Having the Best Time of Our Lives

By Chloe Duay (Switzerland) & Clara Tempel (Germany)

Since we have been here, we have done some activities that we don’t have in our countries. We are roommates so we do a lot of things together. We want to speak about some of them.

Condor Express Whales Watching
The first activity we did together at Santa Barbara was to see dolphins and whales. We reserved our places with Condor Express Whale Watching company. The activity lasted 4.30 hours. We left the harbor at 9 a.m. and returned at 2.30 p.m. First, we saw seals, then a lot of dolphins and, finally, a big whale. It was the first time that we went on a cruise along the coast. We were amazed and we recommend this activity for the person who wants to see sea animals. Even during the pandemic restrictions, they are able to host a wonderful day out on the water. There was limited capacity on the boat and everyone had to wear the masks so it felt very safe. It was a perfect way to see the Santa Barbara Channel and maybe one day we will go there again.

Horse riding
Our second activity was a horse riding tour. We did this activity with Circle Bar B Stables and we chose the option for the half day.
We had an appointment in the morning at their ranch where we were each assigned a horse. Then they explained to us how to guide the horse. After that, we started our walk quietly following each other. It was also our first time that we went horse riding, but we wanted to try it one time. Throughout the trail, the view was amazing ! We could see the wonderful landscape. We were even able to try the gallop. It was our favorite activity up to now and we really recommend this one. Awesome experience!

Surfing

This was our first time surfing in Santa Barbara. We searched on the Internet for a surfing school because we wanted to do that with some friends. We took a Lyft to Mondos beach. A truck was near the beach with all the stuff we needed for surfing. After we put on the wetsuits, we went down to the beach and the teacher explained to us how to stand up. Then we went into the water. First, it was a little bit complicated to stand up, but then we got used to it and the teacher always helped us. It was amazing and fun. We enjoyed our surfing lesson. 

Hiking

This is a photo from the hiking we did with EF. The taxi driver picked us up at the school and drove us to Saddle Rock Trail. There we went up with Megan and her dog. It was exhausting because it was very hot, but the view was amazing as you can see in the picture. We stayed there to enjoy the view and took pictures. Then we went back and the taxi driver picked us up again and took us back to the school. Normally, it’s hard to reach the trails without a car so it was a nice activity.