You know, I used a machete now and again thrashing through the Waianae mountain forests of O´ahu, but I never thought I´d find myself walking down the beaches of Nicaragua with one in hand. Granted we had male escorts to make sure we made it to our destinations safely (some very nice French Canadians), but it´s never entirely settling when everyone in this pristine beach paradise feels the need to own one. It´s a bit similar to every resident of Texas owning a gun. Maybe that´s why I´ve never been to Texas. Inspite of the machete´s presence I actually never felt safer since our first days traveling. Nicaragua has truly been the most hospitable and tranquil country we have been to thus far. Granted we are sticking to the coast and colonial roots of the nation, but we have seen nothing but beauty and charm since we arrived.
Untouched, breath-taking, deserted beaches is never a bad way to kick off a stay no matter what the location. Case in point: Playa Majagual. This was one of those stretches of beach so wide and open that I just wanted to sprint down the sand as fast as my legs could carry me and not stop
until I collapsed. I didn´t of course because the name of the game, at least for this trip, is keepin it on the DOWN LOW and bringing as little attention to myself as possible - not something I am used to back home what with my projectile voice and habit of talking with my hands. So we strolled. The only element inhibiting our full enjoyment of this new found heaven was the wind. Wind is my least favorite weather in case anyone was wondering. Especially when it feels like you are in a desert storm, your skin getting pelted to death by sand while ATTEMPTING to suntan (as a Longabaugh female this is actually referred to as sunfreckling, seeing as I lack the genetic capacity to tan). After chasing down half of Julia´s wardrobe, my sarong, and our friend´s airline itinerary, we decided to collect enough rocks to build a modest-size house in order to anchor down all our belongings. Of course 20 minutes later after the brilliant (or so we thought) construction of this anchoring scheme, the tide threatened to soak everything if we didn´t move immediately. This continued for the few hours of our attempted relaxation. All was made right however when three of us went out to splash around in the surprisingly icy water only to be greeted by, you guessed it, an ABSOLUTELY ENORMOUS STINGRAY. I mean, we are talking the size of a coffee table, easy. At first we just thought it was a friendly fish that enjoyed brushing up against our ankles not unlike a house cat. Just a big, cold, slimy one. We didn´t realize what was going on until one of our friends kept stepping on it repeatedly - it simply had far too much surface area to evade with one sidestep. Then we saw a SECOND one. Bottom line, it was one of the coolest things ever. You know, just a typical day with Jen and Julia, dancin around with the stingrays in Nicaragua before grabbing a bite to eat. No big deal.
This goes right along with all the other wildlife experiences we´ve had thus far, including baby sea turtles that hatched right outside of our room! Julia was there to help them make their way down to the water, and I had the exact same experience our 3rd day in Santa Teresa. There is nothing more exciting than seeing nature´s tuition at it´s best. These little guys break out of their shells, climb up the ditch in which they were buried, and head straight for the ocean to begin their life journey. It truly is an amazing sight.
until I collapsed. I didn´t of course because the name of the game, at least for this trip, is keepin it on the DOWN LOW and bringing as little attention to myself as possible - not something I am used to back home what with my projectile voice and habit of talking with my hands. So we strolled. The only element inhibiting our full enjoyment of this new found heaven was the wind. Wind is my least favorite weather in case anyone was wondering. Especially when it feels like you are in a desert storm, your skin getting pelted to death by sand while ATTEMPTING to suntan (as a Longabaugh female this is actually referred to as sunfreckling, seeing as I lack the genetic capacity to tan). After chasing down half of Julia´s wardrobe, my sarong, and our friend´s airline itinerary, we decided to collect enough rocks to build a modest-size house in order to anchor down all our belongings. Of course 20 minutes later after the brilliant (or so we thought) construction of this anchoring scheme, the tide threatened to soak everything if we didn´t move immediately. This continued for the few hours of our attempted relaxation. All was made right however when three of us went out to splash around in the surprisingly icy water only to be greeted by, you guessed it, an ABSOLUTELY ENORMOUS STINGRAY. I mean, we are talking the size of a coffee table, easy. At first we just thought it was a friendly fish that enjoyed brushing up against our ankles not unlike a house cat. Just a big, cold, slimy one. We didn´t realize what was going on until one of our friends kept stepping on it repeatedly - it simply had far too much surface area to evade with one sidestep. Then we saw a SECOND one. Bottom line, it was one of the coolest things ever. You know, just a typical day with Jen and Julia, dancin around with the stingrays in Nicaragua before grabbing a bite to eat. No big deal.
