We had one whole week with the only thing planned was a few days of surfing lessons for Keith. And for me, thankfully no more small talk with with the other people at Spanish school! It's not that they weren't nice people but get a bunch of travelers together and it's the goddamn "oh, what you haven't been there?' one upmanship olympics-it's worse than hipsters. FYI no one cares about that one week in Egypt 20 years and you've already told than ONE story 3 times and the details get embellished every single time!
I was ready for peace and quiet and a beer and a Nica libre, or 5.
And here it was, our rental house actually called Casa La Serena. Wow, this place was beautiful.
Of course getting there was a little complicated. First, we showed up the meet the manager who was going to give us the keys and show us how to get there and that did not go as planned, but it all worked out, just a little later than expected.
And the drive there was a little bumpy, down a dirt road, but it was worth it. San Juan del Sur is known as a loud party town and Casa La Serena was the opposite of that!
While it was hard to break away and leave this gorgeous place, we had to go watch the Super Bowl! On the beach, in Nicaragua! And I got to use the very useful phrase: Otra cerveza, por favor! (Another beer, please)
We woke up Monday morning to the birds chirping and howler monkeys playing in the trees! I really didn't want to leave!
But the beach, Playa Maderas, was just a few minutes away! The beaches in downtown San Juan del Sur were packed with tourists and vendors, not this place!
The next day I spent at the same beach, while Keith went surfing. He had booked surfing lessons for 2 hours a day for 3 days. So our plan for that day was that he should be back to the house by about 2 or 3pm and should have time to stop at the fish market to pick up whatever fresh for dinner. Nope!
While he did only have about 2 hours of surfing lessons, there were hour(s) long breaks and thankfully there was WIFI so he let me know what was going on, mainly so I wouldn't worry that he had been eaten by a shark or something! Whatever! He had a great time!
I did not realize that I could just tag along on these surfing days, so I did for the next 2 days. The next day we went to Playa Hermosa. This beach was slightly more crowded, but since we were based at the Playa Hermosa Ecolodge it was also full of amenities like chaise lounges and and delicious Pina coladas.
I think even attempting to surf is a combination of bravery and crazy, and that's Keith!
After surfing, we finally got the the fish market where we went a little crazy and bought 2 lbs of lobster tails-yes, they are small but they were delicious! And Keith got not one but 2 whole red snappers and we spent about 20 bucks. Before making dinner we had time to catch the sunset down at our beach (I mean Playa Maderas).
Third and last day of surfing lessons for Keith. He as back at Playa Remanso where he had his first day of lessons. The waves here seemed huge to me!
I could watch that wipe out video a million times! I thought Keith was super lucky to not get hit on the head by the board on that one! That day was the roughest on him and while he was getting bruised up in the ocean, I was sitting in the shade drinking cocktails all day at Tacos bar and grill. I could have stayed there all day!
Just one more lazy day at the beach and it was time to get going.
We had to turn our rental car in and get a ride back to the capital, Managua, to an early flight home. We were hoping for a good last dinner in Nicaragua, but last nights always turn out kind of weird. Drinks at 1979 were fun, but we were the only people there and we decided to search out dinner elsewhere-even though they were letting me DJ! Rocking out to Tacocat in an empty bar in Nicaragua was pretty great!
The Korean place we wanted to go to was having a private party, and after wondering for a bit we realized it was either go in the mall to find a food court or something (no!) or that one Chinese place that looks open. So our last dinner was at a massive Chinese restaurant that was already decorated for Valentine's Day, last night is always weird.
But at least we had a chance to walk around the 'Trees of Life' that are very controversial and just kind of odd.
But wait, there's more!
As many of you know, our beloved Subaru up and died on the way to Boise and we had to decide what kind of car we were going buy so we could get home. Just the kind of thing you want to do the day you get back from vacation!
We had decided on a Honda CR-V and had emailed with the dealership that while we would still look like hobo's when we got there, they'd at least be expecting us.
So here she is! Before getting a new car, I told Keith we should name it bobo-my favorite Spanish word, the word for silly or fool. Bobo the clown car, full of goats and the crazy folks who love them! I fear this car is a little to classy for that, but maybe we can wear her down a little!
As I am writing this, the snow is coming down like crazy! Keith is out snowboarding, Bear wants to play catch in the blowing snow and I just want to go back to Nicaragua!
And wow! Our thumbs made it in a lot of pics of this trip! Oh, well!
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