Nicaragua - Dec-2014 - Jan-2015

Thursday, Dec 25 [Leon]

It's Christmas, and we are heading out to warmer climate - sunny Nicaragua. The Hoboken First Class driver was on time, even a few minutes early. With my new TSA-pre, I breezed through security in under 5 minutes, whereas it took Sofia close to 20 in regular lane. Then our usual morning flight Terminal C ritual of drinking Starbucks lattes with homemade egg wraps. The flight to Houston was on time and our seats were quite decent, even though we didn't get upgraded. We watched a good movie during this flight - "100 foot journey". Landing in Houston, we went to explore the airport a bit - it's huge! After a while, we took a window seat a Cat Cora's not far from our gate and had a couple of drinks and tapas. Once we got on the plane, right before takeoff, we were both upgraded to first class, with seats together. We had food with us, so we opted out of complimentary dinner, but took the drinks and apple pie.

Landing in Managua, we went through border control and customs pretty quickly and found our hotel shuttle. Our hotel is only a few minutes drive from the airport, so we checked in and were all settled in soon. After a quick stroll around hotel grounds, we went to sleep.

Friday, Dec 26 [Leon]

Got up and went for breakfast in the hotel, which was pretty good with custom omelettes and great locally grown coffee. Then our driver was there and we drove to Mombacho Natural Reserve. Our guide was already waiting for us there, since we got a bit stuck in traffic. We got loaded into a high-powered 4x4 and took a steep road up the volcano. The road took about 20 minutes and was pretty bumpy, but it's better than walking all the way up. After disembarking, we hiked Tigrillo Trail around two of the craters through cloud forest. There could have been some amazing views of the craters below and surrounding countryside and lakes... But unfortunately it was very cloudy and misty. So, we could not see much and slippery trail made the hike more challenging. Well, there's a reason they call it cloud forest... We did see the smoking holes (fumaroles) which release hot vapor, and some big bright orchids. We also saw a couple of sloths up in the trees - one very big, another average size.

 

Mombacho Cloud Forest

After Mombacho, we headed down to White Villages (Pueblos Blancos). First to San Juan de Oriente where we had a ceramic workshop demonstration and visited a few other pottery stores. Some of the ceramics were truly works of art, with abstract designs. Then we went to Catarina - a small village perched above Laguna de Apoyo - a 20 square km crater lake. It finally cleared up and views were amazing - we could even see Granada churches and Lake Nicaragua in the distance. Mombacho summit though was still shrouded in clouds... We sat down for lunch at Carolina's restaurant overlooking Apoyo Laguna and had decent lobster ceviche, great fried plantains with cheese and unnamed fish in white sauce. Afterwards, our driver and guide took us back to our hotel. We felt tired and napped a bit on the way. Getting back to our room, we extended the nap.

Laguna de Apoyo

Woke up around 5:00 pm, re-packed for tomorrow's activities, and went for dinner in downtown Managua - to La Terrazza Peruana. The taxi ride took 30 minutes, as promised. The restaurant was nice, with outdoor courtyard seating and casual atmosphere. Ceviche was great, while the main courses were just ok. After dinner, our ride back was much quicker since there wasn't much traffic. We finished the day relaxing in comfortable chairs by the pool and writing this blog.

Saturday, Dec 27 [Leon]

Early wake-up call this morning, quick breakfast in the round breakfast room overlooking the pool and at 6:15 am we were on a road to private reserve Montibelli, leaving our big suitcase behind in the hotel for a pickup in two days. The road our driver intended to take was closed - they were putting up more aluminum "Trees of Life" with Christmas lights. Apparently, it is a First Lady's initiative to decorate the city, which is not widely accepted by most of Managua's population. We had to take a 15 min detour which brought our drive time to 90 minutes or so. In Montibelli reserve we were greeted by our local tour guide and fresh coffee. The forest was very nice - lush and green but dry, with a comfortable hiking trail. The hike started out slow, as we did not see much wildlife. However, then some birds started appearing and we saw several different species of warbler, motmot, nightingale, trogon, and hummingbird. We also saw a howler monkey sleeping up in the tree, and a big porcupine sitting in the tree above the trail eyeing us suspiciously. At one point in the hike we came out onto a high promontory with a beautiful view of surrounding countryside and Masaya volcano. We also saw coffee plants, lime trees, dragon fruit plants, and pineapple trees. Overall, it was a very pleasant 3-hour hike. Then we had a light brunch - eggs, rice and beans, fruits - and took the van to the airport for our flight to Corn Islands.

