Monday April 30 to Thursday May 3
San Juan del Sur is a Nicaragua´s most popular surfing desitination on the Pacific Coast. It is so popular that a whole 18,000 people live there. So its about the same size as my neighborhood back home in Mclean VA. We had just arrived in town with our friends Jessie and Mark and wandered about (or aboot if you are from the Toronto area) looking for a place to crash. The town is small and easy to walk around so we obviously had to visit every hotel in town. It appears that our friends are as decisive as us when it comes to making decisions about anything. So after two hours we choose a small room with a shared bath at Casa Azul. (althought I do not think there was any blue in the place).
It is now dinner time and we need comida (food) and rapido (fast). In an effort to find food we look for a happy hour and some drink specials. We went to Big Wave Daves but he offerd no specials. No thanks Dave we will spend our Cordobas elsewhere. The place to be is Republika with 2 for 1 Ron (Rum) drinks from 6:30 to 8:30 and hey it´s 6:25. YEAH!
We grab a table outside and start with some cuba libres. After a couple we realize they are not that strong so I run back to the room and grab our gatoraide bottle that is full of Flor de Cana 7 year rum from Nicaragua. I highly recommend this Rum to anyone who can get their hands on it and if my friends are lucky, and I do not drink it all, I will bring some home. So the next couple of drinks get spiced up a bit with some extra rum from our stash. The bar does not serve food so Kay and Mark run up the block and get some street BBQ and bring it back to the bar. Now at home they would have kicked us out for bringing in our own food but here they brought us napkins, salt and pepper. Very Nice (In the Borat voice please).
After a combined 16 drinks and a whole $9 bucks spent we decide to go to the beach and see whats going on. It is a full moon tonight and figure people will be out having a good time. Along the way we grab a couple of liters of Victoria beer and make our way to the ocean. On the beach we notice a fire going up the way and join about 15 other people hanging out drinking on the beach. It was like a scene out of some movie with all these people on the beach playing music, drinking, smoking and talking under a full moon in Nicaragua. Very cool. We ended up staying up way past our bedtime and drinking 3 more liters of beer. By the time we get home it is around 3am, this is a guesstimate (nice corporate word huh) because none of us can remember what time it really was.
The next morning is a bit rough and we have to catch a van for a very bumpy 45 minute ride to Maderas beach where we will try and surf. We get a friendly wake up knock at 9am from Jessie and Mark because the van leaves at 10am. This is when Kay and I realize that we are not 19 anymore and cannot hang with the kids like we did last night. I seriously contemplate not going and laying in bed all day. After a nice cold shower, not that I had a choice, I start to feel better and we pack up our stuff and head out to the van. Mark rents a surf board but I decline because my stomach is doing enough surfing already.
The van ride to Maderas makes me sweat and I am happy when we arrive. The beach is very secluded and only has one place to stay. It does not seem to have a name so I will call it the Surf Shack because that is what it is. We secure a 4 bed dorm room for 5 bucks each. For this price we get no electricity, no food, no running water and an outhouse 100 yards away but it is on the beach. We sit in the sun and dehydrate ourselves some more while Mark hits the surf. After some rehydrating salts I feel better and decide to borrow another guys long board and hit the waves. Suprisingly after a little while I am able to stand for a second or so and get very excited. Watch out Laird Hamilton a new big wave guy is on the scene. The waves here form perfectly and are only 3-5 feet which is great for a beginner. Now that I am completely exhausted I head in for a nap.
As it starts to get dark we realize we cannot survive on Oreos and Pringles alone. Mind you we have tried but it is just not cutting it. We have been told that up the beach there is another hostel where we can find food and past that a little food place where we can also try. We walk up the beach to Crazy Daves and he is serving some spanish food at a fixed price that is not so appetizing so we walk another 15 minutes over rock and beach to a place that will serve us grilled chicken and beef. The catch is we have to wait 30 minutes until their religious meeting is over. Not kidding. It is ok though because they have electricity and we can play some dominos.
The food is great but we realize we have about a mile walk back to our place and do not look forward to it. We finally get there and climb into our beds, have some Oreos that Jessie put on our pillows to make it feel like we are at a nice hotel and fall asleep laughing like we are at camp.
The next morning we are up with sun and jump into the surf for a swim. After some chips and Oreos for breakfast I´m feeling like a champ and grab Marks short board and head into the surf. After a frustrating hour or so I pull myself out of the waves and head back to the house. A little bit later when I look at the board I notice it is missing a fin. I am pretty sure there were three when I went in the water but now there is two. Oh no! I tell Mark and the four of us look along the beach for it but cant find it. Mark thinks the glazing just came loose and it fell off in the waves. No matter what happend I will have to pay for the repairs.
The van finally picks us up and we try to get back to the surf shop without saying anything about the board. As usual they notice and say you have to pay for this and thows out a ridiculous price of $50 bucks. I do not think the board is worth that much. Before we can say anything he starts to insult Mark and says you do not know how to surf because you are from Canada (insert the Blame Canada song from the South Park movie). After a few insults back and forth and us restraining Jessie and Kay we pay $10 bucks and leave.
We end up back at our same room from the night before and drop off some clothes at the laundry shop. We have decided to buy some food and have a picinic and some drinks on the beach at sunset. It sounds like a great idea but turns into us making mixed drinks on the beach until late and then going to the same BBQ place for a late night run of fried food. Drinking this much before a travel day is asking for trouble. San Juan del Sur has been great but it is time to go.
Surfs Up
Frank
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