Scuba Diving on Utila Island

Tuesday, January 29 thru Sunday, February 3, 2013

Whatever kid dreamed of being an astronaut, should have really considered scuba diving as well. Heck, scuba diving is as awesome as being a superhero! You've got your body suit (your wetsuit), your super power (breathing under water) and you fly over a world beneath you. Only thing missing is a cape!

Diving in Utila seems like a blur to me because it was so tremendous! The time flew by while we were there because I was having so much fun!

I will never forget my first scuba dive as it is was a huge check mark onto my life's bucket list. All my life, I have been a fish. My sister and I were the kids that could be in the water all day long. I have always wanted to be able to breathe under water so that I could spend more time under the surface.

Up until a week ago, that was only feasible in my dreams. I cannot tell you how many dreams I have where I can breathe under water through slow and deep breaths. My dreams came to life when I put my mask on, regulator in my mouth hand on my weight belt and stepped my flippers off the back of the boat. After signaling an ok to my instructor, doing a series of surface checks, we began our descent. I let the air out of my buoyancy control device (the big vest we wear that holds the air tank) and slowly sunk below the surface. As I descended I equalized my ears here and there to prevent that pressure you feel at the bottom of a pool. That was one thing I was worried about, but it was actually really easy. All I had to do was plug my nose and blow my ears out like when you're on an airplane or when you have water in your ear.

Before I knew it, we were kneeling on the bottom of the reef in a small white sandy patch. The world around me was silent, blue and absolutely serene. I swayed slightly with the ocean's waves while I waited for Nicki and my instructor, Kevin, to join me. Once Nicki's ears equalized alright, they joined me and we ran through our list of skill tests that we had to do. We had to practice things such as removing our mask, putting it back on and emptying the water, or throwing our regulator to the side and recovering it. We practiced out of air and using our partner's alternate air source regulator, and other skills to prepare us for anything that could go wrong. Once we got through our to-do list, we were able to head out for some sight seeing. One thing they want students to learn quickly is buoyancy control. If properly weighted, a diver should be able to control their up and down with their breaths, all while swimming horizontally on your belly. It was so cool to control all of that with my lungs as I watched the crazy world just beneath me.

Before diving, I had gone snorkeling a couple times to supposedly beautiful reefs and never really thought that highly of them because they seemed so far away and solely green. Diving, is a way more up close and personal experience with the sea life. The colors were incredible and the diversity in the species were awesome!

Kevin pointed out a lot of cool things like a Christmas Tree anemone that hang out on that brain looking sea sponge or coral. He signaled for us to watch and when he got his hand near it, he snapped and they sucked close and disappeared. I was so wowed by it, along with other great sights under water and all I could do was give the ok sign or the rock on hands. I wish I had a microphone to voice the excitement going on in my mind! Kevin handed us a conch shell with a snail in it and I got to see his little eyes looking out at us. We also got to hold a sea cucumber which was like a giant tomato worm basically. Like a foot long and pretty heavy. They start out long and soft on the bottom until you touch it, and then it shrinks up and becomes very dense.

Throughout the whole dive, I was wishing that my eyes were a camera! I did my best to save as many mental photos as I could. Our dive came to an end and we ascended to the surface and filled our BCDs to float. Before I even inflated, I ripped my regulator out of my mouth and exploded with excitement. You could tell that Kevin was happy that I liked it so much.

We climbed back onto the boat, waddled our way to the bench and boated to our next dive location. My second dive was just as enjoyable as my first and I couldn't wait to get back to tell Niki.

Our dive boat returned to the dock at Alton's and we learned how to rinse the salt water off our gear by dipping and dunking into different detergent bins. Once my gear was taken care of and put away I went back to the room where Niki was relaxing after her morning dive. "What'd ya think?" she asked. The next couple minutes was me going on and on about my awesome experience and how I am hooked. Niki laughed with every story I told her because she knew I would love it.

The rest of our time at Alton's was consumed with relaxing and class time in the morning, followed by afternoon dives, and dinner and drinks at night.

We got to visit a really cool bar called Treetanic which was a treetop bar that is covered with mosaics from top to bottom. I heard that the guy has been working on all the mosaic pieces around the property for some eighteen years or something like that. I was sure to return during the day and snap as many pics as I could.

My last dive with Kevin, I was thrilled to get some under water photos. Kevin was nice enough to bring his underwater camera and let me use it the whole dive. When we got back from diving, he loaded them onto his computer and put them on one of my SD cards. Such a nice guy!

On Friday, Niki and I decided to book two more fun dives and stay an extra day. Erin and Nicki were sort of over the diving, so they took off on Saturday morning for El Salvador. Saturday morning, Niki and I got to dive together for the first time. I was now open water certified and I was free from having to do skills anymore. On our dive together, within the first two minutes of diving, we got to see a sea turtle! I was so excited to see such a peaceful animal just kind of "fly" away from us nice and slowly. We also got to see a really big lion fish, along with a ton of other creatures.

