NICARAGUA MARCH 17-??????????I took this photograph at the Monte Verde El Jardin de Mariposas, a butterfly garden in Costa Rica but forgot to post it with the Costa Rica blog. I hope you love this picture as much as we do! It just makes us feel all warm and happy inside.

Let´s get down to business, shall we? Here is the scoop.....
We left Costa Rica and headed across the border into Nicaragua. We decided to begin with a sleepy little surf town called San Juan Del Sur. The Nicaraguan side of the border is erratic, misleading, and ambagious, to say the least. We were sweaty and irritated when out of the corner of my eye I caught a glimpse of another couple that appeared to be as exasperated as we were. I slowly creeped over and with the biggest smile I uttered ¨Do you speak English?¨ It was love at first sight. Not only did they speak English, but they are from Toronto, been together for 4 years, been travelling the same amount of time that we have and...they were also going to San Juan Del Sur!!!! Wow, this could be fun... As it turns out, fun is a huge understatement, we had an absolute blast with Steve and Tania!! Let the story begin...

Our first day in San Juan Del Sur was classic. We decided to visit a beach that was 12 kilometers away( of course we couldn´t just stay at the local beach, that would be way to easy). After some intense bargaininng we jumped in what seemed to be a cab- type van thing( he had the lowest price...for a reason), and were on our way to the beach. It was supposed to take 20 minutes. After a 25 minute errand run around town, in which he picked up a spare tire, a huge container of water, and one of his friends, we finally began the torrturous grovelling tip-toe to the beach. After 10 minutes on the unpaved road the car started smoking and overheating. We stopped, they opened the hood and poured some water into the smoking engine. We were at a stand still for at least 15 minutes. This happened three more times and then finally (it had been well over an hour) he just stopped the car and old us to get out and walk the rest of the way...and pay him full price.- Yikes. We were fed up with this nonsense, as well as intoxicated by the fumes, so agreed that would be best. The beach was lovely and the water sublime. The waves at this beach are said to be the best for surfing in all of Cental America, and by the looks of the professional surfers out there, I believe it. We all wanted to have a go at it so Tania and Steve decided to rent a surf board. All was going swell (no pun intended he he he), when Tania surfaced from the water and started walking toward us, head down, broken surf board in hand. Long story short, there was a big, bad Nicaraguan guy pounding his fist, looking at Steve when he brought the board back in 2 pieces. They had words, and they tried to get them to pay $300.00 U.S., yeah right. They finally agreed upon( well kinda) $50.00, and we ran as fast as our sunburned legs could carry us. On the road we flagged down a passing pick up truck (safety in numbers), and he pointed for us to get in the back. Score!!! Well at least we thought we scored, he dropped us off on the side of the road after only 5 minutes. We thought, O.k., we can do this, it will only take us a few hours to walk back, it might be fun. The sweat was dripping down our bodies like glue and we needed a cold drimk. Alas, a bar seemed to be on the horizon, but what is the crowd for? As we approached the bar, there were a bunch of locals screaming and yelling at what looked like a mini boxing ring...a cock fight, oh no, get me outta here fast! Brad and Steve wanted to experience a little local flavor so they went in and watched the action. They came out looking disorientated and Brad says¨The white one lost, he´s dead, and Sam you are so happy you didnt witness that..¨ Yes I am Brad. Yes I am.

We walked for an eternity until we realized we were lost. Just at that moment a huge red dump truck with a faded Coca Cola Ad on the side started our way. He slowed down, Steve explained where we need to go, and he told us to get in. Score! Well, once again, he only took us a few minutes and then let us out. We finally made it back after sunset, but not before we came upon the creepiest monkey ever at this little farm house. As usual, Brad wanted to snap a photo. As soon as he got close enough the monkey lunged at him and almost took his head off. Brad took the pic just in time!!!!! (We also found a wooden dildo on the side of the road, no joke, but that is an entirely different story...creepy and geeky and it smells like stinky pinky!)
Scary monkey!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

After San Juan Del Sur we headed to Isla Ometepe, a volcanoc island in the middle of Lago De Nicaragua, the bigget lake in Central America. There are two volcanoes on the island, Conception and Maderas. Conception is still active and many people visit the island to hike up one or both of these extraordinary volcanoes. We didn´t realize that we were some of those people, but after the boys convinced us that we should do it, we reluctantly gave in. We opted for Maderas, the inactive one. It took 12 hours from start to finish and was the most gruelling hike of all of our lives to date. Our guide only spoke Spanish, which added another intriguing element. The path was rocky, steep, wet and muddy. When I say muddy, I mean filthy, slippery, thick, stinky mud that cakes on your clothes and shoes and reminds you that you are loco for attempting the hike in the first place. Once we finally made it to the top we were rewared with a magestic prize...Crater lake. This tranquil and undisturbed place is genuinely awe-inspiring. We felt at peace here, if only for a moment. Time to go down....I wanted to kick and scream and call a helicopter to pick us up, but the damage was done and we had to get down before dark.

The mud was everywhere. Our shoes were covered, but luckily there was a ¨lavadero de zapatos¨, translated laundry mat for your shoes.

I never thought the mud would come out of these pants, but it did! I should have been in a Tide commercial!

I love adventure, but this is ridiculous! I must admit that I was bitter they entire way down.

My mother and your mother were washing shoes, my mother........
Conception and Maderas. View from the ferry across Lago de Nicaragua.

This monkey baby was so precious. Her name is Cindy, imagine that! We got to play with her for an hour and she kept stealing our staws and cervesas. It is such an invigorating feeling to hold a baby monkey. She was the highlight of the day!

They are really weird about their rum here in Nicaragua aren´t they?


Just having a romantic evening out on the town. Love is grand!

This photo was taken at the broken surf board beach, right before we got chased outta there!!!!


Granada, Nicaragua, March 23-25, 2007

We are finally up to date on the blog! We are in Granada today, where we must say goodbye to our dynamite new friends. We have had such an amzing time with them ( where´s my q-tips ) and know that we will stay in touch. We are off to Honduras tomorrow and they are headed to Guatemala. Don´t worry Tania and Steve for we will always have Nicaragua. lol.

Viva¨Team Nicaragua!!!¨