Bocast vs. The World: The One Where Mom and the Girls FLY!

“I haven't been this close to a man in a long time!”,

Sure we can all fit!

I commented to Mom as a thoroughly uncomfortable and embarrassed Nicaraguan man had to press against me (the Gringo girl) as they loaded four more people into the back of the bus.

“I count thirty from the last two seats back!” Weston, a friend of Kalyn's shouted over the roar of the engine. It was just past 6AM and the three Bocasts were smashed into a corner of a bus who's sign read “Max. Capacity 45”...there were at least 120 people inside the bus...who knows how many were catching a ride on top!

“They can't possibly fit anymore people in here!” I shouted at Kalyn, who's entire backside was pressing me into the bus wall, thus holding me upright.

“We're in Nicaragua! There's always room for one more!” Kalyn laughed as the bus slowed, the emergency exit door opened, and a mother and two little girls climbed up, only able to get halfway inside. Their extra appendages dangled precariously outside as we sped up the road. I guess Kalyn was right!

Ashley CHS '04, Cody CHS '03, Kalyn CHS '06

Thus began the first leg of a 14 hour saga that began in Ometepe, Nicaragua and ended in the windy mountains of Santa Elena, Costa Rica. We had spent five wonderful days on the Island exploring, playing, and most importantly – relaxing! After the exhausting horseback ride to the Waterfall, we took things pretty easy. Kalyn and I had a short-lived excursion to a hostel called Little Morgan's where we met up with fellow Chico High alumni Cody Pickering. After a quick visit in the company of a dozen absolutely hammered young travelers, we bid adieu to Cody and cautiously walked the two miles back to our hotel. In the pitch black, we strode in the center of the cobblestone road, making sure to avoid eye contact with the packs of dogs who came howling and growling out of every house we passed.

The magnificent view from Project Bona Fide's tree house

During our down time we made our way to Project Bona Fide, the permaculture farm Kalyn has been living and working at for the past five months. There we met what must be every hippie south of Mexico as we shared a few meals and got a tour of the farm. My personal favorite part of which was Kalyn showing me the composting toilet at warning me to “watch out for the tarantulas that live inside” (if I needed to) go”. Needless to say, I suddenly didn't need to “go” for the rest of the day! We watched a gorgeous sunset over Conception, the largest of two volcanoes on the Island before heading back into town via a rambling trail lit by lightening bugs and lightening!

Kalyn hanging onto Weston's 8ft high hammock!

Me and Mom walking to Bona Fide

Where the goods grow

We reserved our last night in Ompetepe for a quiet evening with a nice meal and a bit of research for our future travels. By mid-afternoon a group of boisterous young women strode through the lobby and I knew our evening was going to be anything but quiet. Within ten minutes, Pina Coladas and Coronas were being passed around as we learned the troupe of girls were all from Crested Butte Colorado and were all ski bums masquerading as bartenders, hair stylists, and outdoor instructors. Nearly five hours later (and a few drinks in) we decided to call it a night after hearing one hilarious story after another and agreeing to visit all the girls in Colorado.

The Colorado Girls (L-R) Kathy, Jilly, Me, Sarah, Callie, Mare, Mom, Titty, and Kalyn!

We woke by 5am the next morning to make our way down the 250 miles to Santa Elena. Our guesstimate was the trip via “chicken buses”, taxi's and a ferry would take about 7 hours...apparently that number nearly doubles when you accidentally take the wrong road; or what I lovingly refer to as the “scenic route”! After making it to within 20 miles of our final destination, we realized our bus was taking us literally to the middle of nowhere and ended its route in a tiny cattle ranching village about halfway up a mountain range. Somehow while on the bus we managed to luck into a conversation with a local man and were told he would hook us up with an amigo for a ride the rest of the way. As dark settled (only twelve hours into our trip) we stopped at a sorry looking grocery store with some very gregarious locals milling about. When the nice bus man's amigo Wilbur arrived with his flatbed dairy ranch truck (our knight in a rusty pickup truck), we realized we had no idea the address or even the exact name of our hostel! Immediately the locals busted out phones and began making calls until, by another chance of sheer luck, they called the cousin of the man whose hostel we had a reservation for! Thanking Wilbur profusely for his generosity (and our lucky stars for making it alive) we unloaded the truck in front of the hostel and Mom happily shouted “Como estas!” as we waved goodbye. Rough translation: “How are you?”...silly Mommy, but at least she tries!

This morning, well rested from our epic journey, we decided to battle gale-force winds and take a zip-line tour through the Costa Rican jungle. Geared up with nearly 40 other tourists, we ascended one platform after another and zipped our way through the canopy and over massive canyons -one line being half a mile long! Our group as made up of Tulane med-school students on break, a huge group of inner-city kids from Cleveland on a school trip of a lifetime, a few international backpackers, and one adorable biologist from England. Mom was an absolute champ as she zoomed from one line to another, rappelled 50 feet from a tree, and even joined Kalyn and I in “whooooo hoooooo”ing ourselves hoarse on a giant 150 foot long “Tarzan Swing”! The tour was adrenaline pumping and stunningly beautiful, and probably one of the most memorable days I've spent with Mom and Kalyn!