Vamos a la playa 😎

31/5/23

Today, I was hoping to reach the beach in Nicaragua. Sadly, despite getting up at 05.30 and catching at 06.00 bus, I didn’t complete the supposed five hour journey to the border in time! Here’s why!

I got the 6am bus from La Fortuna to Quesada and for some reason checked with the driver near El Tanque, where I thought I was meant to get off, where I should get off for the border. He told me Quesada, which was the big bus station I had been at before and for some reason, I assumed he would know best. I spent over an hour heading to Quesada, by which time I’d definitely missed the once daily bus from El Tanque. I presumed there was a better way from Quesada and that was why he suggested it.

When I arrived there, it was not the case. The bus driver had given me directions for a different border, which was of no use to me. Apparently, my best bet was to get a bus back to La Fortuna, but I knew there were no direct onward buses from there. I wondered whether I should just return to La Fortuna and wait for the next day, but I’d already booked my hostel in Nicaragua and also couldn’t face the humiliation in the hostel!! I would battle on. The next and only bus to the border Peñas Blancas was at 2pm, only a 7 hour wait, mas o menos. A university tried to help me and eventually took me to a tienda where the kind vender looked up information on her phone before calling a bus man for his advice. The ticket man who was with the bus driver who I had asked about the border felt guilty because the driver had told him Los Chiles and not Peñas Blancas. He told me a very long-winded route, and I decided I would start it since it was early, hoping that I’d still make it before dark.

I got an 08.30 bus via La Fortuna to another town but then had to wait from 12pm until 17.00 for the next bus to the border, though this meant I skipped two other bus changes. I thought it was worth it. I got my ticket, had lunch and waited. And waited. And waited. An old man was playing with an accordian app on his phone next to me. He was loving life. He played for at least an hour before showing me it and asking if I wanted to play. I told him that I didn’t play accordion, but piano was okay. He got up a regular piano and I played ‘Merrily we roll along and ‘Ode to Joy’. He wanted me to play more, but I don’t know much from memory. He went away to get some supplies before the bus and then came back and offered me a drink. I declined at first, but he seemed keen, so eventually, I accepted it, and he went off and came back with two frozen icy drinks with syrups, topped with ice cream and whipped cream. It was pretty bloody good to be fair! We finished them just in time before the bus came.

I got the infamous bus another three or so hours, by which time it was dark. The bus driver was concerned for my safety at the border, but after some consideration, I decided I’d just stay in a hotel at the border, so I didn’t need to battle with the bus again in the morning. The bus driver dropped me to the hotel, more of a concrete dive, after the final passenger got off at the border. It was $30 for the night, of which I had $27, having spent a couple on Uno at the bus station. I was glad since the room was a rip-off for $30! Thankfully, the owner let me off the $3 I was short. I got on the WiFi, ate my snacks, showered, watched Netflix, and slept. What a day!

1/6/23

I crossed the border at around 06.30 after waiting for a short while for the bus driver, which said he would come back for me in the morning. Since he drove past, I walked the 600 metres or so to the Costa Rican side and first paid taxes and got my passport stamped before heading onto the Nicaraguan side. There was about ten Israelis in front of me in immigration and an agitated Tica bus driver, who was trying to get them to listen to what they needed to have ready for immigration and what money they needed. It took a very long time for them to go through, but eventually, I made it through and walked passed the tourist buses to find a local bus to Rivas and then San Juan. I was delighted to find a clown sat in front of me with a fully blue painted face in a strong 30 degree heat!

I arrived at my hostel the.Space in time to claim my free breakfast for the night before. It was a very nice place to chill, which was much needed after the day before! I got chatting to Jess, a girl from the US who was on a digital nomad trip for a couple of weeks. There was a French volunteer who sat with us two and later, an Israeli guy, Rom joined us too. Jess had to go and work, so Rom and I played some shocking rounds of pool before I lazed by the pool for the afternoon.

Jess, Rom and I walked into town for sunset and watched it on the beach. Rom and I played a little guitar, and we watched the fishermen sort through their catch. A stingray was caught in the net and was carefully thrown back out to sea. The unsellable fish were thrown in the sky, and groups of vultures dived down to try and catch a treat. After the sun had gone down, we went for burritos at a street stall. They were very tasty!

