Beyond a page...: Nicaragua part dos!

It didn’t take Ryan and I long to realize Tamarindo was smaller than we thought, not that I haven’t fallen in love with the trannies who stand outside of Pacifico or anything, so upon meeting several new friends (including a German, a Slovakian, a Laotian, and a go-go dancer from Vegas) looking to head north we organized a trip for 11 to Nicaragua. After gathering at the bus stop around 9:00AM (trust me, that is early by our standards) we took off to Liberia and then to the CR/Nica border. I have control issues... I accept it and I am constantly trying to change it. With that said, I think I did pretty well keeping my cool while the 11 of us crossed the most god-awful border in the world.

Some of you may remember my post and pictures from Rio San Juan back in August. Quite possibly one of the prettiest and most interesting coastal towns in all of Central America, we found it just as enjoyable this time around. I had a great time chilling at Yajure again with Chely and Liz, the best hostel you will ever find. Aside from the random seasonal muggings we tried to avoid (nothing says “Happy Holidays!” more than a dull knife to the throat), the food was still amazing, prices just as cheap and company even better. My favorite thing about San Juan this time around was hiking up to the Jesus statue and seeing the amazing views of the town and Pacific Coast, and spending the afternoon at Playa Maderas, one of the better surf breaks in Nicaragua.

Stop #2 on our Southern Nicaragua tour took us to Isla Ometepe. Situated on an island in the middle of Lake Nicaragua (the only lake in the world with sharkks), our first hostel was situated perfectly on the beach between the two Volcanoes on the island, one active and one dormant.Don’t worry, as nice as that last description sounded the next 24 hours of my life pure hell. First of all, there was a giant new hatch of gnats that had just occurred right as we landed. The sky literally looked brown as you looked up and saw millions of them. So, the next day I took off with my buddy Tony (sending Ryan with a friend the other direction) to find better accommodations. Tony and I ended up finding this ecological reserve called EL Zopilote, which was essentially a giant, incredible, picturesque hippie hostel but had no vacancy.

Fortunately for us, Ryan found another place and we moved on before taking off for the afternoon. More than half of the group wanted to climb up to this waterfall and although they said it was tiresome and long I probably should have gone because I ended up crashing a scooter and successfully gave both myself and this Canadian girl 2^nd degree road rash (I’m not sure if road rash comes in degrees but I’d give it at least a 2^nd degree rating).

I won’t bore you with the details of the crash just know that it ended up with us both going to and getting treated in the island’s only hospital (free, thanks to social healthcare!). I’m still embarrassed about this a week later and upset for both hurting a friend and crashing something I literally have spent hours upon hours of my life driving. Fortunately, the day was somewhat salvaged by what happened that night. It was Thanksgiving after all and since I had made everyone buy food for their own “dish” and had attempted to negotiate a place to cook about 12 times we WERE HAVING THIS MEAL!!! Crammed into a tiny kitchen (about 6’x12’) at a small Nicaraguan restaurant with no more than 3 tables we took turns cooking for ourselves and allowing them to cook for their customers until finally our feast was ready. They don’t have turkey on Isla Ometepe but massive quantities of homemade mac and cheese (mom’s recipe of course), mash potatoes, and deviled eggs were consumed. I did miss Skyping my family and watching the Cowboys win but I can definitely say this was a great, fun-filled, exciting Thanksgiving!

Stop #3 started with us taking the ferry back off the island where I, my buddy Will, and 4 girls (can’t be mad at that right Ryan?) all headed to Granada. Granada is hands down one of my favorite places that I have ever been, you might disagree with me on that but I loved the mix of art, food, culture, activities, and architecture. I’ll spare you all the stories for now and simply share my pictures with you instead (a combo of mine and my friend's pics as always):