San Juan del Sur

Rob had a few days off for Thanksgiving, so we had been planning to take a little trip. In the midst of all this recent forest chaos, I decided that a few days off the island might do me some good.

We went to San Juan del Sur—just a hop, skip, and 6 hour jump away from here on the Pacific coast. I’ve heard people rave about how beautiful the beaches are, and I’ve also heard people call it a tourist trap, so I wasn’t sure what we would find there. All in all, it was a great trip and very relaxing.

The sunsets were especially nice (though they are also quite lovely here on Ometepe); here are a few photos:





After staying in kind of a crummy place on Thursday night (I’m not sure if the bathrooms had been cleaned since the first time Ortega was in office), we found a cute little hospedaje called Hotel Estrella for the rest of the trip. It was right across the street from the beach and so bright and airy. The only drawback was that it was a little loud—lots of drunken backpackers staying there—but what can you do. They served lovely breakfasts, which diminished my grogginess from poor sleep the night before.




The ocean was actually quite chilly—I think we are in a bit of an unusual cold-snap here. On Friday, we tried to go swimming in the ocean, but I could only manage it for about 10 minutes before getting out and shivering in my towel. Looking at the ocean is almost as fun for me as swimming in it, so I was perfectly content to loll on the beach and gaze at the water. Rob tried this for about 15 minutes with me, but he got horrifically sunburned and incredibly bored in just that short amount of time. He was shocked that someone as high-strung and prone to freaking out as I am would want to just lie out on the beach and do nothing. In fact, that kind of shocks me myself.

Would have been prettier without all the sailboats, I think....




Saturday we rented bikes from a place in town. They were “cruiser’ bikes—there’s only one gear and you backpedal to brake. Its probably been like 20 years since I rode a bike like that, and I kept forgetting there were no handbrakes. We wanted to ride to one of the other many beaches that are nearby, but when Rob’s chain-ring dropped about 6 times in the first kilometer, we realized we were probably not going to make it. We bravely struggled onward until the road turned into fist-sized rocks that the cruisers couldn’t seem to handle. So we headed back to town and cruised around on the beach there instead.




Oh, in these photos, you might notice that my hair is about 5 or 6 inches shorter than before. Yes, I cut it a week or so ago. By myself, and mainly without a mirror. It was bugging me and I just couldn’t wait. My mom (the only hairdresser I’ve ever been to) will have to even it up for me when I go home next month. Anywho, I know that S.L. and I aren’t related, but we do share the same unruly hair.

We left to come home on Sunday. In Rivas (before getting on the ferry to come back to Ometepe), we stopped at a grocery store. I got toothpaste (see below, in the post on Mr. F), and much to my surprise I found tiny packets of trail mix. Trail mix is at the top of the list I miss about things at home, and I hadn’t been able to find it anywhere. Its about the perfect food while hiking, traveling, in the forest, etc. Its quick energy and features my favorite mix of flavors: sweet and salty. This trail mix I found in Rivas is not so great though: pretty much just raisins and peanuts in a little baggie. Some chocolate chips would be nice, but I have yet to find those here.

Our bus ride back home took a little longer than expected: there was an honest-to-goodness carnival in Altagracia, and the bus driver got out to go have a snack. He left the bus running, and everybody was just sitting there for like 15 minutes, wondering what was going on. Rob got out to stretch his legs, and considered asking the driver if he could just drive the bus route himself—making all the stops and parking the bus at its overnight resting place in Mérida. Luckily it didn’t come to that.
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Rob, considering driving the bus home himself....


San Juan was fun, but its good to be home in Mérida. Today I think I’m still recovering from the after-effects of the half a Dramamine I took before the boat ride yesterday; I’m hoping that wears off tomorrow so I can go scour the forest in search of Wrinkle Belly. Until later then.