Costa Rica or Cost a Rica still the Pura Vida

The border crossing from Nicaragua to Costa Rica was fairly easy with the exception of getting to the border right behind 2 buses entering Nicaragua and then getting to the Costa Rica side right after 2 buses entering there!  So 3 hours later we were happily on our way.

I understand why people love and rave about Costa Rica, it is green and it is lush, it is beautiful and exotic and yet very familiar (with all of the same stores or at least recognizable imitations on every corner).  Crossing the border the air changed, it was wetter and smelled greener.  Our first stop in the country was the Nicoya Peninsula to a little beach called Garza, the road for the most part was great until we got to the last 20K. 

The Nicoya Peninsula is the “rough part” of the country, here it is “less developed” than other places, but at the same time it is quainter, more country. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the way to our hotel we got a chance to meet some of the locals and Fritz got a chance to use one of his toys that we have been carrying from LA… it helped them out and we learned how to use it, then it started to pour!

After driving up and down the same stretch of road 3 times (stopping 2 times to ask for directions in 40 feet because of the rain), we finally found our hotel/hostal (Hotel Playa Garza) with rooms from $45 a night (which in Costa Rica is a deal), a pool (which I have wanted since we left El Salvador) and right across the street from the beach, oh and they take doggies!  After our road and less than comfortable accommodations in Nicaragua I had booked 4 nights sight unseen and we were very happy about it! Not only was the room great but Juri the owner is from Italy and cooks awesome pizzas and pastas, a feast every night!  This was such a welcome treat because the 7 Kilometers of road between us and the next town was more than we could handle after dark!

Besides being beautiful and green in Costa Rica it is also very rainy in the summer months, it has rained every day from between 30 minutes to 2 hours (we hear it will get worse in June and July) and it is full of Ex-Pats.  Much like Bucerias and Lake Chapala in Mexico and San Pedro in Guatemala we are more likely to be speaking Spanish to someone who a) doesn’t speak Spanish or b) speaks Spanish as a second language (and English better than Spanish) then to someone who is from here.  It is also similar in that the signs are in both English and Spanish (or just English) and there are more Coldwell Banker and Century 21 signs than any other signs on the street.  In case you are interested a 1 bed condo here goes for between $120K and $250K US and a house… well that is in the ½ a million range!

San Juan… Nicer roads and more people

We cruised easily into San Juan taking the main road from Rivas 15 Kilometers (after the hour drive on unpaved roads) to the turn off which took us another 30 Kilometers on paved road back down to the coast.  It might be nice for the Nicaraguan government to put in a coastal road but then again that it just my suggestion.

San Juan is the party place for 20 somethings looking for cheap drinks, marijuana and hostals.  We tried 4 nicer hotels with pools who were booked up or not interested in our mongrels before we found the “Cork Beach Hostal” no pool but a nice courtyard where we and our doggies could rest up for a few days.

We spent the first day getting settled in, eating and drinking liter Tonas, and discussing our next moves.  After 4 days of rough roads and rough accommodations, moving every day and not feeling quite comfortable we needed the down time.  We moved our mattress as well as our fridge into the room so we had access to ice cold beer and could sleep on something that didn’t resemble a lumpy floor, and rested.

We didn’t even move the next day, we drove the short drive down to Playa Hermosa (apparently the actual beach our friend Harry had recommended) but didn’t even look around before driving back, taking a dip in ocean and then curling up with a book for the rest of the day.  Our only venture out was to see if we could find boogie boards, which we did find for the horrific price of $250 EACH!

Feeling rested after a day out of the car and less stressed as I had booked 11 days in Costa Rica at two different spots, we decided to spend our last full day in Nicaragua driving to Managua to visit PriceSmart (it is the Central American version of Costco) to see if we could find some less expensive boards.  We hit the road at 7 a nice early start with the plan of getting there and back by 12:00.  At 10ish we were just outside of Managua when we got stopped at our first police road block (we had been waived through three prior to this).  I reached over to grab my note book with the car paper work and our copies of our driver’s licenses and passports only to realize in horror, it WASN’T there!!!!  Fritz had moved it out of the car to keep it safe and not brought it back!!!  So ½ an hour later (and $20 poorer) we continued onto Managua.

Just into Managua there was another police blockade, they motioned us over, but then we were passed by an Ambulance so Fritz thought that was all and that we could continue on our way… WRONG!  Five minutes later a very frustrated police officer (on what looked like a moped) pulled over next to us and motioned us off to a side street.  I knew we were in hot water this time, not only had we run from the law but we didn’t have any of proper paperwork for the truck.  I immediately got out of the truck and did the only thing I could think of doing, I started to cry.  The poor police officer didn’t understand why I was so upset, and I explained that we were lost, that I hadn’t wanted to come to Managua, I was scared and now we had done something wrong and I didn’t know what it was.  He told me to translate to my husband to ALWAYS STOP when he sees policemen, to ALWAYS CARRY the paperwork, and to take better care of me, he handed him back his license and off we went with no fine paid.