As we ascended from our last dive on Utila island, I tried to soak in every last second of the ocean because I had no idea when I'd get to dive next. The reef looked smaller and smaller as I got closer to the surface and popped my head back into the sunlight.

We got back to the dive center and headed out for our last baleada. A "baleada" was a new food that our friend Taylor from South Africa had shown us. It's basically just a big tortilla smothered with refried beans and then stuffed with veggies and a kind of cabbage slaw and then folded in half and toasted. Best part about this one plate meal was that it only cost about $1.50! After discovering baleadas, we ate them for lunch and dinner every day.

After dinner, we went back to our room to get ready for the beach party at night that everyone had been talking about on the island. Four times a year, they throw this party on the beach and we just so happened to be there at that time. It cost five dollars to get in, which also got us a wristband for a free drink. Within the gates of the party, weird techno music blared from the speakers, laser lights danced across our bodies and the floor, the smell of weed filled the air, body paint streaked across people's chests and faces and EVERYONE had at least one drink in their hand. It was definitely an experience to say the least. I had fun with the couple drinks I had, but definitely not as much fun as the people tripping on God knows what kind of drugs?!

Our plan of catching the six a.m. ferry off the island was slowly falling apart, as it was already two thirty or three when our heads hit the pillows. The alarm rang Sunday morning and we quickly silenced it, and settled for leaving on the two o'clock ferry instead.

We returned to La Ceiba, the ferry town on the mainland by about three, where we caught a bus to San Pedro Sula. By the time we got there, it was getting late, and probably dangerous to continue on, so we got a hotel there and locked ourselves in for the night. The young guy at the front desk attempted to get us takeout for dinner, but had no luck because everything was closed on Sunday. We settled with Pringles, Gatorade, pistachios and popcorn for dinner and fell asleep to American movies with dubbed in Spanish voices. Ah, the sweet life of traveling!

Photos:
1) Me at 18 meters
2) Treetanic Bar
3) Treetanic Bar
4) Treetanic Bar
5) Alton's Dockside Rooms
6) Alton's Dock
7) Me, Beto, Niki & Federico
8) Utila street
9) Our bunk room

Welcome to Utila

Monday, January 28, 2013

When my alarm went off Monday morning, I bet that I would have had a lot more pep in my step, had I known what the island would be like that I was about to be on in less than four hours.

Because it was just a quick and overnight stay, our backpack was still packed and all we had to do was roll up our sleep sacks, brush our teeth, and head out to the curb. At seven o'clock, our cab driver had arrived and we waited for Nicki and Erin to meet us. After a couple minutes, Niki ran upstairs to see what they were doing while I stood at the curb with the cab. The cab driver tried to pipe up a conversation with me and I apologized and told him that I don't speak much Spanish. A quick minute later, Niki came back outside and said, "They'll be down in five, they are just getting up." Apparently their alarm didn't go off, so we laughed as they came down sleepy eyes and rushed.

A ten to fifteen minute cab ride put us at the ferry docks for Utila island. According to word of mouth and our travel books, Utila island was supposed to have great scuba diving and I was so excited to see for myself. We went to the ticket window and found that the next ferry didn't leave until 9:30, so we had some time to kill. For a steep price of about twenty five U.S. dollars, we purchased our ferry tickets and walked to get some breakfast. Coming in the service drive to the docks, we had passed a small cafe, so we headed that way.

The diner was small, smaller than Olden Days Cafe in Fowlerville and the local guards that were eating their morning breakfast and reading the newspaper looked at us as we walked in with our big backpacks and took a seat. The larger woman running the show greeted us without menus and asked for our orders. Without menus, we basically just ordered whatever she was making, which was eggs, tortilla, sausage, refried beans and gallo pinto. The girls ordered that and I asked for only gallo pinto. So far, throughout this trip, that has been the most simple, yet hard to receive order I've given. I had tried at Santa Cruz on Ometepe a few times and always got something else with it. Again in Nosara, I ordered only gallo pinto, the lady nodded her head yes and yet when my plate came, it looked just like the other girls' with eggs and tortillas as well.

We waited a while for our food and when it came, it was just like I had expected, just like the other girls. Scrambled eggs, beans, tortilla, a small sausage, rice and sour cream covered my plate, but I didn't say anything. Even though I didn't order the extra food, it still went down mighty fine when I was eating it. :)

After breakfast, we walked back to a much more populated ferry deck. It seemed like about ten more people had arrived since we left for breakfast and were patiently waiting for the go ahead to board the ferry. As we waited, I grabbed my nicer camera and was sure to grab a few photos of the ferry and the mountains and hills all across the shore's horizon.

When we were given the go ahead, we flocked for the ferry and patiently handed our things to the guys loading the luggage part of the boat. We walked aboard and were surprised to see that the layout of the ferry was actually a bunch of booth tables instead of seats facing forward. That was a great idea, because we could journal and rest our arms on the table for an hour ferry ride.

As the boat headed out, I began to look more out the window and at the water, than at the blog note I had going in my hand. I looked out the window at the vast amount of blue waves in every direction, wondering what was going on in the world below the sea.

