We were all worried that the bus journey would be arctic, Tica Bus are known for their love of AC, so we all made sure to grab jumpers out of our bags. We needn’t have worried...the AC broke leading to an absolute sweat fest! The windows don’t open and we were not allowed to stop and change our clothes until we reached the Nicaraguan border! On reaching the border, customs and immigration were lucky enough to witness a mass striptease! So on the way back to Tegus, I thought I’d be smart and wear slightly cooler clothes, just in case...huge error. The AC was back with a vengeance and I shivered all the way home! You can’t win!
We arrived in Managua around 7pm and no one wanted to spend a night there so we decided to get a cab and split the cost; $80 between 4 of us for a 2 ½ hour journey, a deal improved by the fact that he stopped for McDonalds and rum. The frustrating thing about buses in Central America is that they don’t travel over night, which means travel time is always significantly longer, as you have to spend nights in cities you much rather wouldn’t!
Finally we got to San Juan del Sur and realised we weren’t entirely sure where the others were staying so we ended up staying one night in Casa de Oro. We eventually found the others and paid our first visit of many to Iguana Bar.
On Wednesday we moved into Casa de Olas...the best decision ever made! Genuinely the best hostel I have ever stayed in! Owned by an Australian couple, Carla and Fred/Mum and Dad, it is amazing – an infinity pool, a monkey, nice rooms, a projector/Netflix account, free pancakes for breakfast, family meals in the evening, amazing views, free WiFi and hardly any other guests. That evening we had a Nicaraguan style BBQ for supper and then went to Iguana Bar again. It was ladies night so the girls drank free from 10-12!
On Thursday, Paddy, Johnny, Luke, Jake and I went diving. I signed up without really knowing what I was in for; the Pacific is a hell of a lot colder than the Caribbean and the visibility was 7m instead of 30m! We were going to dive the wreck of a Russian shrimp boat which the boys had convinced themselves was a Russian submarine. It was perfect for me as with my open water I’d only been to 18m. I have only ever stepped off a boat, so rolling in backwards was exciting for me. The water was absolutely freezing, especially as we only had 3mm wetsuits! I am definitely a fair weather diver; warm water, blue skies and good visibility and I’m happy. I won’t be diving in the UK any time soon. On the first dive I saw some spotted Eagle rays which were great, however, I was having massive difficulties with my BCD; I couldn’t control my buoyancy in the water. I was bobbing around a few metres above our guide when suddenly my BCD self inflated and I shot to the surface! Luckily it was only about 16m, as any deeper and it could have been really dangerous! So I bobbed around on the surface until the boat came to get me, had to switch BCD’s at the surface (a PADI skill coming in useful) and then, as I didn’t have much air, waited for the boys to surface. When they did come up, they were blue! We all made it back into the water successfully for the wreck. It was great; I saw a huge jellyfish, lots of puffer fish and Johnny took my first underwater diving picture. We could have been down there for 45 minutes but after about 15, I was shivering and had to come up. At $80, for the boys, who have dived a lot in the past, it probably wasn’t worth it, but it was a good experience for me. Thursday evening lead from delicious crumbed chicken at the hostel, to another fun filled night in Iguana Bar as Codie and Emma had arrived from Granada that afternoon.
All the Aussies, minus Bree and Tim, left for Costa Rica on Friday, which was sad. On Friday evening, I had supper with Codie and Em and then Codie and I went to the Black Whale where a really good reggae band was playing.
On Saturday, we had lasagne for supper and then went to Casa de Oro to watch Bree’s friend Stu, play guitar and sing and then to a foam party. I hate foam parties. There is nothing enjoyable about them whatsoever. This one was even worse, as it was on the beach front, so it was a horrible mixture of sand and foam!
On Sunday afternoon, Sarah, Tim and I hiked to the top of the hill behind the hostel. It was worrying how much of a struggle it was! That evening, Fred made homemade burgers and we stayed in and watched films all evening. (5th night off)
As you can see, there is not much recorded daytime activity. This is because when staying in a hostel like Casa de Olas...it is very difficult to drag yourself away from the pool. It’s a little way out of town and so it requires rather a lot of energy to get up and go somewhere! On Tuesday, we were finally persuaded to leave the hostel and go to the beach...worst decision ever! We were going to get a free lift, but ended up paying, it was so windy that there were constant sand storms and the beef tacos that Sarah and I shared gave us food poisoning as no one had told us that they have no means of refrigerating the meat! The day was made better by the fact that Fred cooked us all a full on English roast – chicken, roast potatoes, Yorkshire pudding, roast carrots, broccoli, roast pumpkin, stuffing and gravy! Amazing! I ignored the food poisoning and just ate it anyway...perhaps not a good idea but it was delicious! As it was our last night, I tried to ignore the food poisoning yet again and go out...I made it until around 1am and then felt horrific and went home.
On Wednesday, Tim and I finally dragged ourselves out of the black hole that is San Juan and made it back to Managua, in order for me to catch a bus home and for Tim to catch the first of many flights back to Oz.
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