We found the PriceSmart but they didn’t have boogie boards, safely back in our Hostal (now at 2 PM) I had a couple of Mojitos!

The thing about really, really, really bad roads is…

Once when my family and I were on a trip, my mom consulted her map and decided that there was a short cut we could take, I sighed exasperated and said “great another misadventure” knowing that a short cut on the map might take us twice as long as the good road we were avoiding.

Before we left Guatemala we were happy to download street maps of Central America on to Greta, and also to find maps of El Salvador, Nicaragua, Panama and Costa Rica.  The map we had been using is the Automobile Club Central and South America and while it gives you a general idea the level of detail got us lost more than once in Guatemala. In El Salvador our new map worked great and with Greta I could verify that we were where I thought we should be so between the two we zipped along down the coast.

As we moved south from Puerto Sandino to Masachapa we discovered that we had to go back in land before returning to the coast at La Boquita and Huehuete, from there we, according to my map could easily drive through Veracurz and then to Popoyo.  We found out in Hehuete that the road was impassable and would again have to drive the 30 K back to the main road go 10 or so K down the coast and then turn it to get to Popoyo.  We checked this as we left Huehuete with the policeman who stopped us and he confirmed what the map said, his directions matched exactly what I was seeing both on Greta and the map, good paved roads from Jinopete all the way down the coast to Popoyo.

We took the road down to the coast and for the first 20 or so Kilometers it was great and paved, a really nice road, what we didn’t know was that it ended in La Conquista about 30 K short of where we needed to be.  We asked the locals (many of whom were toting shot guns) on the side of the road if this would get us to Veracruz and they all said sure no problem, once in Veracruz though we found a dead end, no people and just a few monkeys.  We continued on the track we were driving on and the road got worse, we stopped for a tree in the road and considered turning around but we were 30 K in and only 10 K from where we needed to be, so Fritz removed the tree and we continued on. 

 

After coming to a locked fence, and back tracking we ran in to some locals who told us to take the “rock road” and that we would be in Popoyo in about 5 K… About 20 minutes later we met up with this truck, they stopped and one guy (who spoke perfect English) asked us if we had stopped at the surf camp in Veracruz (we didn’t see it), gave us his card and told us about a great little break we could surf at the next day!  He was a developer of course and traveled with a guard with a shotgun (but we shouldn’t worry about him because now he knows who we are!)

We got to Popoyo, stayed in the worse place yet, but by that time, neither of us cared they served cold beer and we had great rum!  The next day it was back up to the main road (on a better road this time) and on to San Juan del Sur, thankfully on paved roads (after another 30 K on wonderfully just bad roads).  The best thing about really, really, really bad roads is that they make you appreciate any road all that much more!

 

 

Playa Hermosa… It’s pretty hard to find a place to stay

We left Granada with the idea of going to Omptepe an island in Lake Nicaragua, but after consulting our map and realizing how close it is to Coasta Rica we decided to head up to a beach that was recommended by our friend Harry O’Rourke from El Salvador.  He had mentioned a place called Playa Hermosa a very quiet “tranquillo” beach a bitown south of Leon so we headed off to check it out. 

We hit a dirt road (which on our map was a “major road”) that finally took us to the beach in a small little port town just north of Playa Hermosa, we found a hotel but the beach wasn’t very nice so we decided to push on.  We saw a sign for a “Surf Camp” and Hostal so off we went, only to find it closed.  We continued on and asked some locals if there was another hotel and they said the only other place that would have a hotel was El Transito, which was about 15 kilometers away on a very bumpy dirt road, on the way we passed a beautiful resort with condos for sale that made us wonder when they were going to fix the road.  We arrived in El Trasito around 2 PM and saw signs for a hotel with $15 rooms, when we arrived the woman there showed me the room, a bed, no windows, no fan, no air and a bathroom across the parking lot.  I wasn’t impressed but thought that it would do for a night, and then she told me it was $60 dollars a night.  I couldn’t believe it, this dumpy room was $60 a night?  Talk about gouging the tourist, I told her she was CRAZY and that I would find another hotel.

Two hours later we realized the reason for the excessive pricing, all the other hotels were closed for the season, so with little hope of finding better accommodations we headed back to the resort, and if they wouldn’t take us we would return to the first hotel (about an hour away).  We went to the resort but were informed that they were also closed, but there was a place right next door with cabanas and that we should try there.  I knocked on the gate and the workers there went to find Aaron the owner to see if he could but us up for the night. 