A couple times, I saw flying fish hop up out of the water and fly a very long distance. I saw a bird flying as fast as the boat, before it dove straight down into the water to catch a fish.

After an hour ride, our ferry tied up to the docks on Utila island and we headed up the one street toward the town. We were bombarded with dive shop flyers and staff, but didn't mind because we were already pretty sure we knew where we wanted to stay because of our book.

A guy from Alton's Dive Center rounded us girls up and we hopped into the van for a ride there. Beto, a local guy about our age rode in the passenger seat and wowed us with his perfect English. We told him that we thought he was from California, based on his accent and he just told us that he's practiced since a young age.

We pulled up to the dive center and were greeted by all of the friendly staff. Nina, a German lady, introduced herself and showed us around and where we'd be staying. Walking down a long dock with water on one side, we passed bunk rooms, then a room with machines where they fill tanks, then the equipment room and then a small bar and cafe area. After that, the dock opened up to water on both sides, and at the end was a large two story deck or gazebo equipped with hammocks, benches and chairs for relaxing by the water. This place was awesome and their prices on open water scuba certification classes were awesome. For $279, I would earn my certification in four days, which included room and board, four dives, the learning material and classroom time, PLUS two free fun dives after our course was complete. To me, it was just a price and I was happy with it, but the girls I was with were floored at how good of a deal this was. A comparable class in the states would cost me around $500. That really opened my eyes to how good of a deal this was.

Returning to the lobby area, our backpacks were already unloaded from the van and brought in and under the porch roof for us. It was only about eleven in the morning, so we had a few hours to kill before we had to start class. Nicki Post was the only one taking the class with me because Niki and Erin had already earned their certification years ago.

For those couple hours, we suited up, lathered up with sun lotion and enjoyed the sun for a little while. We also walked up town to the ATM and checked out the local grocery store. At three o'clock, we started our class by watching movies and filling out knowledge review sheets and were done by seven.

During our class, Niki and Erin had made some friends on the outside and we went to a local pub with them to watch a futbol game and eat some pizza. It wasn't too late of a night, because we had to dive the next day. It was so nice to be in an area where we knew we'd stay for a few days, especially after so many hours on buses the past couple days. I was looking forward to making Utila feel like home and was sure that it wouldn't take long.

Photos:
1) View before ferry ride from La Ceiba
2) Classroom time
3) Sunset at Alton's

Bus Day to La Ceiba

Sunday, January 27, 2013

Our alarms woke us up at 4:45 so that we could make it out front by five for our taxi. This early in the morning, I was thankful for preparing myself the night before. The taxi met us in front of the hostel and dropped us off in front of a restaurant that we had been told the Tica bus stopped at. He unloaded our bags one by one and as one of us was digging out payment for him, Erin just so happened to pull out her Tica bus ticket to verify we were at the right place. Thank God for instincts, because she found that we were supposed to be dropped off a couple minutes up the road, instead of where we were at. Back into the trunk went our backpacks and we hopped in for another small ride. This time, we were dropped off at more of a recognizable bus stop where we took turns walking to the gas station at the corner in hopes for some breakfast. Niki and I settled for a baked bread thing while the other girls ate some cup ramen noodles.

At a little after six, a large tour bus with the words "Tica Bus" pulled up and a man stepped out to collect our tickets. Stepping onto the bus was like walking into a refrigeration unit. The air conditioning was kicking and people were sporadically seated and sleeping. We sat in our assigned seats, got comfy and joined everyone else's relaxation state. At first, I was excited for air conditioning because we had ridden so many crowded and hot buses, but we have actually become so accustomed to the heat that we began to freeze. Before putting our bags below, we were sure to grab sweatshirts and pants for the anticipated cold. Only about five minutes into our ride, I already had to put on my hoodie and pull my leggings over my shorts. I pulled my legs up to my body and crossed my arms to keep warm. Erin and I laughed at how unbelievably cold it was. A man walked up and down the aisle collecting passports and having us fill out customs sheets. Once all of our official document stuff was taken care of, I leaned my head up against the window and slept until we reached the border.

I woke up to the man on the microphone announcing something in Spanish to the passengers. Erin, who was sitting next to me, told me we needed to get off the bus for a few. We all got off the bus and took advantage of the "rest area" we were at. This was the first time I've ever really had to pay to use the restroom, but that's actually a common thing down here, because it pays for the paper and for the ladies to clean the facilities. After the bathrooms, we headed over to some food stands where locals were selling street food. The girls bought some gallo pinto and I settled for a banana and one of my granola bars.

I was amazed to see how many dogs hang out at this rest area and my heart hurt for how sad they looked. The amount of stray dogs in Central America is really sad and as we head north, they seem to look skinnier and more unhealthy. I have never seen a dog so boney before this trip. Their hip bones protrude outward like a dairy cow's boney frame and the rib cage is beyond obvious. Most dogs I see too, have some kind of limp or broken bone, or open wound that needs medical attention that we know they will never get. I swear it is something straight out of a Sarah McLachlan commercial. They hang around the food stands hoping for any kind of scrap to hit the ground and the local people running the stands shoo them away their hands, feet and even brooms.