Montibelli Nature Reserve

La Costena flight to Corn Islands

So, we ended up spending 2 hours in the airport because for some reason the check-in was well in advance of the flight. And domestic airline La Costena's terminal is nothing to write home about... Anyway, the flight was shorter than expected and direct, without anticipated stop in Bluefields. We got to Big Corn Island, got off he plane and were greeted by a local police officer (?) who for some reason had to write everybody's passport numbers by hand in a notebook. Our hotel - Casa Canada - was a big disappointment despite great reviews both in our travel guide and on TripAdvisor. First of, even though the view from hotel grounds and infinity pool was great, there was no good swimming beach nearby. The closest good beach was across the island - a 10 minute taxi ride (more about local taxis below). Secondly, our room was not ready and no clear time for it to be ready was given. We were offered a complimentary drink and told to wait. After we had drinks and a snack, the room was still not ready. We asked for a place to change, since we were still wearing our hiking outfits. We were shown to a smallish shabby room with a great view. So we changed and went across the street to investigate a stand-up paddle-boarding place I found online which just happened to be right there. However, the office looked closed, so I contacted the owner through his website instead.

View from the deck bar at Casa Canada

Finally, another hour later, the manager took us to a room at the very end of the terrace with no view. Mind you, our booking said "ocean view private cabin"... So, we rebelled and asked for the room where we had changed, which had a view but was smaller, with outdated fixtures and appliances. This was the only ocean-view room available, but the manager promised to give us another room tomorrow. We put valuables in the safe (more about the safe below) and went for a walk to nearby long and very pretty beach, which was a bit too rough for comfortable swimming. We had a nice long walk on the beach and took a taxi back, after chatting with a couple of locals trying to cook lobster for their B&B guests.

After getting back to our hotel, we took a shower and I tried to get some more cash out of the safe before going to dinner. I entered the code and tried to turn the key, but the handle came off in my hand! Just like that, our passports, credit cards, most of the cash, and Sofia's jewelry were all locked up. I was able to pick the part of the key that remained in the lock and pull it out, so at least now the lock was ready to be opened by a professional. We went to the front desk to tell them about our troubles, but nobody was there (at 6:30 pm). I was getting concerned that we would get stuck in Corn Islands, since we can't fly out without passports. And who would be available to open a really old safe on a Sunday (next day)? However, we were also getting hungry. So, we asked one of our hotel staff to catch us a taxi to go to Comedor Maris for dinner. The taxi he caught was going in the wrong direction and had another passenger, but we were assured he would be dropped off in a couple of minutes and we would go to our restaurant. Instead, he ride took close to 20 minutes, with multiple stops to drop off and pick up other passengers. Apparently, in Corn Islands, "taxi" means "bus"...

Finally, we made it to Comedor Maris, which was a number 2 restaurant in Corn Islands on TripAdvisor, highly recommended for local lobster. The lobster was good, although by no means outstanding. The worst part - it took over an hour to get our food! The restaurant is run out of owner's home, which is not uncommon in Nicaragua. However, their operation just could not keep up. They had one table with 10 customers, and apparently their very small home kitchen could not handle it. So, we ended up waiting for over an hour, with no bread, no appetizers - nothing but the offers to order more drinks. Oh, and they don't have a menu either... It's just lobster in tomato sauce, butter & garlic, or just butter. Again, the lobster is fresh and tasty, but not a delicacy deserving a stellar rating. Definitely nothing worth waiting an hour for.

After dinner, we asked the owner to call us a taxi, but she said "just wait, they pass by here all the time". That may be so, but we waited for 15 minutes and not a single empty taxi came through. Finally we convinced her to call a taxi, which she did with great reluctance. We made it back and I managed to open the safe by turning the stump of the key in the lock with a pair of tweezers. Then we read a bit outside listening to the surf, and went to sleep.

Sunday, Dec 28 [Leon]

This morning the rooster woke us up at 5:30 am. We tried to sleep a bit longer, but the creature was just relentless. We gave up and went for breakfast at 7:00 am. After breakfast we reminded the front desk about their promise to switch us to a better room and were told to check back around 2:00 pm. Then we took a taxi to Picnic Center Beach and dropped on perfect white sand in front of the Arenas Beach Hotel. The water was calm and clear. We went swimming quite a few times, just relaxed on the beach, and had a beer at Arenas Beach Bar. Then we went for lunch at Picnic Center Cafe and had a big ceviche appetizer and a lobster tail cooked Caribbean style, which was very good. After that we took a taxi back to our hotel, where the new room was ready. We moved our stuff and relaxed a bit. The first problem with this room was that it had no WiFi reception. So we had to go to the pool to get internet connection... Anyway, after about an hour we took a taxi back to Arenas Beach and watched the sunset. Then we walked the beach and went for an early dinner at the Picnic Center. Unfortunately, their evening cook must have been different from their daytime cook, and they had no more plantains. The lobster was still good, just not quite as good as during lunch. After dinner, we caught a taxi and went back to our hotel. There we discovered the second problem with our new room - there was no hot water in the shower. So we had to take very quick cold showers. The evening ended on a positive note - I got in touch with the paddle-boarding instructor Joey, we went across the street to his office to check out the boards, and agreed to meet tomorrow at 8:00 am on Picnic Center Beach.

