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- Details
- Written by: Alyssa
- Category: Nicaragua 2014
This day of meeting our sponsor child went above and beyond ALL expectations! We have been exchanging letters and pictures with Gabriella for four years, but having met in person and spent a day together, I think we bonded more in 6 hours than in those whole four years. We were picked up from the hotel in a hired van with a driver and a translator named Carlos, and we got to learn about Compassion's work in Nicaragua and information about the church and about social struggles that many Nicaraguans face due to poverty, lack of education, and lack of hope.
Read more: Nicaragua Day 14: Managua with our Compassion Sponsor Child
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- Written by: Alyssa
- Category: Nicaragua 2014
Having spent an amazing evening watching turtles nest at Playa La Flor, we woke up to our last morning in San Juan Del Sur determined to make the most of our last few hours. We had been talking about hiking up the Christ statue all week and made an unsuccessful attempt to find our way there one morning, so this was going to be the morning it really happened.
We packed up our room to check out of the hostel, although they let us leave our backpacks behind the reception desk until we were actually ready to leave town. We got going later than planned because packing always takes longer than expected, and I had slept in late with Torre after our adventures the night before, so the day was already hot. It was an extremely steep hike, and we tried to keep to the shade but it wasn't always possible. Torre's little arms got sunburned in the carrier because I straight up forgot to put sunscreen on this day, and my pulse was literally pounding through my face by the time we reached the top of a flight of stairs that concluded our journey up mansion mountain to this monument.
Once we got there though, after I had time to catch my breath and rest in the breezy shade, it was really cool up there and definitely worth our efforts. I hadn't realized there was a whole courtyard around the base of the statue, and there were people there with snacks and drinks who were obviously planning to spend a few hours hanging out above the heat. We stopped at the chapel under the statue, and then we headed back down for our travels to Managua!
By now we considered ourselves fairly seasoned in travel through Nicaragua, so we asked a few taxi drivers at the market how much it would cost to get to Rivas where we planned to catch a bus to Managua. One driver told us $15, so we said we'd think about it, but we weren't actually ready to leave yet because Matt wanted to take out cash in SJDS rather than use an ATM in Managua. When we left the bank, our taxi driver was waiting outside and offered us a lower price of $12 US to Rivas. We were happy with that, so we jumped in his beaten up taxi and sped out of town.
Read more: Nicaragua Day 13: Travel from San Juan Del Sur to Managua
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- Written by: Alyssa
- Category: Nicaragua 2014
Day 12 was nearing the end of our time in San Juan Del Sur, and although we enjoyed more time at the beach and another plate of tostones con queso, it was also time to buckle down on the bucket-list opportunities we did not want to miss! If we ever get back to San Juan Del Sur I definitely want to try zip-lining, and it would be cool to try surfing, but I am so, so happy that this time around we did a turtle tour.
Sea turtles nest at only a handful of beaches in the world, and one of those is located a short drive outside of San Juan, called La Flor. This beach is a protected nature reserve, and large tours can range in cost from $25-40 USD which includes the cost of admission to the reserve ($8 each for foreigners). This price is extremely reasonable compared to the cost of turtle tours in neighboring Costa Rica where you can easily spend over $100 per person to see turtles. We lucked out with a smaller tour organized by a French ex-pat and his Nicaraguan wife for $15 each, admission not included, and the whole experience was phenomenal. Matt talked to Sam and Jamie, and they brought two other guys they'd met (a huge perk of backpacking vs staying in hotels is how easily you connect with people!), and we all loaded into a pickup truck about an hour before the sun went down.
Read more: Nicaragua Day 12: San Juan Del Sur (Turtle Tour!)
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- Written by: Alyssa
- Category: Nicaragua 2014
Great news! My laptop (with our vacation pictures easily accessible on it) is back from a long trip to the computer doctor, and I am ready to get back on the vacation-blogging wagon. We left off way back in January with Day 10 or if you prefer to see all the posts from our trip laid out, you can see them here.
Our third morning at Hostel Esperanza we finally took advantage of the free breakfast. It was very nice to enjoy a typical Nicaraguan breakfast in the cafe and not have to hike hungry up to the market, and Torre even got his own little plate with fruit and an egg. Fueled for the day, we decided to try and hike up to the Christ statue we'd been looking up at for three days.
Easier said than done. We walked to the edge of town and crossed a suspension bridge over a muddy river draining into the ocean. We found ourselves hiking along an unpaved highway, then we came to a neighbourhood of big, beautiful homes and several mansions under construction. The steeper the road got, the more epic the houses became, and eventually we realized we must have missed a turn.
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- Written by: Alyssa
- Category: Nicaragua 2014
This morning we had breakfast at the market - a typical Nica plate of gallo pinto, eggs, tortilla and cheese. It is so filling and tasty! Also we both had breakfast and coffee for the cost of one breakfast at a tourist cafe here. Chalk up one big point for our budget :) Later in the day, of course, we learned that a typical Nica breakfast is actually included in our hostel, so we will be taking advantage of that for the rest of our stay, but we'll probably still do lunch at the market and brace our budget for Managua and whatever Granada holds.