Aaron moved to Nicaragua from Canada 7 months ago and during that time he has built a house, restaurant and two very charming cabanas.  His goal is to open a small surf hotel and he is well on his way to making it come true.  The cost for this was only $35 a night!  And he is very dog friendly, once again a great find! 

That night for dinner we were joined by an interesting group of extrajeros, one couple who run a travel/tour/surf/volunteer operation called Solid Surf, and another couple who are building a condo in the area.  The dinner was excellent, and the conversation very interesting.  We had thought about staying a couple of nights but unfortunately the neighbors had chickens, and Haole decided they looked like toys, so instead of risking damage to the chicken population, we decided to move south yet again, still trying to find a place we enjoy as much as El Salvador.

 

Sometimes Expectations are more than reality… But Monkeys make EVERYTHING better!

We spent our second day in Nicaragua in a rural setting.  The hotel was the Eco Posada a “sustainable” hotel that focuses on the environment and not using more than is needed.  During our dinner there I asked the owner about things like solar electricity and water catchment, she said that they were planning on doing water catchment because the government had recently implemented a program to bring electricity to the rural areas and that now they didn’t feel the need to focus on solar.  It was a question of where their resources would do the most good.

Our drive to Granada was shorter than expected we arrived a little after 11, and while I was hopping out to see about a hostel, Fritz was chatting to an American, I quickly returned to the truck to find out if he knew a place that would have parking and take our dogs… Score he did!  We were quickly settled into the Casa Cubana, a great little boutique hotel http://casacubanagranada.com/ that we loved!  The owner is an over lander whose camper is currently parked in Peru and he is returning to it at the end of the month. 

We took a quick tour around the town to get a bite to eat.  It is a cute little colonial town with a large cathedral and central park.  Leading toward the lake is “restaurant row” a well paved street lined with everything from “O’Shea’s Irish Pub” to “Comida Tipica Y Mas”. 

Once we found a place to eat in the shade (did I mention how hot Granada is?), we were approached by a man who quickly told us he was a street artist but his paints had been stolen the night before, he proceeded to tell us a poem and Fritz gave him a couple Cordoba and he went on his merry way.   

That evening we ventured out again, we went to a bar on “the strip” and soon a young man came by to offer me a rose made out of palm fronds, not wanting to encourage the begging/hustling of the kids (because it results in them dropping out of school) I tried to say no, but he was too cute and had too good of a gift of gab…”oh Patricia is a lovely name”, “in school we study about the environment that is why I make you a cricket”.  After he left there was another young man who told us how his flute had been broken and now he could not perform on the streets for tips.  Around this time we were discussing where we would go to next as Grenada had definitely made us a bit sour. 

In the morning after a great breakfast at the Hotel we decided to do a day trip to the Masya Volcano and the Laguna Apoyo.  The volcano last erupted this last April so much of the park was closed, but we did get to see the smoke billowing up from the crater.

 

The Laguna Apoyo was more interesting, it is the cleanest water in Nicaragua, and to protect it they do not allow motorized vehicles on the lake.  We at lunch at a restaurant nestled in the hill where Howler Monkey’s with their babies entertained us!  Our day trips made us like the area much more, and appreciate the people as well.

 

Two borders in one day is one border too many!

We left our beach paradise in El Salvador early on Sunday.  We figured Sunday would be a good day to cross the border, especially early before the holiday vacationers were up (Friday was Mother’s day). We had heard that Honduras could be tricky, that the border was a mess and that once across it we would be playing stop and pay with the police.   The border was actually straight forward, it was long and there was a lot of back and forth between buildings (and a 2 kilometer stretch of no man’s land) but it was quicker than Guatemala and Mexico. 

We went through 3 police road blocks, where we signaled over and asked for our papers.  I am not sure if it is our age, our truck or the fact that I use these police check points to make sure that we are going the right way, which completely confuses the policeman as now he has to think, look at my map and confirm my directions, but we didn’t have to show our triangles (which we bought in El Salvador) or our fire extinguishers, and Fritz was really upset that I told him to wear shoes. Every police officer we met was friendly and helpful and not one bribe or fine asked for!

The Nicaraguan border was longer and more complicated mostly because of the dogs which meant another office to visit and more fees to pay but after 3 hours we were done and on our way.  Finding hotel however proved more difficult.  The plan was to drive to Esteli, but after 9 hours in the car (ok 4 hours driving and 5 at borders) I was done, get me a beer and a pool and preferably some air conditioning.  The first 4 hotels we stopped at said no to the dogs or were full, but the 5^th hotel was blissfully empty, would take the doggies and had a pool, wifi and AIR!  Score! 

