A Listicle of Costa Rica!

I'm in Panama! But first, a list of things about Costa Rica.

1. Not including bus station transfers, I went to Tamarindo, Montezuma, Manuel Antonio, Dominical, and Puerto Viejo. Puerto Viejo was the only place on the Caribbean coast, and the culture was super different so I'm glad I made the stop.

2. The Caribbean coast is very reggae, and as it turns out, I very much enjoy reggae. Though probably not all the time. 

3. When I got off the bus in Tamarindo, two lovely girls told me they liked the color of my backpack. I asked them if they were staying in a cool hostel, and we hung out and traveled together for the next week. 

4. Our hostel in Tamarindo was full of Venezuelan surfers living in Tamarindo. One of them was studying to be a lawyer, but left Venezuela because "there is no law" (no, I'm not planning on going to Venezuela).

5. The friendly hostel pup hopped into my bed at 6am, so that was a bizarre wake up call.

6. On the drive between Tamarindo and Montezuma, our driver made a sign of the cross before entering a very sketchy, gravely, and pothole filled road. We survived. I hope he made it back to Tamarindo. 

7. There's a pre-sunset light that I have discovered and fallen in love with in Central America. I'm sure there's science behind it, but it's been dubbed "magic light hour". It probably only lasts about two minutes but it makes me really happy.

8. Dropping of my dirty laundry then picking it up as clean made me feel like a new and refreshed human.

9. Montezuma was my adventure town - we did some ziplining and snorkeling and drinking on the beach and hiking to a waterfall. I haven't seen any fuentes on this trip, but I've seen quite a few of nature's fuentes, and I appreciate those.

10. There are a lot of bugs in Costa Rica, and they bite.

11. The towns that we stopped at were generally so small that they only had one ATM. And sometimes those banks are so small that they don't accept all ATM cards! So we had an adventure busing to the next baby town over, and with our fingers crossed, successfully withdrew some dolla dolla billz.

12. Showers and sinks here do not have temperature taps, they simply turn on.

13. In Manuel Antonio we saw SLOTHS and MONKEYS just living their lives, and that was awesome. The park also had the most wonderful beaches that we saw in Costa Rica (from my non-surfer perspective) - soft sand, small to nonexistent waves, and surrounded by jungle.

14. I have been complimented by multiple backpackers at how small my backpack is, and each time I swell with pride. 

15. Most of the "towns" that I went to were actually a single street next to a beach. Dominical was no exception, we stayed in the only hostel and watched the dozens of surfers in the big waves.

16. Puerto Viejo had a few streets, but only one main one. I only spent one night here so I didn't get a full experience, but I sang "No Scrubs" at karaoke and killed it, then we moved onto the reggae clubs which were super fun clubs. 

17. I have now seen crabs move for the first time in their real habitat, and even though I've seen so many that they are probably considered pests, their little scuttle crab walk still cracks me up.

18. There's now a crew of random people that I run into every few days in new cities without planning on it (and some that I plan). One just sauntered into the hostel to check in as I type this.

Crossing the border between Nicaragua and Costa Rica

Tamarindo sunset

a big waterfall after a small hike in Montezuma 

a pig on Isla Tortuga. he buried himself. 

terrified to zipline 

sunset in Tamarindo  

 

A Listicle of San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua

Whew! Sorry team, it's been a whirlwind. There's been a lot of movement, and when I'm in the hostel I'm usually either sleeping or making friends. 

I'm currently in Costa Rica, but first things first - San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua. I intended to stay here for two nights and ended up staying for five. No plan, no problem! Here are some random things:

1. This town is different from the others because it's a surf town. The way of life is much more relaxed and chilled out. Even more so than the other Nica cities - which is saying a lot. When the surf is good, shops are closed. There is a guy who surfs by day and tattoos by night. 

2. Lots of the people here are gringos (white people) who enjoy the laid back lifestyle and just decided to up and move here. 

3. Therefore, the food here isn't typical Nica food, it's much more "gringo". For example, I ate pizza and poutine and a bagel breakfast sandwich (not all in the same sitting).