2/6/23

Friday was another chill day, spent in a hammock, reading, playing guitar, and chatting. In the evening, it was drinking games and then family taco dinner, which somehow ended up in going out. Jess, Rom and I, along with some others, went over to a different hostel for beer pong. Rom and I entered last minute, and I was a complete disaster, not potting a single ball. Utter humiliation… Afterwards, Jess and I ended up at a club (bar) at the beach. We danced a lot and ended up making a 2am plan to take a boat trip the following day with a guy we’d met there…

3/6/23

Today was the calm before the storm of Sunday Funday. We chilled in the hostel in the morning, reading in the sun, lounging round the pool, before Jess and I walked into town. We wanted to go bikini shopping in time for the party the following day, but by the time we’d walked into town along the beach, met up with Rom and gone for a coffee, it was time for the boat trip.

We met Orlando in the Bay and then got a taxi boat to the big boat. Dustin, a fun, goofy dancer from the night before, also showed up. It was a nice squad, though the boat was very bouncy because of the big waves. We watched the sunset from the boat while drinking seltzers, listening to music, and watching the waves. Once it began to get dark, we headed back to the bay and waited some time for the taxi boat back. I tried to doze in this time, opening my eyes to see the full moon in all her glory.

Back on land, we thanked Orlando and then all headed to La Reina del Sur, a cheap and very tasty local cafe where you point at everything you want to eat and pay at the end. It’s a good time there! We said or goodbyes and headed back in the hope that we’d be there for beer pong. We were not, but arrived in time to watch a guy from California win pretty much single handedly.

4/6/23

SUNDAY FUNDAAAAY!

After breakfast, where I chatted to a new girl, Stella, along with others, I hung out in the pool with some of the volunteers, beer pong man, Tyler, and Jess. Then, slowly, people started heading into town. Jess, Rom, Stella and I headed in together. We sacked off the first place and instead sat in the air-conditioned supermarket with some tinnies and chatted (a completely normal thing to do here!).

The second place had a pool right on the beach front with a couple of bars and a decent DJ. It felt like I was in a movie. We watched the sun set over the bay. Then we got the bus back to our hostel, the next bar on the crawl. Our chilled hostel had completely changed its vibe into a club one with a big stage and DJ playing electronic music. I spent plenty of time in the pool bouncing around and sometime at the bar doing tequila shots with Stella and Tyler.

We didn’t make the shuttle we wanted, so we crammed five of us in a taxi to get back to town. Arribas Bar was waiting for us, with its Popworld style playsuit, sticky floors, and child thieves lurking on the beach. Jess, Rom, Stella, Tyler, Orlando danced about mingling with various random people. At some point Jess and I looked around to find we were the only gringos left and so we called it at 3am, a solid 12 hours after we’d started. We got a taxi home to sleep.

5/6/23

The bar staff all knew my name this morning, they’d also been out the night before Jess said. Fab. I spent the morning being quite hungover in the pool, followed by spending the afternoon eating barbequed chicken wings in the pool next to Jess and Tyler, who were definitely in the ‘hardly working’ category of digital nomads today!!

At around 14.30, I hauled myself into action and left. The male receptionist tried to tell me that it was not safe to travel to Managua at this time and that I should wait tik the morning, but I’d packed and worked up to leaving all day. I was ruddy well going!

I got a shuttle into town and then got the chicken bus to Rivas, where they waved me out at the side of the road with the shout ‘Managua’ and then left. A few minutes later, another bus came for Managua, and a man grabbed my bag and packed it into the bus. I was off again.

Luckily for me, I made it to Managua before the sun had set. I was dropped at the side of a six lane road and had to hail a taxi. An American woman in my morning shuttle had warned me about shared taxis and the other passengers robbing you, so I was on high alert. A couple wouldn’t take me as they weren’t going that way, but the third one would and only had one other lady inside. My huge backpack filled the remaining seat so no men could come and ruin things! Ha.

I chilled a little in what seemed to be a deserted hostel before venturing out in search of food. The recommended local restaurant paid no attention to me, so I wandered out again and ate pupusas in the supermarket. Then I headed home and chatted to an 18 year old British boy from Winchester for a bit before going to bed.