Bus trips with Ocean College

Ship: Johnny
Date: 14.01.2025
Position: Somewhere in Costa Rica

Well, Ocean College in itself is an incredibly cool and exciting project. As a student, you get to see half the world, go to school, sail and get to know lots of new cultures.

We started in Amsterdam and then sailed via Vigo, Portimão, Morocco, Tenerife, Cape Verde, Martinique, San Blas and Costa Rica. Sometimes we also drove a bit inland and looked at things there. And when that happened, we usually had to take the bus.

The first time it happened was in Vigo, when we went to Santiago de Compostela. Everyone got on the bus and what was the first thing we heard? Someone playing German rap or German pop. That was on for the whole bus ride.

But we didn’t just listen to music on the way; we talked a lot. We talked about the landscape, about Ocean College, about rock formations and so on. In the end, I think we realized how funny people sometimes look in their sleep.

The second time we took the bus was when we climbed the volcano in Tenerife. The same thing there: German pop and lots and lots of different topics of conversation.

On Martinique, we were then in two groups. One went to a botanical garden and the other on a very strenuous hike through the jungle. The bus ride there was really relaxed. The girls braided pigtails and talked a lot again. But there was no German pop.

Unfortunately, I can only report on one bus journey on the way back as the jungle group and the botanical garden group were on two different buses. The jungle group returned to the bus completely exhausted. This time they turned on the music again and talked a lot.

In the middle of the journey, another car suddenly bumped into our bus. But it wasn’t that bad; it was just a scratch. The bus driver sorted it out and then we were on our way again.

Especially in the last few days here in Costa Rica, we traveled a lot with our beloved buses. Once from a harbor town to Sixaola and then from there to the Bribris. The first bus was normal, with music and conversations. The second bus was then split into two buses and then the procedure we already knew – only more bumpy, I would say, as there was only gravel in the jungle.

At the Bribris, we had a new experience. An experience that I think you should have. While we were waiting for the bus, a cattle truck suddenly arrived – our bus. So we all got in and because there wasn’t enough room to sit, we all stood.

A few also sat in the front on the driver’s cab, including me. At the back, we were so close that we didn’t need to hold on because we had human fenders to catch us.

We went up there at 40–50 km/h, down around every bend and through a river at chess. We got out, were driven across a river and got into the next cattle truck.

It was much bigger, but when we got out, we all had a very thick layer of dust on us. I remember standing there and everyone was beating out their clothes and it felt like fog. The way back was the same, but I would say it was less dusty. We then took the bus from the Bribris to the language school.

The bus was premium! Air conditioning and toilets were a rarity until now.

The last bus ride we had was in and out of San José. This time by public transport: Very quietly without music, just talking.

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