4. Nica food is gallo pinto (rice & beans mixed together), tortillas, and meat. Sometimes there is also salad involved, which is shredded cabbage on lettuce. 

5. The town is so small, that after five days I could wander around the streets and find people that I've meet before. Literally. Someone called "Shannon!" out the window of a restaurant. 

6. Our hostel provided a shuttle to the various surf beaches. When going to Maderas, there was a crew of us going but I was the only one returning to the hostel because they were staying on the little beach (not a town - there were three buildings - a restaurant, a bar, and a hostel). So the hostel told me they'd be back to pick me up at "maybe 3:30 or maybe 4:30 or maybe 5p". The shuttle was a old, green Toyota pick up truck with benches along the inside of the trunk. So basically I kept an eye out for this green truck that rolled in around 5. When we left I was in the front seat, but on the way back he picked up so many friends and hitchhikers who hopped into the bed of the truck that people were standing in the back. 

7. There are tiny green parrots and monkeys in the trees. While both a cute, both are loud! Howler monkey calls were used as part of the dinosaur roars in Jurassic Park. 

8. The power went out in the entire city for the entire day. Apparently this is relatively common as many restaurants had generators. Shops and hostels did not. 

9. I went surfing! Surfing is not zen. Surfing is hard. I have a new understanding of why surfers are so fit. I do NOT yet understand why their hair is so long - seems like a lot of work to deal with in the water. And the tangles! I received a lesson from a guy named Baldos who teaches surfing and repelling and has lots of patience.

10. Not all the ATMs work. Sometimes they run out of money, sometimes they just don't like the cards.

11. I wasn't the only one to get sucked into SJDS, one of my hostel roomies from Washington state had been there for five weeks and gotten five different impulse tattoos. She returned to the states when I was there and she left me her face wipes. Boom!

12. Pancakes have been served as the free breakfast in all the hostels that I've stayed at! 

13. Even if it's not a club, all the bars play bumping club music. Often, people take off their shoes or just show up without them. 

14. While my stomach has certainly gone through a transition period, so far it's nothing horror story worthy (knock on wood). And travelers certainly have the horror stories. 

15. SJDS has some of the most lovely sunsets I have ever seen. The light stays changing in the sky long after the sun is gone. And it's red!

SJDS sunset

hang ten

the "town" of Maderas

fruit

view from atop a lil mountain

Because every adventure needs an intense hiking story

The island of Ometepe is very tiny and has an even smaller population. It is essentially two volcanos connected by a small strip to land, so the inhabitable space is limited. To get there, we took a shuttle to a ferry to a cab to the hostel. Madera is the smaller volcano and is dormant. Meaning, since it died, wildlife has been able to flourish. In fact, there are five separate eco systems found on the mountain, ranging from dry forest to lagoon to rain forest. I am only giving you this quick history lesson so that you have some context for the below story.

We got up super early, packed our backpacks with a couple huge water bottles, an exta shirt, raincoat (for the top - it's always misty) and met the four Englsh girls that we would be hiking with. They reassured us that they were not expert hikers. I found this comforting because my "hiking experience" was essentially limited to before the age of 12 in Wisconsin with Indian Princesses (now more politically named Celebration Princesses or something like that) or Girl Scouts.

Our guide picked us up from our hostel and we started our trek. I would like to emphasize that it wasn't that our guide picked us up and then shuttled us to the entrance of the hike - our guide walked into the common area of the hostel and we literally walked out the door of our hostel to the top of a volcano.

Therefore, the trek began with some road walking, and some cutting through backyards (what hiking shoes are made for). Eventually we reached the entrance and pad 25 cordobas (one dollar) to enter what appeared to be a random woman's backyard. She and her tiny kids were just chillin', carrying machetes. Duh.

I took to calling the different areas and eco systems "levels". This is likely not even close to scientifically accurate, but I do not care.

Our first level was a plantain plantation. Trees that look like palm trees and received the brunt of the machetes carried by that woman and her children. This level was basically flat. Easy.

