So, after another fun-filled night in Granada, Meika, James, Andrew and I said our goodbyes to Monica and Leah and hopped a chicken bus to Rivas. From there, we haggled a cab ride to San Juan del Sur, on the pacific coast of Nicaragua. All I can say is that I’m glad that we didn’t take the chicken bus, because that ride would have been miserable.
San Juan del Sur is a sleepy harbor town, that appears to be rapidly growing due to a rise of tourists, backpackers, and expats. It has a nice beach, and offers beachside restaurants, bars and cafes. It has a rather “Costa Brava” feel to it, at least to me it does. There is definitely a rising number of gringos and other expats calling this place home, and that will surely affect the overall landscape in the future. Usually it’s for the worse, I’m afraid.
We spent a night at a rather drab hostel called “Casa Oro”. But the good thing about this place was that the beds were awesome. Brand new mattresses, which is a rarity in these parts. So that was worth the price of admission. Unfortunately, the town itself was rather sleepy, so there was not much to do that night. We did have a great dinner at a beachside restaurant though. Then we ended the night at a funky little local bar, taking down a couple of Tona’s.
The next morning, we were to catch a bus to a popular surfing beach called Playa Madera. Though a only a few miles away from SJS, getting there was still a challenge because of the horrific road conditions. We piled into a van, along with our rented surfboards for the trip. Trevor and Sarah, a young couple from Northern California, joined us for the trek. The ride proved to be as hazardous as we had been warned. Once the van got there, we then had to walk down a trail to the beach. Andrew had already been there once, so he prepped us on what was going to happen. So lugging our stuff, and our boards we made our way down to the beach.
When we got there, what we saw was phenomenal. A pristine beach nestled in a bay trestled by high rock formations and cliffs. The waves were pumping at the point break, and there were dozens of surfers out there enjoying the sets. The bad news was that we still had to hike up the beach some more to get to the surf camp/hostel that we were staying at, a place called Bahia Majagual. So we set the boards down, and walked up the beach to get to this place. This place was nestled in the woods just off another pristine beach. After checking in, we picked our bunks, stashed our stuff, and headed back to Playa Madera to get in an afternoon of surfing. I couldn’t wait.
I didn’t even have a pair of boardshorts, so I ended up having to use one of my trusty Gap cargo shorts. I couldn’t believe I forgot to pack a pair when I left Andiamo! I also had to reckon that being out there was going to be a challenge. Considering that I haven ‘t surfed in awhile, I had no idea what to expect. Though I have a board on the boat, I have not yet been to a place yet with Andiamo where there was any good surfing, though I found some good spots on the pacific in Guatemala. I felt reasonably in good shape, so I figured I’d do ok.
And boy, did I ever. I set a goal to catch 1 good ride in the first hour, and ended up doing 3, followed by an awesome wipeout. The next 2 hours, I’d average 2-3 rides. These waves were smooth and easy to ride, and the local Nicos were nice enough to let me have one every once in awhile.
James had never had a lesson, so I gave him a bit of a primer on surfing before he headed out on his rented longboard. We had 3 boards among the 4 of us, Meika opting not to rent one for herself out the gate. She wasn’t sure if she’d like it, but ended up loving it. It was fun watching her hoot and holler everytime she managed a good ride on the longboard.
Trevor was also an experienced surfer, so he had an excellent time. We ended up surfing until well after 5pm, when it was decided that we head back to Majagual, wash up, and get some dinner. Being that this place was in the middle of nowhere on the coast of Nicaragua, there was no place to go. So we had our own little party at sunset, which was spectacular by the way, and ended up having a great casual night of talking, playing cards and smoking Cohibas. Very, very cool.
The next morning, we made our way back to Playa Madera for another day of surfing. I decided that I would head down to Costa Rica with Trevor and Sarah the next day, so we would have to make our way back to San Juan by that evening to catch the Tica bus in Rivas. So we all wanted to get some more beach time and surfing in before heading out. The weather was a bit iffier that morning, but cleared up by about noon.
The sets were not as consistent as the day before, but the waves were still quite excellent. I managed to get a good four solid rides in the first couple of hours, and then felt myself getting tired pretty fast. So I took a break. Trevor’s board was quite nice, an epoxy board with a nice fun-shape, so I wanted to give it a whirl before leaving. I’m really glad I did, because I got two more AWESOME rides on it. My last wave was my best one, having an excellent face ride with a couple of really sweet “off the lip” cutbacks, which I hadn’t done since I was, god, 15 maybe?! I decided to end my surf session on that note, and got out of the water ecstatic about how well it went. I really need to start surfing more often again.
So after getting back to the beach, we bid Meika, James and Andrew farewell, since they were going to stay another couple of days and keep surfing. Trevor, Sara and I trekked back to the Majagual, got our stuff, and waited for the shuttle that was supposed to be there at 4:30, and NEVER CAME! We started getting rather nervous by 5:30 that we would not find a way back to San Juan. Like I said, this place was pretty much in the middle of nowhere. The manager tried to call a cab, but nobody was answering. Right about that time, a tourist couple from Colorado stopped by the lodge to have a drink, they saw us waiting, and offered us a ride. THANK GOD!
So we made it back to San Juan del Sur in good time, got situated at a hotel, and went into town to have dinner. There was a nice little gringo pizza joint where Sarah and Trevor had already been once, so we went there. After a little bit of shopping, and internet, we headed back and prepared for our early morning rise to get to Rivas so we can catch the morning Tica bus.
After a couple of taxi snafus the next morning, we managed to score a cab, and make it to Rivas on time. The Tica bus showed up a little later, and off we were on our way to Costa Rica! After an interesting border crossing, we jumped off in Liberia, and caught a bus to Flamingo. That was an interesting and bumpy ride. On that bus, I ran into Anke, a german backpacker who I’ve seen pretty much everywhere I’ve been in El Salvador and Nicaragua, but never really talked to. So after some nice conversation, we made it to Flamingo. I called Scotty’s phone, and he came over and met us where Trevor and Sarah were staying.
So since then, I’ve been their guest at their VERY nice house they just movfed into at in a part of town called Portrero, just around the bay from Flamingo.
It’s been nice here so far, but the staggering level of gringo influx is everywhere. Costa Rica has been an attraction for gringos for years now, and it shows. To me, it’s a shame to see places so virgin and untamed get so gringo-ized and developed. I’ve been here quite a few times since 1988, and man the changes are stunning. Especially places like this where the roads are virtually non-existent, and there is simply no infrastructure to support all the growth. I just don’t understand why any gringo with a few bucks would spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on a house or worse, a CONDO, and live here, where there is virtually no police, and the rest of the area simply can’t support them. It’s beyond idiotic. But I guess everyone’s idea of “paradise” has different meanings. I understand now what Don Henley means when he sings, “…if you call someplace ‘paradise’, kiss it goodbye”…
Ok, rant over…
I’ve heard from Lisa (crazy ex-lawyer from Ohio), she’s still in country, and hopefully I’ll be able to meet up with her before I head out. She just finished a job as a youth counselor, and is doing a few days of travel before heading back to Ohio. I may head down to Jaco Beach this weekend to see about meeting up with her while I’m there.
I only have a few days left in Costa Rica, before heading back to Guatemala City to catch a bus back to the Rio. Then I’ll have less than a week before having to head back to the real world for yet another, different kind of adventure.
It sometimes just never stops, but that’s the way I like it right now. 
Comment from: Raf Truyers [Visitor]
Smoking Cohibas behind my back!?