’t many guests, they want to make sure we’re “earning our keep.”

Two guests rolled up to the hostel on their motorbike in the afternoon. We were expecting to have no guests the rest of the week, so it was good to have some spontaneously show up! Even if it’s only for a couple nights.

We played some Spikeball, did sunset yoga, had dinner, and then Emilee and I played more Skip-Bo before calling it a night.

I started Saturday, September 20th with a very chilled morning. The waves weren’t looking surf-able, so I read, had breakfast, and did some early morning yoga.

Just after yoga, I saw people out surfing and decided to go out too. Eventually, pretty much, the entire hostel was out surfing too and we had a fantastic session. I took the short board I’ve been practicing on, but over the course of 2 hours, I had caught 2 waves and was struggling to catch more. The ocean was the calmest I had seen it, but the waves weren’t the best for short boarding. So after a lot of successful duck dives and paddling around, I went back to the hostel for a break.

It didn’t end up lasting long, as the hostel director, Dinh, convinced me to go back out with a longer board. So the two of us went out with our big boards and paddled into the ocean. At this point, it was fairly easy to paddle out with the longer board… or at least the easiest it’s been since I’d gotten there. I ended up immediately catching a couple nice waves, but after about 30 minutes I found myself struggling hard to get back out to the lineup, after catching a wave. So I decided to call it quits for the day.

A two and a half hour surf session though! It was a blast!

I had a late lunch, took a nap by the pool, read a bit more, worked on some social media work for the hostel and then I had some more physically demanding work to do.

Since it’s low season, and there’s not many guests, the hostel is having us do some “chores” around the place. Today I was helping my friend Matt demolish a rotting wooden shade structure on the rooftop patio. It mainly consisted of us shoving old pieces of wood and sticks (that acted as the structures roof) into some bins and then bringing those back down to the main level to dispose of. Easy work!

We peppered a volleyball on the beach for a bit, with one of the locals, Darwing. It was a very sandy and goofy time with lots of time spent chasing after the ball down the beach. But we had some good rallies here and there! After de-sanding, we enjoyed the remainder of the, very impressive, sunset in the pool.

Since we had two guests tonight (who wanted to drink), I finally hosted my first beer pong tournament. All the volunteers who were around played, so we had 4 teams of two… not the biggest tournament but still a good one! It’s probably been since Thailand that I’ve played beer pong, but I actually did pretty well the first game! The “championship” match went to the guests, which wasn’t on purpose, but I’m glad it ended up that way for them.

The guests and a few other volunteers stayed up, but after the tournament ended I called it a night. The long surf session today took it out of me and I was ready for sleep!

Sunday, September 21st! 🎶 do you remember?The 21st night of September 🎶

I woke up and went straight to read by the pool. But it didn’t last long as the yoga instructor, Samira, and one of the guests wanted to do a very early yoga session. I was very sore from my surf session the day before… but I was still tired. I hemmed and hawed and forced myself to go do it, I knew it would help.

And of course it did! I was feeling much better and I was ready to take on the day. I went right back to reading after breakfast and around 12:30pm, Dinh came over and said he was going to go out into the surf on a longboard. I thought, why not, and grabbed an even longer board than the day before (around an 8’1” board). We easily paddled out into the surf and had the best day of surfing since I had arrived to El Transito.

I ended up surfing for another 2+ hours! Today’s session, especially for the first hour was catching wave after wave… I caught so many I lost count! The waves today were around 1-1.5m but they were very easy to paddle through to get to the lineup. They also weren’t super powerful, making the longboards useful. There were multiple waves that I read where they were coming from, paddled out to meet the peak of the wave, turned my board around, and caught!

Truly the whole hostel was out today, all on longboards. We caught multiple party waves (multiple people catching the same wave), which is very fun when it’s with friends, not as fun when someone tries to steal your wave. I would’ve kept surfing for longer than the 2 hours, but I was getting really hungry. So I caught one more wave all the way back to the shore and then went to El Ancla, which was FINALLY open again!

