Chapter 10: Beached

This was the only establishment on the whole massive beach, and an oasis of shade in an endless stretch of sun, sand and heat from all directions. I was pleasantly surprised by the bright, airy, brand new dorm room perched atop an open air reception/lounge area, with a wide veranda and view to the surf. I chose a top bunk with a choice view, put on my swimsuit and headed directly for the waves. I splashed around in the surf for a while, reveling in the cool-but-not-too-coldness of the water – thinking about how I would be ruined for BC seawater – then I introduced myself to some other hostel guests – one from Australia and one from California, and suddenly I had two walking buddies, a yoga buddy and a team to go into town with the next day.

The bright and airy dorm room overlooking the beach

So that day was passed enjoying my new relaxing surroundings meeting some little kids on the beach at sunset as they ran along with some old bike tires rolling ahead of them (their skill at this game was amazing and when one of us grown up gringas tried our hand at it it turned out to be very difficult). The next day after a long morning of eating and getting organized and observing the mysterious droppings from the mysterious and newly discovered creature (suspected bat!) living in the roof of the dorm, we set out for Leon to run errands – I happily sent a large package off to Canada; both literally and figuratively letting a huge weight off my shoulders. We went out to eat in a nice-ish restaurant where I ordered a crepe with cheese and apple and unhappily discovered that they had decided craft singles were the best type of cheese to go with apples – (lesson learned – do not try to order custom menu items in Nicaragua). We drank AMAZING fruit juices, went to the bank, talked on the phone and headed back to our island just after dark in time for a moonlight walk along the beach back to the hostel. I spend four nights at this lovely little retreat – two of which were spent sleeplessly on the top bunk in fear of the vampire bat and chagas beetles allegedly living in the thatched roof, and the other two spent in the bliss of a good sleep in a bottom bunk, under my renovated mosquito net, secure in the knowledge that it was only a fruit bat and that they had just fumigated for chagas a few weeks prior. So when the time came to leave, I was very hesitant, but the upscaleyness (i.e. expensiveness) of the establishment, coupled with the fact that I had a new travel buddy to brave the Managua transfer with me made it all the more easy to leave.

Sunset

Kids on the beach

Curious crabs would creep out of their sandy caverns when they thought nobody was looking and the moment you moved they would motor right back to where they came from.

Returning from day trip to Leon

After another horse and cart ride down the beach with Dionosio (the horses master I met on the way in) and another boat ride across the channel and another slightly too long bus ride into Leon, we landed in a very lovely laid back hostel in a giant old colonial building in Leon where we got an excellent night’s sleep free of bats and chagas and drunk dorm mates stumbling in at all hours of the night. The next morning I ran into some acquaintances from Isla de Ometepe who were about to make the harrowing journey through Honduras and onward to Mexico via the bus – they joked about leaving me with their last will and testament - and I wished them luck. After breakfast we ran some errands and got a leisurely 11am start to Granada, via Managua – which turned out to be a very easy and uneventful transfer and not the frightening chaotic express kidnapping experience I had been led to believe it would be.

Various scenes from Leon....