This goes right along with all the other wildlife experiences we´ve had thus far, including baby sea turtles that hatched right outside of our room! Julia was there to help them make their way down to the water, and I had the exact same experience our 3rd day in Santa Teresa. There is nothing more exciting than seeing nature´s tuition at it´s best. These little guys break out of their shells, climb up the ditch in which they were buried, and head straight for the ocean to begin their life journey. It truly is an amazing sight.
After our run-in with the stingrays, we decided to checkout an interesting little place tucked away up on a cliff and out of sight, appropriately named the ¨Hideout.¨ It is a piece of property owned by an insane guy, again appropriately named ¨Crazy Dave¨. Too give you an idea of how he received his nick name, this man has clearly done too many recreational drugs in his lifetime, has surfed with all the greats (most likely while on drugs), and I think has some ocean water permanently blocking his ear canals for he talks entirely too loud. He also tells horribly crude jokes and curses like a sailor. Nonetheless he welcomed us in
to his hostel and told us to come back for dinner because he was cooking up a mean batch of chicken fajitas. Shoot you don´t need to ask me twice! And he wasn´t lying, those may have been the best fajitas I´ve had in quite some time. 
In between a couple great nights at the Hideout (full of great food, great people, and great conversation - Julia even received a full-on photography lesson from one of the guys) we did a bit of yoga on the rocks, ocean swims, and some serious ceviche consumption. What else was a pleasant and wonderful surprise was an adorable Canadian girl (I swear we have met more canadians on this trip than any other nationality) decided to join our duo once we got to the border. Sonja, or Sonia as said in the States, blessed us with her company and definitely carried us with her relentless energy. We all clicked instantly and in just 3 days we felt like we had known her forever. Now that we have this fully developed Canadian posse, which I imagine will only get larger as we go along, we are definitely making a trip to Vancouver and Montreal in the very near future.
It was then onto Isla de Ometepe - a volcanic island in the middle of Lake Nicaragua. Short story even shorter we spent three blissful days lying in hammocks, eating super cheap fish dishes for about $2, and hanging out with 5-year-olds. We found it is actually great Spanish practice talking to little kids because they keep their language simple and clear. For some reason, even though I´m the whitest person walking the earth and I´m clearly not a native Nica, the people insist on talking to us at rapid speed as if we were born speaking Spanish. Not only that but they slur all their words together, speak like they are talking under their breath, and use local slang. Thanks a lot. So this little girl named Gloriana was an absolute pleasure to converse with because we could actually understand everything coming out of her adorable little mouth. Her father, Juan Carlo, even named the restaurant we ate at every night after her.
We met this cherub after a 7-hour hike up one of the two volcanoes located on the island. I told people that we pussed out and chose to hike the smaller of the two, but mind you, it was still a VOLCANO we were braving. The other was going to be a 10 hour hike, it was active, and they told us we were not permitted to go to the top. After hearing stories about those who did make it to the top however, I desperately want to go back and do it. Even so our trek was plenty strenuous. And muddy. And rainy. And foggy. Our guide didn´t speak a word of Spanish but again it was good practice trying to converse with him and understand the native flora and fauna that grew along this beautiful volcanic mountain. I made it to the top where there is a lake in the crater, but the fog was so thick I couldn´t see a thing. Nonetheless I was happy to finally be getting some exercise in after wasting away in a hammock doing more crossword puzzles, and eating endless amounts of ice cream. They honestly have the best ice cream here.
Oh and I´d also like to state that this world we live in is entirely too small. I met a guy in our dorm our first night in San Juan del Sur from Arroyo Grande (10 minutes from my house) and Julia met a guy in our taxi there from her hometown, Moraga. For those of you unfamiliar with Moraga, this is a beautiful little town hidden away in the East Bay Area. Very, very few people have even heard of her town and here we were driving away from a secluded beach in Nicaragua with a guy who lives down the street from her. Blows my mind. Anyway the adventures continue to unfold and know that we miss you all!
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