Still in Nicaragua

Sunset from Hide-Out Surf Camp


Sandeano leading up the trail up to the surf camp for dinner


Jenny with Shangu at Hori-zonte, El Salvador


Linda doing the laundry with monkeys (below) in trees above her.


Life's a Beach! The crowded beach at Maderra Bay


The critics of Linda's laundry technique.


February 10/06

Today was a rest day. We had been recommended a small accommodation on a small bay ½ hour north of San Juan Del Sur. Since there was no way to communicate with “Matilda’s” Dave and I road out to check on availability, while the girls looked around in town. Matilda’s has a few cabinas and a few camping spot. It is located on very nice cove beach. As it turned out the cabinas were full but we could get a camping site and one of the cabinas may be available tomorrow if we decide to stay.

Matilda’s is laid back place. Mostly young travelers here from all over the world. Like most of the places we have stayed it has a comfortable communal area where everyone congregates. Cooking facilities are available if you prefer. A fruit and vegetable guys comes by 4 times a week and if you are lucky you may be able to catch a fish or two. The road out here was a typical dirt beach road. Thankfully this one was less sandy than some of the others although it was quite rough and rutted in places. There are one or two similar accommodation operation out this way; one close by has a restaurant. The food there is OK. We spent the afternoon resting and catching up on some laundry chores.

This afternoon there were quite a few monkeys in the trees nearby. I believe that these ones are Howler Monkeys. The larger ones have a threatening howl but apparently they are not aggressive.

I’m sitting out side the tent with enough light to just be able to see the keyboard. We are miles from a city but it is quite noisy. The pounding surf sounds like constant thunder and the crickets can be heard loud and clear above the roar of the surf.

February 11/06

Another rest day at Matilda’s. We spent the day exploring the shoreline and catching up on the chores. Dave and Jenny borrowed a fishing line from a local and spent a couple of hours trying to catch our supper. No luck! As one of our fellow campers, Sandeano, stated… “Well.. that’s why they call it ‘fishing’ and not ‘catching’”.

While Jen and Dave fished Linda & I chatted with Sandeano (Real name Dean). An interesting fellow, our age, originally from LA but now residing in the San Juan del Sur area. He has been coming to this area off and on for 6 years or so and therefore a great source of local info. Since Jen & Dave didn’t have any luck with the “catching”, we had to find a place to eat. As I mentioned, the restaurant nearby was just OK but there was one other option. Sandeano suggested that we try the Hide-Out Surf Camp, located 10 minutes down the beach in the next bay.

The Hide-Out Surf Camp is a partially completed structure on a hillside overlooking the beach. It is has accommodation of sorts and a restaurant of sorts, but basically it is a place for surfers to hangout, crash, eat and surf. Anyway, to bring in a little cash, the owner cooks one dinner on a semi-regular basis for whoever shows up. (you have to check with the operator of the camp earlier in the day to see if supper is on or not) He has a regular menu. Regular in the sense that it is repetitive… Saturday it’s Spaghetti, Sunday it’s fish tacos, etc… Dinner is served sometime after sunset. It is best to make you way to the Hide-Out in time to watch the sun set. This way you can navigate the trail up the hill in daylight. Also it is a wonderful sunset viewing location.

Like most building here, the Hide-Out is open air structure. There are a few tables and kitchen located behind a bar. A sign on the wall say’s “No Service” and that is just what it means… if you want anything, you get it yourself. If you want a beer, you have to walk behind the bar to the fridge and get one. You keep track of what you take on a page in a notebook that is located on the bar. Same thing with the Spaghetti… When it was ready, a pot of sauce and a pot of steaming pasta appeared on the bar and you help you served yourself as much as you wanted. Can’t get much more casual that this and the spaghetti sauce was very good. They even had some reasonable wine on hand. We had a great meal and a fun evening.

February 12/06

We had intended to get up early, pack up and head over to Ometep today (this is a volcanic island in Lago Nicaragua) but the late night, and too much wine dictated a change in itinerary. Also the sailing times for the ferry to the island were inconvenient.

We packed up and rode into San Juan del Sur for breakfast to discuss the options. We decided that we would leave Ometep for the return trip, simply stay in San Juan del Sur another night and head for the Costa Rica border early in the morning.