We took a seat on the curb so the girls could eat their breakfast, and before we knew it, we had three dogs lined up in front of us begging. The sat and laid patiently staring with the cutest eyes in the world. I was careful not to think too hard about how bad I felt for them because it literally made me tear up. From quite a ways away, I could see some kind of larvae or something on one of them, so we were glad they were keeping their distance. A local lady standing behind us told us that whatever we don't eat, make sure we give to the dogs instead of just throwing away. Erin and Nicki did just that, and were sure to split it up to avoid a hungry dog fight. Behind us, sat a boy that had hit us up for money or food when we first got off the bus, so when Niki was done eating, she handed him her plate, and I watched him chow down on the leftover tortilla, rice and beans. I could never imagine being so hungry, that I would eat leftovers right from someone's plate and silverware. I felt so bad for him.

After our food, we were able to load back onto the bus and get ready for the next stop on the other side of the border. On the Honduran side, we got off the bus again and waited for the bus staff to finish our paperwork. The girls sat and talked and played with a little local boy sitting on the curb while I finished up a conversation with a couple originally from Honduras, who now lived in New Orleans. He was very helpful in telling us about La Ceiba, the town we were headed to and had me write down his brother's name if we needed help around town. I laughed inside, wrote down the name to be polite, and then joined the girls again.

Not long after, we gathered around the bus as the driver read names out loud and handed back our passports. Before I knew it, we were on the road again, cruising the roads of Honduras, headed to Tegucigalpa, the country's capital where we would get off the bus for lunch.

Coming into the city, you could tell we were reaching a very developed area based on the amounts of shopping malls and fast food restaurants. The bus stopped at a small Tica bus station where we could quickly use the bathrooms (this time for free) as well as grab some food. We ate a quick lunch and loaded back onto the bus.

The rest of the bus ride, they played movies, Django unchained, The Three Stooges and another one that I can't remember the name of. I switched between movie watching, blogging and sleeping until we reached San Pedro Sula. It was six at night, by this point, and we were not about to mess around in this town. We had heard that it was one of the most dangerous cities in Central America, so we decided to take our last bus for the day for a three hour trip to La Ceiba.

We had to go into the bus terminal to purchase our tickets and so that we could get some dinner. Just like how airplanes are a huge way of getting around in the states, busses are even more common down here. I was in awe as to how developed the bus station was. Unlike the dirt fields and chaos of the stations in the past, this one was nice. Tile floors, tall and bright white walls and stores in every direction. While Nicki and I waited in the Diana Express storefront with our tickets, Niki and Erin set out for some food.

They returned with Burger King onion rings and fries which really hit the spot after three weeks of Latin food. We sat in chairs facing the external glass wall looking into the bus terminal as we waited for our bus to show. Erin commented on how her feet always get really swollen during big travel days like this because we don't move and never get to elevate our feet. I felt bad looking at her puffy little feet and ankles which made me glance down and mine and HO-LY CRAP! Haha! I looked like a 9 month pregnant lady on a humid July day. My ankles had become cankles (mix between calves and ankles) and my feet were puffy. They told me that is common with some travelers and that I should just elevate them and it would be gone by morning. I laughed and took photos in amazement.

After only about a half hour or so wait, we lined up and headed out to where the buses park. In line, as we entered the bus, security guards looked through our bags, which was reassuring of my safety. The bus was an old tour bus and definitely a step up from the chicken busses that we were used to riding. It wasn't as nice as the Tica bus, but at least it was warm and comfy. There was hardly anyone on the bus, so we were able to spread out and lay down on the seats.

We attempted to sleep on the dark bus, ignoring the loud growling of the engine and grinding of the transmission every two minutes. For three hours, I dozed in and out, abruptly waking up at times thinking we had missed our stop. We finally reached La Ceiba and got off the bus. It was humid and dark and we had plenty of taxi choices. A guy loaded our things into a little taxi and drove us to a little hotel that was a total dive, but fine for just one night. It was about nine thirty by the time we had gotten to our room. Niki and I's room smelt damp and musty, and we laughed at the bright, sponged, faux painted walls, pulled out our sleep sacks and got ready for bed. There was no way we were getting into those sheets, and after over fifteen hours of bus rides, we were just looking for a somewhat comfortable and horizontal place to lay down.

Until we fell asleep, Niki and I laid and discussed life. Again, traveling gives you so much time to think about your life and having someone as awesome as Niki to share those discussions with really helps. We discussed life and goals and relationships and more, until our minds tired themselves right to sleep! I love my cousinfriend!

Photos:
1) Street food at the Nicaragua/Honduras border
2) Begging dogs
3) Skinny Dog
4) Dog with larvae
5) Tica bus
6) Niki, local boy and Erin
7) Pretty mountains during bus ride
8) Swollen ankles and feet (photo doesn't really do justice)

San Juan to León

Saturday, January 26, 2013

You know when you have those days that you just want to skip because it's just not a good day? That is how Saturday was for me...