Second level reminded me of autumn - dried leaves on the ground and still lots of leaves in the trees. Little more of an incline. Relatively easy. After hour one I had an Usher song running through my head and thought to myself, "I got this."

In the most simplified description, as we ascended, everything became wetter. The third level was more like a jungle. Denser and greener trees, and Howler monkeys who while super cute, have the most terrifying roar that I have ever heard. The ground became steeper and full of large rocks to be traversed.

It was somewhere between level three and four (and hour two-ish, so still early) that some in the group started losing their minds. Lots of yelling "for fucks sake!" and at this point I had Big Sean's angry "I don't fuck witchu! You a stupid ass bitch I ain't fuckin witchu!" in my head, I thought to myself, "it cannot possibly get more difficult than this." I was quite incorrect.

It got harder. Much harder. So much harder. The last two levels and three and a half hours were basically rainforest then lagoon. What does this mean, you ask? 

Mud. And rocks that could qualify as boulders. Slippery, muddy boulders that had to be climbed and traversed without losing balance and plummeting to our death. By the time we got to the last level, we were essentially jumping from slippery boulder to slippery boulder (at a severe incline) OR we were in thick mud puddles up to mid calf that threatened to squish off our boots. By the time we reached this level, there had been three crying meltdowns by girls in the group. I certainly never melted down, but at this point was so exhausted that I have no idea what song was in my head. 

Finally, we reached the crest. One of the unique "selling" points about Madera is that there is now a lake where the crater of lava used to be. We emerged from the vines and mud, looked down into the lake, and a cloud came in. And covered the entire view. Five and a half hours after our initial departure, we were now essentially sitting on a rock in the middle of a cold and misty cloud, mud up to our thighs, eating the sad little ham and cheese sandwiches prepared by our hostel. It was possibly the most anticlimactic quests of my life. BUT I can now say that I've CLIMBED A VOLCANO and no one can take that away from me.

Aaaand then we got to go back down. 

The top two levels were as difficult descending as they were ascending since it was still a game of jumping around slippery muddy boulders. The odds of twisting and ankle or falling down just increased significantly. There were many slips and spills and more crying (again, never by me) and bruises and wasps the size of a fist, and oh yea, a poisonous snake. 

The best part of the whole trek was making it to a lookout point about an hour and a half from the bottom, and watching the sunset next to Concepcion (the other volcano). It was stunning. 

By the time we were crossing through backyards to get back to the hostel, it was pitch black so we were using little flashlights provided by the woman with the machete.

Eleven hours after departing we strolled into the hostel common area looking like mud covered zombies. People were legitimately freaked out. Shots were immediately poured and handed out as one by one we collapsed carelessly onto the bug covered benches. According to my iPhone's health tracker app, I climbed up 263 flights of stairs. To the top of the Sears Tower. Twice! 

While this hiking story paints a bad picture (never again), I have extremely fond memories of Ometepe. The entire island was infected with bugs and critters and the hostel was a step above camping, but the hostel was full of such fantastic people. After finding a tiny frog on the shower head and making myself a semi-presentable human being, we had dinner with a whole new gang of people. A guy doing the peace corp in Nicaragua and his visiting friends, a British and Israeli couple that chooses a new country every year to explore for three months, a few other American wanderers, and German and Swedish university mates on holiday. 

Once we finished eating, we went down by the water where a couple people had built a bonfire. Within minutes, traveling instruments had been busted out and people who had all met in the last 24 hours were singing and jamming together on guitar, ukelele, some kind of Israeli flute/recorder, and a mouth harp. The rest of us laid down on the ground, listening, chatting, laughing, and shooting star gazing. It's infinite moments like this that are exactly why I'm in wanderland. Oh yea, did I mention that I CLIMBED A VOLCANO? 

The view of the crater lake at the top that we had for several seconds before the clouds rolled in.

Not pleased about the clouds. Also not ready to go back down. That walking stick is probably the reason that I am alive today. Thank you, walking stick. Also, those shoes were once a lovely pale gray and pink. 

