Beautiful Beach Weekend

Pictures from the beach are posted: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dwnicaragua

We’re back from a great weekend at San Juan del Sur, a beautiful beach town about 3 hours from Managua. We didn’t realize how refreshing and needed the break from the city was until we had a chance to really relax in San Juan.

Saturday morning we took a bus from Managua to Rivas, a town quite close to San Juan, and then a taxi for the final 30 minutes to the beach. We enjoyed a delicious lunch in a beachfront restaurant, giving me an opportunity to satisfy my craving for fresh seafood. Afterwards we walked around the town, checking out Spanish schools for Lauren’s sister and brother-in-law and finding a hotel. Our selection – the Villa Isabella – was 2 blocks; about a 3 minute walk, from the beach. Perfect. We dropped our bags and caught a few hours of sun before having yet another tasty oceanfront meal. Finally, we retreated to the hotel and read our books in hammock-seats before bed.

The town of San Juan del Sur is quite small. To give you a scale – our hotel was just about on the eastern edge of town and the beach is on the far west side. The area closest to the beach caters mostly towards tourists and consists primarily of hotels, restaurants, bars, and Spanish schools. We were surprised at the amount of gringos we saw. It was quite a difference from Managua. We both commented that we didn’t receive the ‘what are you doing here?’ stares that are part of our daily routines in Managua. The beach directly at San Juan del Sur is nice, although not exceptional. However, it was perfect for us. Supposedly there are much better beaches nearby and hopefully next time we go we will visit them.

Although the town is touristy it retains much of its Nicaraguan charm. The road to the town is perhaps the worst road I’ve ever been on. I am glad I don’t get motion sickness, as the potholes we encountered would have surely done the trick. In town street vendors still attempt to sell their goods – ceramics, bootleg dvds, nuts, fried plantain chips, and jewelry, among other things, as they do in Managua. They even come into the restaurants and walk around trying to make a sale. Today at lunch we had three vendors approach us within five minutes of sitting down. We saw a man carrying a plastic horse from a carousel on his shoulder today, eliciting another “Nicaragua...” and smiles from both of us. The things people sell here can be ridiculous.

Our day started with a wonderful breakfast at our hotel. I enjoyed some chocolate-banana pancakes while Lauren opted for merely the banana version. Then we hit the beach for about 3 hours. The sun is more intense here in the morning than in the afternoons, so by about 11:45am we were ready to go back and shower. We had one last great meal in a beachfront restaurant before finding a bus and heading home.

The bus ride back was, in Nicaraguan fashion, entertaining. We weren’t able to take an express bus back, meaning our bus made about 7,000 stops along the way. This allowed food vendors a chance to board the bus and offer their items for sale. At one point there were 5 vendors walking down the aisle with their food announcing their products. The bus had a festival-like feel. Although I was able to resist the lure of soda in a plastic sandwich bag I wasn’t strong enough to turn down a Nicaraguan snoball for about 30 cents. It was good although I prefer Snoasis. We finally made it home about 4 hours later.

It was so nice to have a chance to leave the city this weekend. I feel quite recharged for the last week and a half we’re here before we go home for weddings and Thanksgiving.

We really appreciated the luxury. I did some writing on the bus, if I am able to read my handwriting I will type it up sometime soon.

Much love,

dw