At the crack of 8 we were on our way to Esteli, a quick 2 hour drive on good roads and 1 hour on 8 miles of bad road.  The Sustainable Tourism Hotel was great, we played with the cows, went for a hike and swam (ok waded) in the waterfall pool.  All and all a great stop that I would recommend to anyone in Nicaragua.  After cooling off in the mountains it was off to Granada…

SUP in La Tortuga Verde

About the last things that we bought for our trip were two Stand Up Paddle Boards, our goal was to learn to use them on the trip.  We had gone out to a local Harbor and tried exactly two times before making the purchase.  We thought we would use them in Baja, nope to damn cold.  We got them out in Bucerias and that was fun, we thought they would be useful in Oaxaca, the waves were too big and we only used them once.  I even chose Fritz’s language school based on its proximity to a lake, but the lake was too cold so they have sat on the roof of our tuck more than being in the water where they belong.

When we got to the Tortuga Verde we finally had a place to use them again.  Every other time had been in extremely clam water so this was going to be a challenge.  The first day we paddled around in the white wash on our knees just getting the feel of it, every few feet we were thrown off, the boards did a nose dive, or even if we did stay on the waves pushed us back toward shore. 

The second day of playing was basically the same for me (hey I didn’t care it was still great fun), but Fritz finally got outside the waves and was actually using them the way they were supposed to be used!  I ran up the beach, dragging the board behind me to get the camera, and when I finally got it he was walking calmly out of the water! 

On the third day we both had success, we got out beyond the waves and were both able to stand up.  What a great feeling, both going up and over the huge waves (ok the picture shows they are only about 2 feet but to us they felt 20 feet high) and then being outside the waves standing up and paddling. 

It was scary as well, the distance from the shore wasn’t the only thing concerning me, the 7 or so jellyfish were also pretty scary, and great motivation NOT to fall off the board.  That was also the first “wave” I rode in, although on my knees, it didn’t matter, I was hooked!

 

We went out again and Jessica, a woman staying at the Tortuga Verde was nice enough to take these pictures for us.  It is also great motivation to get back out there!

 

 

We found it… Paradise

We left El Tunco twice, the first time we were about ½ an hour away when it dawned on me we had forgotten a pot!  I am not leaving one of my 2 pots behind so we retraced our steps and made it out by 11, a late start for us.

We had an idea of where we were going but as the beach known as Flores wasn’t on a map (or known by Greta) we set off with more of a general idea and not a final destination. I saw a sign to a beach that was mentioned in the Lonely Planet Central America (I finally got a copy a week before we left Guatemala), and turned down the road.  The road ended at a couple of little restaurants and a couple of hotels that were either closed or abandoned, we couldn’t tell which. 

We let the dogs out to finally get a walk and go pee and were greeted by no less than five barking dogs, our once frantic dog attacking dogs that we had problems walking on the strand, calmly walked past the them and didn’t even pay them any attention, they are getting so good! 

We asked the locals if there was a nice hotel around, we had a recommendation to look for a guy named something O’Rourke who worked at a hotel but considering we weren’t sure where we were, we figured that finding him would be slim to none.  We took the locals recommendation and found a great little spot called the “Green Tortuga”, right on the beach, still undergoing construction but for $35 a night (and they took the dogs) possible less if we don’t use the air, and a pool we were in. 

As always we booked it for a night, just to see if it is really as good as it appeared and went to check out the beach.  The waves are much smaller here than in Tunco, maybe two feet high, the beach is flat and sandy and there is a nice breeze from the west, basically it is perfect. 

 

As we settled in and got our modem hooked up, we met a kid from New York, he has been here for four months working on social marketing for the hotel, after a bit of conversation I asked him his last name, O’Rourke!  Once again we found the place we were supposed to be, quite by chance.

The next morning during low tide we decided to brave the waters and took the boards out for our first open ocean experience (ok we went out in Puerto Vallarta but that is a very calm bay).  We never got past the first round of breakers but had so much fun we decided to stay a few more days.  This is the first place we’ve visited that makes us think… there is hotel down the road for sale, and if the price is right we may just stay!

What matters most…?

As we have been traveling around we find that our favorite places to stay have one thing in common.  The rooms are all about the same (with a few exceptions), some have had pools, others haven’t, some have been on beaches or lakes and others in cities, but the thing that makes traveling great is meeting great people. 

Many people come down to El Salvador for this…

Fritz likes El Salvador for this…

And I liked El Salvador for this…

But truly the reason the reason we both had such a good time in El Salvador was that we met a great group of people who welcomed us with open arms, even though we don’t surf, and even with the language barrier, we still met so many great people that we will keep in touch with forever.