Nicaragua Update - San Juan Del Sur
by Curtis Smith
This has been another amazing week in Nicaragua. Almost too good to possibly explain in this blog entry, but I will try. San Juan del Sur is the surf capital of Nicaragua and supposed to have the best nightlife for backpackers. I started off the week staying at a simple hotel in the back of ‘Elizabeth’s’ house for $7/night, and immediately liked the town. Using Thailand terms, this was like the Haad Rin of the area, and is the home base for surfing in the region. North and south of the town though are waves and waves and MORE waves, and also muchas playas! (beaches). My older brother Chad was already in Nicaragua 3 months ago, and on his trip to San Juan he had done the ‘primary research’ of the area hiking 8km along the coastline where he was pretty certain he found a hostel – which he hadn’t had time to check out – on the best beach he had come across.
So, on my first full day in SJDS, I first rented a bicycle and tried to ride to find this beach figuring it would be easy cause he ‘had hiked it’ (likely going along the coast though!)…But instead I had to go over a brutally rocky road on the hardest bike seat and worst gears you could imagine….and it took a long long time! I finally made it to the cove Chad was talking about and was at the top of a hill where I could look out over the waves breaking…but the sun was now setting, and I had to get back. It was a good 1st exploration ride none the less – but my ass will hurt for a week!
So, the 2nd day, I tried to catch the 11am boat taxi there, which unfortunately left at 10 minutes to 11am (what? I am used to ‘Thai time’), so I had to move on to a plan B. I had inquired about surfing the day before, but the guy renting the board had actually talked me out of it saying ‘the waves are BIG right now man..Big big big’….But, I now ended up at a surf shop realizing that this might be my only transport to this beauty beach (deciding that a bike was no longer an option!)….It turns out the shop was going to the beach I wanted in 45 minutes, and only a few dollars each way…Perfect. I got to thinking though, if I am going with a proper surf shop, I might as well spend the $8 to bring a board and at least see if it is possible to surf….
It was true the waves were HUGE (10-12 feet), but anyways I had made it and I first walked the 20 minutes further along the coastline until finally stumbling upon the end of the cove and the nicest most secluded bit of beach I had encountered so far. Like a little Oasis, here was the hostel. Everyone I encountered greeted me in the most happy and chilled out fashion, and immediately I felt welcomed. It all seemed a bit surreal with how awesome of a discovery it was, especially realizing how perfect it is for a free & easy group!…..A feeling that reminds me of 2002 and the first time I stepped on Haad Yuan beach in Koh Phangan.
I would have loved to stay and hang out with the cool people, but the tide was now getting high, and it was my chance to try out the waves!….I was certainly a little timid, but I made sure to speak to like 3 other people who had just been surfing in the water, and had them point out where was good, what to do…and so on. And fortunately it is a beach break, so at worst I would get crushed by some waves, but not down on rocks. I never reached the area where the biggest sets were peaking (thank god), but where I did surf was nothing short of magical. I first learned to surf in Bali 3 years ago, and this was the closest thing I could compare it to….except, the water is MUCH colder here!!! I mean not cold like Canadian Pacific, but it certainly has a chill. Fortunately the sun is so hot that after a few minutes in the water, and adrenaline going, it was fine.
Getting to day 3, I packed my bags, left my big backpack at my guesthouse in San Juan del Sur, rented a surfboard, and decided I was going back to stay at that hostel for a night or two. That was another of my best decisions of 2009. The waves fortunately also started going down that day to more normal levels, and on top of that I met awesome people from the second I checked in at the hostel….As I was requesting a bed, 3 people overhearing my request asked me if I want to join in their room cause they had an extra bed? 1 guy from Calgary, Alberta, Canada…and 2 girls from Sweden…..and in a second, my solo adventure was taking a turn for the better. The first thing I encountered in the room was a 2 litre bottle of Nicaraguan Rum – which is really delicious - and I could see that I had found friends.
After traveling a bunch on my own the past week, this turned out to be the best few days I’ve had in a while. Our small crew grew to include several other Canadians – it seemed like every 2nd traveler I met was from Canada – including people from Nelson, Invermere, Winnipeg, Calgary, and Victoria. The waves were awesome, and twice a day, my roommate Brad and I would stroll down the beach to battle them. Great food in the evenings, that bottle of ‘Flor de Cana’ got drank, and lots of laughter and good times. It was a lifestyle that I could have easily settled into, and I was pretty envious to meet the group of Dutch people that had been doing it for 10 weeks! There was a really cool couple from Invermere – Jeremia and Emily - that had actually DRIVEN all the way to Nicaragua in a little beater nicknamed ‘the Punisher’, and had ‘FREEDOM’ spray painted across the back….Ha ha…They were having the trip of their life though, and now that I am learning about the wonders down in Central America, that sounds like a drive I’ll have to make one day! Fortunately several of these good friends live close to home, so I’ll hopefully see them again. Hard to believe it was only a few days that we all hung out. It is great to be off in an entirely new country, going to new destinations and constantly meeting cool travelers….That pure enjoyment of travel has been oozing from every experience, and I’m loving it! Ha ha, oh ya…and just to finish this off, so I left the beach yesterday and started my travels to Ometepe – twin volcanoes on a lake. Today I was taking a bus across the island and had great talks with a couple from Nicaragua, and 2 girls from Argentina. I then got dropped off at a fork in the road and was told my bus was coming in 3 hours….Fortunately 5 minutes later, a plantain truck came along (huge bananas) and gave me a lift….so there I was cruising down this dirt road with 3 Nicaraguans and about 10 000 bananas. I couldn’t have asked for a better ride…unless of course if the Punisher had showed up!
