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12.15.2005 -- COSTA RICA / NICARAGUA: Surfing, Black Sand Beaches! --
Volcanic Lakes, Black Sand Beaches, Border Crossings, Sandanistas, and Monkey Island!...
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December 15, 2005
Since Argentina, we’ve been to Costa Rica and are now in Nicaragua. Having been traveling hard for the last couple months, we were ready to “hang out” in one place for a while. We figure we had not slept in the same bed more than 3 nights for about 3 months.
That said, we "hung out" in a Costa Rica beach town called Tamarindo, for 10 days. It is your typical beach town with surfer dudes and dudettes. It is an easy place to stay because it has all the amenities (except paved roads). They even have a Subway and Burger King - no McDonalds - yet.
We stayed at a place called Hostal La Botella de Leche... or Milk Bottle Hostel for the non-Spanish speaking gringos. It is run by a family of Argentineans with Mamma Mariana running the show. The place was a bit far from the beach, but an easy walk. As soon as they pave the roads there, it will actually be a nice walk. They have probably the best rates on beds, board rental and surf lessons.
We booked our reservations in advance as high season tends to be a bit busy in Costa Rica. We showed up a day early. Two days later Mariana, the owner, sent a nasty gram email to us asking us to call and cancel if we weren’t going to show up. Since the reservation was under Todd’s name and Maggie signed us in, Mariana did not know we were already there. Evidently Mariana doesn’t normally send nasty grams, and wouldn’t you know it … she sent one to people already there. So we sent back a brief email from the internet cafe down the road explaining we were staying in room 6 upstairs and we all got a good laugh that evening.
Wenses, Mariana’s oldest son, is starting a surf camp. If you are interested in learning to surf, he gave us lessons and we both were up on the board within an hour... then he took us into the water… ha, ha just kidding. He does an excellent job and enjoys teaching people to surf. The surf camp will be on the web soon at www.onewavesurfcamp.com. You can also find it on the Botella de Leche website. Their goal is to keep the size of each class small, personal and inexpensive. Check it out, because the only other surf camp option in Tamarindo is pretty expensive.
After our hiatus in Tamarindo, we were refreshed and ready to travel again. So we headed north to Nicaragua. We were ready for some culture and cheaper digs. Nicaragua has both. We took a bus from Liberia, Costa Rica north across the border. The border crossing was pretty easy, but it took a little time. The most interesting part of it was the baggage "inspection" in Nicaragua. We lined up with our bags, and when we reached the “inspector”, we pushed a big yellow button about the size of a golf ball. Above the "inspector" was an actual traffic signal with only red and green lights (no yellow). The idea is if you get red, then your bags will be checked. If you get green, you are good to go. We both got green lights. However, what actually happened to others in the line that got red lights, was they pushed the button again until they got a green light. In reality, no luggage on our bus was checked. We just went through the formality. We imagine that drug runners love this process?
Our first stop in Nicaragua was Isla de Ometepe, an island in the middle of Lake Nicaragua. The island is made up of two volcanoes, one active and one not active. The active one, Concepcion, is a bit dangerous at the moment because it has been more active than normal recently. Normally you can climb it, but you can't at the moment.
We took a rough boat ride from the mainland (Rivas/San Jorge). Maggie was pumped that she didn’t blow chow again... she lost it on a boat from Zanzibar and again in a tiny airplane in Peru. Tough girl, eh? When we arrived on the island in the town of Moyogalpo, we immediately boarded an old second hand Bluebird school bus originally from some town in Arizona. Here in Nicaragua, they squeeze the final life out of old school buses originally from the US and Canada until there is no life left in them... and then they squeeze some more. We rode on one bus that must have been from the 60’s. They probably don’t want to invest in better buses as the roads are punishing on any vehicle.
We stayed at a “resort” the first two nights called Charco Verde. It was rumored to have the best beach (black sand) on the island… and it probably did. However, the beach was only about 10 feet wide and maybe a football field long. You couldn’t beat the sunset. The resort was also an eco lodge of some sort, but the lake was too high to take advantage of the trails. The staff was nice and the food was pretty good. Oh… and we paid $12 for a night in a double room (actually they charge it as $6 per person) – fan only but A/C was available if we wanted to pay more.
We had heard about a place on the island that we wanted to check out... called Isla de Los Monos Hostel... or Monkey Island Hostel… in a town called Merida. It is very difficult to visualize the “town” because when you get off the bus, there was nothing there. Well, there was a sign and a small dingy diner/café and basically nothing else. Hidden behind the café, there was a multipurpose market (food, clothing, hardware, etc.) about as wide as a double car garage and twice as deep. Hidden behind it was a church about the same size. The homes nearby were usually only one or two rooms built of concrete with a tin roof. Some had dirt floors and were made of boards or sticks with tin or some kind of grass/thatch/palm roof. All the yards seemed to have pigs, chickens, dogs and possibly a cow and horse or two ... and a bunch of kids ... big families. The road was not paved except in areas where they had troubles with erosion ... and even those spots were not always paved.
We walked along the road for about a half mile to get to Monkey Island Hostel... sweat dripping off our noses... it is a bit hot and humid. The hostel is owned by a family of 8 and has been around for just over a year. The father, Jacinto, had the idea for the hostel after many passing tourists told him how beautiful his land was. By trade, he is an electrician and carpenter. Behind their house, he built four rooms on top of concrete and made of rough hewn wooden boards with a tin roof. The cracks between the boards were covered by stapled-on cardboard strips. Next to rooms in the center of the property was a kitchen(similarly built) with a huge covered concrete deck. The deck had an excellent view, lots of chairs, rocking chairs and hammocks. They only charged $2.50 per person per night.
Angel, the second oldest son, is the cook and does a wonderful job with fish and chicken. The portions are huge. The most expensive item on the menu was about $2.50. We spent 4 nights, ate 3 ample meals a day, got Spanish lessons from all the family members, swam with the kids (Brenda and Alma), played with the monkey, hiked with the dog, talked to the bird and paid about $85 in total for both of us.
The monkey’s name is Kiko, and if “Kiko” means ornery, it is on the mark. Kiko was like a mischievous 3 year old, pushing the limits whenever he could. Unfortunately, we accidentally deleted a bit of video we took of the monkey terrorizing the dog, Hefe (which means boss in Spanish). It would have been an America's Funniest Home Video's candidate...
Overall, we had a great time. If you find yourself in the area, we highly recommend a couple nights at Monkey Island Hostel. The family was incredibly welcoming, hospitable and fun. If you tell the bus driver, he will drop you right at the Hostel... we found this out a little late.
Our last stop on the island was Finca Magdelena, just outside of Balgue. It is a coffee plantation coop owned and run by 29 families. Before it became a coop, it was a Sandinista hang out. Makes you wish the walls could talk. They have converted an old barn into two floors of rooms of all sizes. You can also hang a hammock or put up a tent on the “porch” of the barn. They have (it appears) converted old animal stalls into toilets and showers. It was a real "classy" place. While that is a bit sarcastic, we recommend it as well. We enjoyed the view from the deck and the garden was absolutely beautiful. Also, they have a short hike that starts on the property and goes to several petroglyph sites. The food was decent and prices all around were great.
We are currently in Granada staying at Hostal Oasis. It is a very laid back place and we enjoy it so far.
-- Todd & Maggie
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