Deciding to do a surf trip with your mom, or with your daughter, is definitely brave – but full of rewards! This past week we had two mother/daughter duos at our Cloud Farm location to mark the first inaugural Mother Daughter camp week. My own mom also attended the first few days of camp, caught some waves, enjoyed the sites and snapped some great photos of the chicas and this lovely town! Check out the shots below and await the amazing album of all the photos – coming soon!
A few months back the ladies of Chica Brava, had an idea – we had seen a handful of mother/daughter duos attend camp but had never held a camp specifically for them. It was time, and it was awesome! If you have ever been on a vacation with your mom, or daughter, where one of you was in charge of planning all the logistics and itinerary, I’m sure you’ve met the animal named frustration. But here at Chica Brava we plan the week for you, so maximum carefree, fun, quality time can be had!
Such was the case with Shelly and Maya of Canada, and Karen and Jessie of Connecticut. Team Canada had attended a camp in Costa Rica previously, but wanted to get their feet back under them and warm up for the remainder of their three week trip through Nicaragua. Jessie has surfed the East Coast a bit with her dad, but just graduated from high school and as a final hurrah before starting college at Emory in two weeks, mom decided to take her surfing. While Karen had never surfed she quickly learned why her daughter loves this sport (or should I say lifestyle?) so much. We strategized Jessie’s college-break East coast surf trips over more than a few meals, and I’m happy to say that mom is definitely on board!
Jessie was sweet as can be, a wonderful young adult who exuded genuine kindness and is full of smiles. A highlight of the week was seeing her true smiles come out. For all the surfers out there you know what I mean…When you catch a great wave, and ride it down the line your entire being gets washed over with a stoke that makes you smile with such a truth that everyone around you can’t help but smile yourself. As I write this I can see the contagious grins of Jessie and her mom in the water, and the memory of that sight makes me smile too! Check out Jessie and Karen’s video of their mom daughter bonding experience!!!
Shelly writes for Canadian Television, and has been working hard for the last two years to make this three week vacation with her thirteen year old daughter, Maya, happen. We all went on a sailboat trip on Monday afternoon and as we cruised along the coast with the wind in the sails, Shelly turned to me and said, “This is why I work so hard”. She looked over at Maya and smiled with such truth that my heart melted. Both Maya and Jessie rode waves across the entire line up from the outside, making their mom’s proud. But the mom’s killed it too, and their daughters were just as impressed and inspired. I guess the trees don’t fall far from the applesJ
Aside from loads of water time we also went on a sailboat trip with the lovely Pelican Eyes Velero, explored the colonial city Granada, swam at Laguna de Apoyo (a stunning lake that is actually an inverted volcano!), enjoyed the cultural night at El Timon, went horseback riding at Volcan Masaya, and topped the week off with Mani/Pedi’s at the Pelican Eyes Pool with the view of San Juan at our fingertips.
The days were full of activity, in and out of the water, not to mention all of our wonderful meals at the Cloud Farm! The moments were incredibly special, and the memories priceless. But perhaps the most exciting thing about the week is that these ladies left not only with epic memories, but with a passion for the ocean and surf that they will be able to share together for the rest of their lives.
Like my dad always says, ‘the family that surfs together, stays together.’
With aloha and true smiles,
Noelani
Camp Operations Manager
1st Annual Mother Daughter Camp, Cloud Farm August 2-9, 2014
Photos courtesy of Sarah Anderson – http://sarahanderson.zenfolio.com