I scarfed down my very late lunch and then hung out with the rest of the hostel, gushing about how fun the surfing was. I read more, we played some Spikeball, and then enjoyed yet another beautiful sunset!

After dinner I found out that they only had me slotted down to volunteer until October 1st… which was a bit of a surprise to hear since I was pretty sure I was told I could stay until at least the end of October. But I decided I’d investigate further in the morning.

I woke up, Monday, September 22nd to the power being out and all of the fans in our dorm off. So I found a hammock to lie in until breakfast.

After breakfast, I asked the director, Dinh, about how long I was able to stay. He had forgotten that I was able to stay longer than a month and had already booked volunteers for the rest of the year… unfortunate! I could stay till October 5th and return for just the last week of October if I wanted to. I told him I’d stay till the 5th and if any volunteers drop out to let me know. But I’m going to start looking for other opportunities around Central America.

I was a little peeved, but what can you do! I’m sure this will lead me to another beautiful spot and another great adventure!

I had some video editing to do in the morning for the hostel and I also needed to wrap up a video editing for the engineering firm I used to work for. But after that, I started digging into new volunteering opportunities. I found a number of them and compiled them into a list that I’d start to slowly reach out to.

My friend from back home, Ally, had also suggested a hostel to me. I decided to reach out to that one by email and no more than ten minutes later I had a text on WhatsApp from the owner. Five minutes later we hopped on a FaceTime and got to chatting!

The hostel is called Lost Boyz and it’s located near the beach of Santa Teresa, Costa Rica. Apparently, in October, the hostel closes since not many guests come through. But they still need volunteers to help out around the hostel (small renovations, cleaning, etc. the kind of thing I’ve been doing while here in El Transito). In exchange, I’d get a place to stay near the beach for free.

I’d need to figure out food and surfboards on my own, but I should be able to cook cheaply for myself and find a cheap surfboard to buy (and then sell on the backend like I did with my motorbike). Not as sweet of a deal as I have currently, but I doubt I’ll find one near as good as this one. I’ll definitely keep looking, but Dennis, the owner, offered me the position and said if I enjoy the spot I can stay as long as I want. Once they open back up I’d be helping with check ins and such.

I was pretty stoked to have an opportunity lined up so quickly. It definitely took some stress off my shoulders. But as I said, I’ll keep looking. I do have a feeling I’d really enjoy the town in Costa Rica, especially with who recommended it to me. So we’ll see!

I then went back to reading, I was getting close to finishing another book… but my stomach told me it was time for lunch and I got myself some more El Ancla. The family that owns the restaurant is so kind and they are happy to see me every time I come. It’s very sweet.

I went back to reading after lunch and got interrupted one more time. But this time it was Dinh showing me a video of him playing the piano (he’s who I’ve been jamming with on the guitar) and saying he was going to surf. I decided to join him! The waves had been really messy all day, but by this time it looked surf-able and easy enough to go out on a big board again!

I paddled out on an 8’1” surfboard and ended up having yet another incredible surf session! The waves were still messy, so there was a lot of paddling left and right to find the peak of the wave. But when I did, I was catching waves left and right! I felt like something really clicked with my long-boarding and I was able to turn a lot better and maneuver myself on the board as the wave changed. I even found myself near the front of the board itching for a hang 5 or 10! Maybe soon!

We stayed out in the water for around 2 hours and pretty much the entire hostel was out surfing again!! It’s so much fun having so many people out in the water and makes surfing that much more enjoyable.

Three more guests checked in today, for a total of 6! So we actually had a full table for dinner tonight. We finished off the night with more beer pong and hanging out by the bar. After facilitating the party, I called it a night!

I finished reading the third Reckoners book, Calamity, on the morning of Tuesday, September 23rd. I then started a book I began at my cousin, Ben’s, apartment a few months ago, Tress of the Emerald Sea, another Brandon Sanderson book. Thanks to my new handy dandy Kindle!

It was pizza day for lunch, so I helped get everyone signed up for some ‘za. However, I wasn’t getting any today, I wanted my cheap local food and also being lactose intolerant doesn’t help.