After breakfast we walked all the way down the beach to the bluffs where a big private ex-pat community is built.
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- Written by: Alyssa
- Category: Nicaragua 2014
Today we had breakfast at a hip surfer restaurant called Republika, where bottomless coffee was included with delicious breakfast options including belgian waffles :) We met a family from Texas with a chatty 6 year old daughter named Ryan. We spent a few hours eating and chatting, then did some grocery shopping, played at the park in the town square and came back to the hostel.
Torre played with a kitten that lives here and learned his first Spanish word - gato. I'm not sure if he knows it's a word or if he thinks this cat is just named gato, but it was really cute to watch him so fascinated and affectionate, even though I was stressed it would end badly with a bite or scratch (it never did).
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- Written by: Alyssa
- Category: Nicaragua 2014
Matt got a pretty bad sunburn on our travel day to San Juan Del Sur, so day 8 we took things pretty easy and Matt hid away from the sun. Our hostel offered free breakfast, so we had a nice slow morning there before moving over to Hostel Esperanza right across the street from the beach. We unpacked properly for the first time of our trip, and I went for a walk down the beach while Torre took his afternoon nap. It was so relaxing to wade in the surf, to feel ocean water washing in over my feet while the sand was pulled under my feet back to the sea by the undertow.
The power was out at this time - it seems there may be unofficial rolling blackouts because the receptionist said when it goes out it's usually back on by sunset at 5:30, and so it was. It was the only power outage we experienced for the rest of the week, but it was a reminder that this beautiful country faces serious struggles and lack of infrastructure.
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- Written by: Alyssa
- Category: Nicaragua 2014
Last Monday we traveled from Canada to Nicaragua, and today we traveled from Ometepe to San Juan Del Sur. We have come so far! At the start of our travel day we bought crackers and a coke from a local grocery store, caught the ferry no problem and did not get hustled by any taxi drivers.
Matt and I split a plate of food for $3 from a stand at the beach, we cabbed it to the border of Rivas for $1 each and took a chicken bus to San Juan Del Sur for about $2 each. The bus was so full, but a man gave me a seat with Torre, and Matt got a place next to me, although he soon gave it up to a woman with a toddler when she got on the bus. The other mom and I talked a little bit before she got off, and Torre slept, and before too long we arrived. I was glad to be next to a window and to have our backpacks in the luggage racks above the seats, not stowed under the bus.
Read more: Nicaragua Day 7: Travel from Ometepe Island to San Juan Del Sur
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- Written by: Alyssa
- Category: Nicaragua 2014
Today we traveled to Moyogalpa on Ometepe Island - all in all a great day, and even the little bumps were good for learning experiences.
We ate breakfast at the hostel - instant oatmeal and a can of fruit. My guts were unsettled, and I think Torre's were too, possibly from out street meat the night before, although Matt was completely fine. Torre didn't eat much, but I did have a full serving, chased with Imodium and a prayer for our long trip on a bus!
We walked to the town square and bought a wallet I'd seen before as well as a bracelet for our sponsor child, Fabiola, who we'll be meeting in a week and a half, then we caught a cab to the bus station and were the last two seats on an express bus to Managua. This bus went so fast compared to the bus we rode to Leon. We were squished in the very back corner with Torre asleep across both our laps. Momotombo belched some steam/smoke as we passed along the highway, and between Latin music as our playlist (invaded as always in this country by Nicki Minaj's song Anaconda - don't google it) and our driver's heavy foot we arrived in Managua in fantastic time.
The drive itself had beautiful scenery - lush green mountains in the distance that look like a cozy green blanket tossed in a heap with folds down all the hills. The sky was cloudless, and every so often we'd pass a horse or (herd of) cow(s) by the side of the road. I couldn't see out the windshield, so I didn't get too stressed passing trucks or cars, although there were some ridiculous scenarios with oncoming traffic and passing a long line of transport trucks/other buses when I simply had to put ourselves in God's hands.
- Details
- Written by: Alyssa
- Category: Nicaragua 2014
Our last day in Leon. I think today was the hottest yet, or at least the day the heat got to me the most. Matt went volcano boarding, so it was just Torre and I in the morning. We hung around at the hostel then made our way to Libelula, although I got lost on the way so it was a longer walk than it needed to be!
Some little boys were at the cafe with their family and had their faces painted like lions (or just cats), and they played peek-a-roar with Torre over the booth dividing their table from our table. It was pretty cute. After brunch we came home and napped together until Matt returned from his trek looking for a shower and a nap.
Volcano boarding, for those who may not know, is an adventure tourism activity wherein you hike up an active volcano, put on a protective suit and goggles, then toboggan down the side of said active volcano. It's like tobagganing down a regular mountain except that snow is replaced by volcanic ash which is a little less cushioning.