Two and a half hours of sleep wasn't the smartest choice we have made on this trip, and seemed even worse when the alarm went off! We slowly, but surely, got out of bed, grabbed our things, and headed for the bus, which was thankfully right outside Nina's door!

Like Zombies, we loaded up and onto the bus for Managua and waited for take off. I tried to sleep the best I could in an upright and squished bus seat bumping and rolling through the country side. The only time we really had to wake up and be functioning was when the guy came around collecting money for tickets and luggage. We had been told boarding the bus that it would only be seventeen cordobas (about sixty cents or so) to put our backpack up top, and now he was saying fifty. Niki and I were so tired and cranky that we questioned it of course, but then just paid it because we didn't even have the energy to argue.

As we approached Managua, the girls told me to get ready because our stop was coming up. This time we had paid for our bags above the bus ahead of time so there was no confusion. Getting off the bus, the guys started throwing down our bags to a guy on the ground who then proceeded to throw them right into a taxi trunk, of course all while three other men are in our faces rambling "Taxi, taxi, taxi!" Ugh! It was only 9 am and we were running on two hours of sleep....I was so close to throwing some elbows and screaming "ESPERA!" (Wait!) Haha.

Once we figured out taxis, (even though we really had no choice in the matter), we piled in and headed to another bus station. On the way there, the three Spanish speaking girls confirmed over and over that the 100 cordobas was in total and not an individual price. "Si, si, si!" the taxi driver assured us with a smiling face. It came up in conversation amongst us girls about them charging as much as they did for putting our bags up top on the last bus. Nicki and Erin put up a fight and he was fine with them just paying seventeen like we had originally been told. I was so irritated at the fact that they screwed Niki and I over like that. It's so annoying that they can just verbally raise prices like that on us. My aggravation was on the rise again.

We unloaded at the loud and chaotic station and slipped and slid on the rain soaked and muddy street to get our things. As the driver helped us get our bags onto our backs he was telling us the total was four hundred cordobas, which was 100 per girl. Now extremely irritated, we refused. The girls had confirmed with him over and over in the car that it was one hundred cordobas "en total" (in total) and he kept telling us yes. Now, on a rainy and muddy street, he was demanding four out of us. It's like some of these dudes just wait until you are at the most stressed an chaotic point of your day's journey to hit you with an outrageous price in hopes that you will just hand it over to shut them up. That was not the case for Niki James! Haha! Once we got all of our things, she handed him one hundred cordobas and we walked off as he continued to talk.

We had to cross in front of his taxi while he waited for foot traffic to clear and when Niki and I were still in front of his hood, he gassed it forward, attempting to bump Niki with his headlight. She yells something at him through the windshield, gives him both her middle fingers and we continue into the crowd.

Stomping through verbal advertising and people all over, we made it to another bus. Loading onto that bus, we looked like tired and angry wrecks. The back of our legs were covered with black mud from our flip flops flinging it up on us, accompanied by the irritated scowls on our faces.

Our bus trip from Managua to León, was better. I tried to use it as a meditation and cool down segment for myself because I was so annoyed by the mornings occurances so far. I'm pretty sure it took a couple of hours before we reached León and were back on the streets. I was confused as to why we were always being dropped off a little bit outside of town and was convinced that they purposely do it so we have to pay for a taxi. I know that probably isn't true, but by that point, we were so used to being screwed on prices, that I was starting to think that was the case.

This time, instead of paying for a taxi, we decided to walk to our hostel, because the locals that we asked always made it sound like it wasn't far. Long story short, after walking for almost an hour with our heavy backpacks, we made it to a hostel. León was a lot like Granada with its colonial-like appearance.

We checked in at a hostel we were told about by an American guy that stopped us on our walk there. He was the owner of the hostel and lured us in with his comment about loft dorms with an open breeze and no walls as well as the two free drink tokens we get at check-in.

It was about one thirty and we hadn't eaten anything since the granola bar on the first bus, so we ordered some quick food from the hostel's restaurant. I mustered up the last bit of energy I had to chew my food and walk up the stairs to crash on my bunk. The plastic mattress wrapper crinkled under my bright blue sheets as I climbed in and a slight breeze came through our dorm.

At home, I am not a napper, but it was much needed that day. I was tired, crabby, stressed, and most of all, really starting to miss home! I shot my mom a quick message on Skype to let her know we made it, put my earbuds in, turned on some music and started to drift off to sleep. One song came on that allowed some suppressed tears from the day to roll from my eyes as I thought about home and my journey and how far I've come in the past two years. Traveling makes you think about EVERYTHING! Super emotional and tired, I fell fast asleep and didn't wake up for over four hours.

I woke to the sound of conversations and laughter downstairs, gathering for the six o'clock barbecue we had purchased with our one night stay. Super hot and sweaty from the hot dorm, I looked at the other bunks and my friends had already headed down so I figured I should probably follow suit.