The lovely sunset on the way back down. Concepcion, the active volcano, is in the background.

Before I left for wanderland, people keep asking me about the purpose of the trip. To hike? Try new foods? "Find" myself? Honestly, I have no real answer to that inquiry. I'm here because I want to be. Because I enjoy being lost and exploring and seeing new & different things. Because pushing the limits of my comfort zone gives me a rush and makes me feel like I'm actually living my life. Because I've met backpackers on other trips who have inspired me and made me think to myself, "damn, I wish I could do that." Because, why CAN'T I do that? And because if not now, when? 

So here I am. I have no idea what I will find. I have no idea if it will be "myself". But so far I've done what I want to do. Because this trip is on my terms. So maybe that is the purpose.

Friday, April 10, 2015

The adventure has begun! I arrived in Managua, Nicaragua on Wednesday afternoon and it has been a whirlwind ever since! My goal is to blog every few days, but with limited wifi and my other goal to make friends and say "yes", I might be slacking sometimes. So don't think that I got kidnapped. Also I'm typing on a baby keyboard so please forgive typos and such.

So far my trip can be considered a great success! I've already tried new things, made new friends, sat on a gorgeous beach, negotiated a taxi, navigated a crazy market, lounged in a hammock, sipped on the national drink of Nicaragua, surprised myself with how easily Spanish escapes from my mouth, taken a picture of a fuente, and more.

I've struggled with deciding what form this blog is going to take - only the funny stories? Only the good? The bad? The ugly? The day to day? Honestly I'm still not sure, so here is a list of random thoughts and observations that I've made in the last two days (in no particular order, but kind of a particular order):

1. Nosebleeds at 3am before a grand adventure are some of the worst timed nosebleeds

2. Despite popular belief, the 76 and 74 buses do NOT run all night

3. Pretty sure I snore on planes

4. Hydration is good and important and airport water bottles are stupid expensive

5. Backpacks trump rolling suitcases

6. Unless your shoulders are a bit sunburned

7. ATMs at Nicaraguan airports do not work

8. Therefore, be sure to always travel with cash dollas

9. The giant line to get out of baggage claim is to prove that the suitcase that you grabbed matches the tag that was given to you when it was originally checked. Therefore, if you did not check a bag, you do not need to actually wait in the 20 minute line (oops)

10. It costs $10 to get through Nicaraguan customs. This is less than cover to some clubs in the United States.

11. It's hot in Nicaragua

12. Granada's Central Park has no grass but is still a cool plaza

13. Granada has no grass

14. Most buildings have an inner courtyard that is open air and often contain hammocks and vegetation, and they are very lovely

15. The best thing that I packed were facial wipes to easily refresh my sweaty face. The pack is only of 10. I will need to acquire more.

16. There is always a spot that you miss covering with sunscreen. For me, it was my inner thighs (oops)

17. The Laguna de Apoyo is not too touristy and is beautiful and super rocky and refreshing and gets real deep real quick 

18. Air conditioning exists in Nicaragua in airports and banks and that is all

19. Outlets for things like phone chargers only work when the light switch is on, so if you expect to charge your phone overnight, you will wake up and it will be low battery

20. A beer here is occasionally cheaper than water. Water is $1.50 at most

21. Getting lost is liberating

22. It's fun not having a plan

23. Toilet paper is not flushed down Nicaraguan toilets, it is disposed of in the trash can next to the toilet. This is surprisingly hard to get used to, as I have thrown toilet paper straight into the toilet literally millions of times. 

24. Sunglasses make the greatest people watching accessory

25. Despite hot temps, many Nicaraguans wear pants

26. I hope to adjust to this temperature eventually as well

27. The national liquor of Nicaragua is rum, and it ain't too shabby

28. Nicaraguan coffee is darker and delicious 

29. Public transit buses within Nicaraguan cities are called "chicken buses" and are used yellow school buses purchased from the States that are painted all funky and awesome by local artists

30. On this keyboard the = key is where the delete key should be so most of what I originally typed has many ==== 

Today is my last day in Granada, then off to Ometepe!