Not long after I ate lunch the waves started to look nice. I got ready to surf and set out for a very long surf session.

It was another good day to ride a longboard and I had a blast paddling around and picking off waves! I probably started surfing just before 3pm and slowly more and more people began to come out. The waves were messy again but there were still plenty of waves to be rode. After many waves caught (I lost count) and a couple hours of surfing, I paddled back in. But after having a sip of water, I saw my friend Clara going back out and decided, why not! Let’s go for more!

When I paddled back out the sky went from very cloudy to the most gorgeous sunset I think I’ve seen so far! I caught a few more waves and in the end I think I surfed for around three and a half hours… I was tired but I had a blast.

(Unfortunately no picture of the sunset since I was in the water)

We had two more guests check in and had a very packed table at dinner, which was great! After dinner I played guitar for a couple hours. The first hour was by myself but the second hour a few of the volunteers and one of the guests sat around and listened and sang along when they knew the song! It was a great end to another really nice day here in El Transito!

Wednesday, September 23rd… has the month been flying by!

After breakfast, I started my morning by sewing up a pair of cargo shorts. Two days before I had taken a step and somehow tore through part of the right leg… the shorts are pretty old, but it’s good practice patching up the clothes.

I wrapped that up and spent the rest of the morning reading by the pool… and sweating my butt off! It was a hot day, even in the shade. But the heat didn’t stop 10am yoga! We have some guests now (I wouldn’t say a lot) but the majority of them are guys. And today we had 6 guys (including me) up on the yoga deck for the session! It was an all guys yoga today, a rarity in the yoga world.

This was the first class of the new yoga teacher and she did a really nice job. She made it feel like the class was more of how I’d feel in a regular yoga studio rather than being worked through yoga by a friend. Technically her first session was the evening before, but we were all out surfing.

After yoga, I had to help our maintenance guy, Hector. Every day someone is his helper and has to lend a hand watering plants and sweeping the rooftop patio. It was a quick and easy 10-15 minute task and then I went back to reading.

I got interrupted by an impromptu coconut harvest. There’s a bunch of palm trees scattered around the hostel and there’s a tool we have to get down coconuts from the trees. I guess one of the other volunteers and a few guests wanted some and after they started getting the coconuts down, pretty much everyone wanted one. We hacked away at the shell to get the coconut water and the fruit out, it was a fun process.

I had El Ancla for lunch which was closed the day before. They actually asked me today if I was going to be around long and I had to unfortunately tell them I’d be leaving sooner than expected. But hopefully, that I’d be back!

I read more in the afternoon and around 3pm I went out for a surf. Today the waves looked bigger and more powerful, so I brought out the 7’8” board I rode a little bit ago. Not a short board, but definitely a mid length for me, that still rides like a longboard. The session was fun! I caught a couple fairly big and steep waves and of course took my fair share of noise dives as well. Eventually, the sun was setting and the waves were starting to get way too big for my comfort level. So I caught some white wash in and called it a session.

One of the best parts, now that I’ve been here, going on, almost a month, I know a lot of people in the surf lineup! Whether it’s hostel workers/guests, other store owners and travelers, or the locals, I have lots of people to say hi to, cheer on and be cheered on, and people to constantly chat with throughout the session. It’s really cool!

After dinner, it was time for karaoke night. So I put on my host pants and tried to rally the hostel to participate. Only two guests wanted to, but we still did it. There were two guys from Australia who were staying elsewhere, but at the bar tonight who partook in karaoke as well. Only two other volunteers, and one of the owners of the hostel, participated too… so a fairly lowkey karaoke.

We still managed to sing past 11pm and eventually it petered out and I called it a night!

It was another really nice week at the Free Spirit Hostel. I wish my time here would last longer, but I’m always game for a new adventure! Especially if it still includes surfing and the beach. We’ll see if anything changes with those plans over the next couple weeks as I reach out to other hostels (and see if anyone decides to drop out from volunteering here). But, as always, we’ll find out together!

See you next week for lots of surfing and hopefully more guests to hang out with!

– Elie