Like a little kid that had just woken up from a long nap, I sat at the picnic table with the girls, rubbed my sleepy eyes and slowly woke up. Hostel staff came around with spicy Doritos and guacamole for an appetizer while we journaled, blogged and read.

The girls chit chatted with some other travelers while I moved to the hammock to continue working on my blog which was over a week behind now. Rain made "tink tink tink" noises on the metal roof above us and made small little rings in the courtyard pool. At about eight o'clock, our food was finally ready and totally worth the wait. The hostel had slowly grilled a few beer can chickens and made pasta salad to accompany it. Dinner also included a free rum and Coke. San Juan del Sur had gotten the best of me, so I ordered one and told them to hold the rum :)

After dinner, I took a quick and yes, very cold shower, and got right into my pajamas. Pajamas that night consisted of the tank top and shorts I'd be wearing on the bus the next day so that I didn't have to do much in the morning except brush my teeth. It was kind of nice to do a one night stay like this, because I barely even had to break into my backpack.

I climbed into bed and logged back into Skype. My mom was awesome and had gone over to Nana and Grandpa's that day to help them get into Skype so I saw that Grandpa's status was finally set as "online". Feeling very homesick from our stressful day, I was so excited to call them! I've never lived more than ten minutes from my Nana and Grandpa and usually talk to them everyday, so two and a half weeks felt like an eternity. It felt so good to hear my Grandpa's voice inside my headphones laughing and greeting me with, "Samantha Bailey!" My bad day, was instantly turned around as I talked with him and Nana. My conversation was cut short due to an unexpected disconnection, but I was thankful for the thirty minutes I got to talk with them.

I got to Skype with my mom for a bit after that too. I got to see my beebee Alice through webcam and teared up the most with her. It's crazy how much I miss her! Leaving for this trip, I had prepared myself for missing her, but it's crazy how much that pup weighs on my mind! Makes a few tears fall even writing about it. Mom and dad were just hanging on the couch when I Skyped them, so Alice was passed out next to her papa. She picked up her head when I called her name and I got to see my baby's little eyes sparkle from the glow of the screen. I cannot WAIT to squeeze her and cover her with kisses when I get home!

I finished up my conversation with my mom, set my alarm for the morning and dozed back off to sleep, hoping that tomorrow would be way better.

Photos:
No photos for today because I was so grumpy and didn't really hope to remember any of that day :)

San Juan Beach Day, Take Two!

Friday, January 25, 2013

What was supposed to be an early morning wake up and departure, turned out to be a beach day instead! I woke up and headed to a little cafe with wifi and ate a bowl of fruit and toast while updating my blog and my mom.

Then, we had decided that we were going to head to Honduras next so we had to book a Tica bus from León into Honduras. A Tica bus is their international bus that is great for long trips and the safest because they don't make public stops. Tickets have to be bought in advance, and it's like riding in luxury compared to what we were used to. Air conditioning, reclining seats, movies, bathroom breaks, and very clean. I was very excited to be booking this bus, even though it meant a nine hour bus ride. The Tica bus office in San Juan booked us a ticket for 6am out of Leon on Sunday. It was the best thirty five dollars I had spent on this trip so far haha.

Not long after taking care of the bus stuff, we met Adam and Vig, hopped in the back of the same truck as the day before and hit another beach, Playa Maderas

This beach was much more populated than the one from Thursday. It was a hot spot for surfing along with a couple bars and beach volleyball. A hot and dusty truck ride made the water look really appealing, so we set up our things and got in the water. Although a little warmer than the first beach, it was still pretty shocking to our sun-warmed skin, especially when the waves rushed in and splashed us higher and higher. We had to use caution in the water because there were SO many people surfing. The waves were great at this beach and had obviously attracted a lot of people, which Vig said it does often.

Just like the day before, our beach day consisted of swimming, laying out, walking the rocky shores at the base of the cliff in the distance, and sand drawing competitions. I got a banana pineapple smoothie from the restaurant we were camped out near and tried to soak up every minute of being beachside. It's awesome days like those that I have been very appreciative of. I take mental notes of my surroundings including smells, mental photos, the feeling of the sun beating down and the sand beneath my feet.

I watched some beach volleyball for a bit before our truck arrived at sunset and took us back into town. Before we even changed from our beach clothes, the six of us set out for some food on the beach of San Juan del Sur. Naturally, we ended up at the Iguana to try their food for once, instead of drinks. The boys had eaten almost every meal there and suggested the food to us. They were definitely right about the food being delicious.

We went back to our rooms to shower the salt water and sand off us and get into fresh clothes. After showering and getting comfortable for a little while, I didn't really feel like going out and I kind of caught that vibe from the other girls too. Nicki was the only one really in the mood for a couple drinks and Erin said she was going to hang out and read. That left both options open for Niki and I. As much as I didn't want to go out, I really wanted to be able to say goodbye to Adam and Vig, so Niki and I decided we'd go out for just one. Well......

