WEST BURLINGTON - Seventy days of hiking, kayaking and surfing in Central America this fall have changed Ryan Bouton's plans for the near future, and maybe forever.
"I was going to go back to college, but now I want to let that wait and find a good place to go surfing," said Bouton, 19, who graduated from Edmeston Central School in 2002. "I want to travel while I'm young."
While studying at Herkimer Community College earlier this year, Bouton said, he came across a website that described the Costa Rica Rainforest Outward Bound School and thought it sounded unusual and exciting. Bouton, who lives in West Burlington, investigated and decided to enroll in a 70-day course at a cost of $6,595, plus about $600 round-trip for airfare.
He took a physical examination to ensure he could survive the rigors to come and flew out of the Albany airport Sept. 13.
"That was the hardest part, watching him take off on that plane," said his father, Pat Bouton.
Once in Costa Rica, Ryan Bouton was given material to study and put into a group of several young men who, he said, had come to live life to the fullest.
In the next two months, he learned how to kayak through whitewater, scuba dive and investigate a shipwreck, and catch a wave and ride it for up to 15 seconds. Days were sometimes long, he said, and almost always varied. He met and stayed with native people, explored beaches and climbed a waterfall in the mountainous interior.
"I spoke only a little Spanish, but 'please' and 'thank you' will take you a long way," he said.
Though the program was based in Costa Rica, his group traveled to Nicaragua and Panama during his stay.
"Nicaragua was a little bit scary," he said. "One time I was lying on a towel, and I heard someone coming along the beach. I could hear the change jingling in his pocket."
However, when he looked up, he saw a young man with an automatic rifle. "And what I thought was change were bullets," said Bouton. "Nothing happened, but I was thinking that if I got up and ran, I might get shot."
Nothing happened, Bouton said; the young man just walked away.In Panama, the group went scuba diving, even at night among phosphorescent creatures that lit the water a beautiful greenish-blue, he said.
From scuba diving, the group graduated to kayaking. Only once when his kayak overturned in roiling water did he worry that he might have drawn his last breath, Bouton said. But not to worry: He righted himself just in time and continued downstream.
The main event in the course was surfing, which Bouton said is difficult but ultimately thrilling.
"We spent days and days on it until finally I got it," he said. "You ride that wave for maybe 15 seconds, but it seems like a long out there."
The surfing started in Costa Rica, and the group moved along the coast to Nicaragua, looking for perfect waves.
"The beaches down there are beautiful and almost deserted, nothing like Virginia Beach," he said.
The group also spent time living with families in Costa Rica, and Bouton said he is drawn to the simpler lifestyle of the Ticos and Ticas, as Costa Ricans call themselves.
"They raise crops, have animals and seem to really enjoy life. I think people are happier there than here," he said.
"They don't care much about what time it is. If a bus is supposed to arrive at 9 and isn't there until 10, no one complains. They just call it Tico time."
Bouton said Costa Rican life revolves around family. "Family is sacred there," he said.
Since coming back to West Burlington on Nov. 21, he has been mulling what to do next, he said. One option is to form a group to return to Costa Rica with the Outward Bound Program.
"If I can get eight people to go down there, I can go back for free," said Bouton.
If that doesn't come to pass, he said, he may travel out west, looking for good places to go surfing.
http://www.thedailystar.com/news/stories/2003/12/12/brite.html
"I was going to go back to college, but now I want to let that wait and find a good place to go surfing," said Bouton, 19, who graduated from Edmeston Central School in 2002. "I want to travel while I'm young."
While studying at Herkimer Community College earlier this year, Bouton said, he came across a website that described the Costa Rica Rainforest Outward Bound School and thought it sounded unusual and exciting. Bouton, who lives in West Burlington, investigated and decided to enroll in a 70-day course at a cost of $6,595, plus about $600 round-trip for airfare.
He took a physical examination to ensure he could survive the rigors to come and flew out of the Albany airport Sept. 13.
"That was the hardest part, watching him take off on that plane," said his father, Pat Bouton.
Once in Costa Rica, Ryan Bouton was given material to study and put into a group of several young men who, he said, had come to live life to the fullest.
In the next two months, he learned how to kayak through whitewater, scuba dive and investigate a shipwreck, and catch a wave and ride it for up to 15 seconds. Days were sometimes long, he said, and almost always varied. He met and stayed with native people, explored beaches and climbed a waterfall in the mountainous interior.
"I spoke only a little Spanish, but 'please' and 'thank you' will take you a long way," he said.
Though the program was based in Costa Rica, his group traveled to Nicaragua and Panama during his stay.
"Nicaragua was a little bit scary," he said. "One time I was lying on a towel, and I heard someone coming along the beach. I could hear the change jingling in his pocket."
However, when he looked up, he saw a young man with an automatic rifle. "And what I thought was change were bullets," said Bouton. "Nothing happened, but I was thinking that if I got up and ran, I might get shot."
Nothing happened, Bouton said; the young man just walked away.In Panama, the group went scuba diving, even at night among phosphorescent creatures that lit the water a beautiful greenish-blue, he said.
From scuba diving, the group graduated to kayaking. Only once when his kayak overturned in roiling water did he worry that he might have drawn his last breath, Bouton said. But not to worry: He righted himself just in time and continued downstream.
The main event in the course was surfing, which Bouton said is difficult but ultimately thrilling.
"We spent days and days on it until finally I got it," he said. "You ride that wave for maybe 15 seconds, but it seems like a long out there."
The surfing started in Costa Rica, and the group moved along the coast to Nicaragua, looking for perfect waves.
"The beaches down there are beautiful and almost deserted, nothing like Virginia Beach," he said.
The group also spent time living with families in Costa Rica, and Bouton said he is drawn to the simpler lifestyle of the Ticos and Ticas, as Costa Ricans call themselves.
"They raise crops, have animals and seem to really enjoy life. I think people are happier there than here," he said.
"They don't care much about what time it is. If a bus is supposed to arrive at 9 and isn't there until 10, no one complains. They just call it Tico time."
Bouton said Costa Rican life revolves around family. "Family is sacred there," he said.
Since coming back to West Burlington on Nov. 21, he has been mulling what to do next, he said. One option is to form a group to return to Costa Rica with the Outward Bound Program.
"If I can get eight people to go down there, I can go back for free," said Bouton.
If that doesn't come to pass, he said, he may travel out west, looking for good places to go surfing.
http://www.thedailystar.com/news/stories/2003/12/12/brite.html