....the "just one" phrase was out the window about halfway through our "one" drink. We forgot that it was Friday night, so the bar was hoppin'. A long dinner table was packed with beautiful girls about our age all dressed to the ten with their hair and make up all done up too. That is about when I noticed the camera crew and the satin ribbons draped across the girls' chests for the Miss Nicaragua competition. That table was filled with the winner and all of the candidates who were finishing up their meals. The table that a big group of us were sitting at neighbored the dance floor which acted as front row seats for their entry to the dance floor. The girls circled around each other and took turns stepping into the middle to show off their Latin dance moves. The camera men reached high above their heads to get footage of the dance-off while the girls cheered each other on. I couldn't believe the height of the girls' heels they were wearing! Definite superstars in my mind. The guys we were with drooled at the beautiful girls, short skirts and long legs dancing, while us girls got more and more pumped to dance. After a little while, the ladies left the building to head to a different location, and their place was quickly filled by many of the bar guests, ready to continue dancing.

We spent the rest of our Friday, dancing the night away with anyone and everyone on the dance floor. A couple different guys, who clearly knew what they were doing, would grab me and LEAD me in really fun salsa dancing. I felt like rubber at times as they spun me, twisted and dipped me like gentlemen while I laughed uncontrollably.

At the end of the night, Niki and I had met up with a couple Chilean guys that were totally wasted, but absolutely hilarious. Rather than being creepy though, they just wanted to chat and laugh with us. They reminded me a lot of how my friends back home are, just super goofy. Somehow, a story got started about how the three of them got tattoos one night after drinking and we got to see each and every one's tattoo. One had gotten 'Made in Chile' on his thigh, the second guy had something poetic on his calf and the third guy wouldn't show us the one on his foot. The three of them were laughing so hysterically at the story that we were just assuming it was one of those "had to be there" moments. He finally ended up showing us and it was something along the lines of the tattoo guy messing up or something. We'd given up on figuring out their hilarious story and exited the bar because it was closing. We ended up walking out of the bar with them and chatting more in the street before saying our goodbyes. Niki and I hit up Taco Stop again for a 2:30 am snack and got home in time to set our alarms for a two and a half hour sleep. We fell asleep talking about how much we were going to hate ourselves in the morning for not sleeping, but how worth it it was to spend just one more night in the crazy town of San Juan del Sur!

Photos:
1) Playa Maderas
2) San Juan del Sur sunset with clouds

Beach Day at San Juan del Sur

Thursday, January 24, 2013

When we woke up, we searched for some breakfast, and ended up at Taco Stop again, where the boys met us for a day at the beach. Because San Juan del Sur's beach wasn't great for laying out, we took a taxi to another beach about fifteen minutes or so away for five bucks a person, which included there and back. We piled into the bed of the truck and headed toward the beach. We pulled up to a pretty quiet beach with a restaurant advertising "Best Fish Tacos in Nicaragua" on a hanging surfboard above the counter. To the left, a run down, grass roof, pavilion sat, waiting for us to camp out underneath it. It was actually the remains of a hotel that closed down a couple years ago, and it made the perfect private hangout. We laid our stuff down and took turns being the watchman while the others swam. We have met a lot of travelers along the way that have gotten their things stolen from leaving it unattended while swimming, so we figured we'd play it safe. Unlike the beach in Costa Rica, this water was freezing, but the waves rocked for playing in the water and for surfing.

The majority of our day was playing in the waves, once our bodies got used to the freezing water temperatures. Anytime we were out of the water, we played games and laid in the sun. I got great photos and video of the waves. Erin and I took a walk down the shoreline to climb across the big rocks that formed the cove we were in where I got to see a ton of crabs and other kinds of nature. Four o'clock came faster than we expected and before we knew it our ride back had arrived.

Hopping out of the back if the pickup, the boys and I hit up a frozen banana window out of a lady's house for one of the most amazing frozen and chocolate covered banana. It hit the spot after a hot day at the beach and was just enough to hold us over for dinner. We went again for pizza and tried a different place this time. Nicki had met an Italian dude in her travels a year or so ago and was told to go to a place called San Juan Pizza. The suggestion was good because the pizza was awesome and very authentic.

From dinner, we headed back to the Iguana for our nightly drinks and socialization with the guys. It was a pretty quiet night after the sun and food. We closed the bar and hung out with the employees while they counted down the registers and cleaned up. Just like other experiences in Central America, the blonde hair was a hit with the local bartenders who flooded me with goodbye hugs and kisses on the cheeks. Niki laughed as they swarmed me, asked for my hand in marriage and made us feel like princesses! Lol.

We swung by good ole Taco Stop on the way home for some fresh tacos for like fifty cents and then headed back to the guest house where we fell asleep talking about our fun night again. We planned on a six am bus before we headed out for the night and by the time our head hit the pillow at three, we decided to stay one more day in the fun filled surf town.

Welcome to San Juan del Sur

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

I'm going to try and make these travel days short and sweet to make up for lost time. Niki and I woke up Wednesday morning and decided to hit up The Garden Cafe one last time to try the veggie bagel we had been eyeballing since our first day there. We ordered smoothies and a toasted bagel with cream cheese, avocado, cucumber, and tomatoes and it was all delicious!

We met back at the hostel about noon to meet the boys and the other two girls and headed toward the bus station. We boarded a hot and crowded school bus that would take us back to Rivas, the ferry town that we were at to ferry to Ometepe.

Getting off the bus in Rivas, we said goodbye to Matt and Trent and assured them we'd be seeing them soon because they are from Holland, Michigan.

Us girls loaded into a small taxi that would then take us from Rivas, to San Juan del Sur. San Juan del Sur was a bit of a backtrack for us because we wanted to make it to the clown festival, but didn't want to miss this town either. In total, it was only about three hours total out of our trip, and we were fine with that because people insisted we visit this awesome surf and party town.

Our taxi driver dropped us off in front or our hostel, helped us with our things and continued on his way. We started by checking out hostel La Fogada, which we had a few people recommend to us from other hostels. Walking into the place, the first thing that went through my head was "I don't know where these people have been staying to call this place nice, but they're crazy." Us girls were polite as we took the tour and listened to what they had to offer, and then team huddled outside. The other girls were just as disgusted, thank God, and so we headed over to Hostel Elizabeth next door. This hostel wasn't much better, so we decided to walk around and check out a few more places. In our search, I pointed out a sign that said Nina's Guest House or something like that. Niki thought it looked creepy from the outside, which I didn't really see, so we checked it out anyways. Walking past the rocking chair on the front porch, and into the house where a little local lady in her sixties greeted us, our judgement had quickly changed. The house was extremely clean and homey feeling, like any Grandma's house would be. Rather than selling her place to us like the other hostel owners, Nina just kindly showed us around. Walking through what was her living room and kitchen, she led us upstairs where there was a large balcony landing area with clotheslines, two chairs and three doors. The doors to the left and the right were bedrooms and the middle door was a small bathroom for sharing. Everything was so clean, Nina was so kind, and the price was right so we booked it!

We set down our heavy bags on the balcony and rock, paper scissored, to see which set of girls got the room with two beds. Niki and I won, so we set our things in our rooms and headed out for some lunch so that we could break our big bills and pay Nina.

We ate at a little one window food booth that actually became our most favorite place to eat in town. It was called Taco Stop and was a little more "chain" than what we had eaten at other places, but it was so yummy.

We returned to Nina's, paid for our rooms and changed for the beach. It was only about a three to five minute walk from our guest house to the beach. The beach was nothing like Costa Rica's coast though which was disappointing. The beach was a bay with a ton of sailboats and fishing boats anchored with firmly packed sand shores. Restaurants and bars lined the beach which was a nice change. We scoped out a spot to lay out and chill for a little while, but didn't last long with the sand blowing all over and in our faces. Sitting in a chair by one of the restaurants sounded a lot better so we headed towards a bar called Henry's Iguana. That is where we met our new guy friends for the next couple days and the way we met is kind of funny.

Walking toward the restaurant, Nicki was speaking Spanish to Erin, so the guys on the second story must have thought we didn't speak English. We hear something along the lines of the guys calling dibs on each of us and we just laughed. Little spitfire Niki, decides to go upstairs to confront them in a jokingly way while Erin, Nicki and I wait patiently in the sand. Next thing we knew, she comes down with a couple guys, one especially embarrassed that we had heard his comment from above. He genuinely apologized to each of us in a very respectful and sincere fashion, and I could tell that he felt really bad. His name was Vig, short for Vigarny, and he was born and raised in Nicaragua, which you would never guess based on how great his English was. Adam was Vig's friend from Canada who had just met Tommy and Andy from Arizona while on the island of Omotepe. The four boys were having some drinks when they, just a little too loudly, made a comment about us girls, and next thing you know, were all sitting at a group table as if we had known each other for a while.

At sunset, we all sat around and snapped some pics and marveled at how beautiful the sky was. There is an awesome image burned into my mind when I think of a San Juan del Sur sunset now. Rocky cliffs on each side of the sailboat and fishing boat filled harbor, with a bright orange ball sinking farther and farther beneath the horizon.

We all split up for a little bit to go shower and get into our night clothes and then returned to the Iguana for some drinks on the roof after a quick pizza dinner. Colored bulbs strung above our heads, the ocean produced relaxing crashing sounds in the distance, reggae music bumped on the speakers and the rum supply never went dry at the Iguana.

Erin and Nicki headed out at a decent time to catch up on sleep, while Niki, the boys and I managed to close the bars. After The Iguana, we went across the street to a different bar where there was live reggae music and pool tables. I was proud to take two wins over Vig and one over another local guy just in time for the lady to collect the balls for the night at closing time.

On the walk back, Adam and I stopped at a food cart where a lady was making quesadillas and split the best midnight snack of our lives! From there, it was back to Nina's for some shut eye!

Pics:
1) Walking to the bus station
2) Vig, Nicki, Erin, Tommy, Me, Adam, Andy
3) Vig, Nicki, Erin, Tommy, Me, Adam, Niki
4) San Juan del Sur sunset