Sunset on Picnic Center Beach

Monday, Dec 29 [Leon]

No rooster could be heard from the new room, however we still woke up around 6:30 am and went for breakfast at 7:00. Took a taxi to Picnic Center Beach, met Joey, and I spent a fun hour paddle-boarding around the bay. The wind was blowing offshore, so it was a decent workout keeping the board on course. It was by the way an inflatable board, not a solid fiberglass one I was used to. The feel was a bit different, but not better or worse. The owner Joey just started this business in December and he told us how difficult it was to transport the boards to Corn Island from Managua. He is originally from Connecticut, but spent last few years in Colorado guiding river SUP tours. That's where inflatable boards come handy, as they sit higher in the water and don't get banged up on the rocks. Joey also paddled 7 miles from Big Corn to Little Corn - the only person to have ever done so. While I paddle-boarded, he entertained Sofia with stories about challenges of living and trying to run a business in Corn Islands. If you are ever on Big Corn, you can connect with Joey at standuppaddlecornislands.com.

Perfect morning on Picnic Center Beach

After paddle-boarding, we just spent some time on Arenas (or Picnic Center) Beach - swimming, tanning, reading in the shade... Bought a coconut for a dollar and drank its milk. Around noon it got too hot and we headed back to Casa Canada. We ordered some appetizers (wings and ceviche) and one plate of lobster in garlic. The food took a while to arrive, but was quite good. Afterwards, we showered, packed, and went to check out. The manager, to apologize for giving us a crappy room the first night, took our lunch off the bill. Well, at least they are trying...

Then we took a taxi to the airport. Now, there was definitely some confusion regarding the departure time for our flight back. Our tickets did not list departure time, only check-in time at 2:00 pm. Our confirmation from La Costena's web site said departure at 4:40 pm. The reservation section of the same web site also said 4:40, however the general schedule page said 3:45 pm. We even emailed our travel agent Katia the day before, and she confirmed that departure is definitely at 4:40 pm, and we should go to the airport at 2:45. However, the manager at Casa Canada and another lady working at the reception were both adamant that we should go to the airport at 2:00 pm, or the "flight will leave without you". So, we did just that, and what do you know - the check-in closed at 2:45 pm and the plane took off at 3:18. I am writing this on the plane, feeling very happy to be on it and not left behind.

So, we landed at 4:45 pm and of course there was nobody meeting us, since Katia thought our plane would just take of at 4:40. Well, Blackberry to the rescue - I called her and luckily the driver was only 5 minutes away, with a nice comfortable Toyota Land Cruiser. We stopped by Camino Real Hotel to pick up our bag and were in Granada in under 2 hours. Checked into our Hotel Colonial located right next to Central Park in a beautiful Spanish colonial style building with multiple courtyards and pools. I wanted to shave but could not detect any hot water in the sink faucet, and even the shower was barely lukewarm. Anyway, shaving postponed until better times, we went to explore the city. There was a lot of people strolling around Central Park, the square in front of the main cathedral, and Calle Calzada - the main dining and shopping pedestrian-only street leading to the lake. It was very lively and everybody seemed to be in a festive mood. For dinner we went to El Zaguan - the best steakhouse in Granada serving excellent Nicaraguan cuts of beef. We shared a chorizo appetizer, and then I had tenderloin Nicaraguan style (with fried plantains and refried beans) and Sofia had filet mignon in Merlot sauce. Tired after this long day, we went to sleep shortly after dinner.

Tuesday, Dec 30 [Leon]

This morning after breakfast we got picked up at our hotel by our guide Giovanni and the owner of NicarAgua Dulce - the company that runs kayaking and boating tours on Lake Nicaragua. After a short drive we were at their base where we got kayaks. Then we spent about two hours exploring Las Isletas - small islands in the lake close to Granada. We saw some birds and a few people living on those islands. A couple of islands had "for sale" signs, another island had a big house with a sign "available for events". Overall, it was a very relaxing morning - just gliding along calm surface of the lake looking at plants, birds, and signs of civilization. Only at the end we had to work a bit, paddling against the current to get back to base.

 

Kayaking on Lake Nicaragua around Las Isletas

Then, after a quick drive back to our hotel, we changed and went for Granada city tour. First we visited the main cathedral next to Parque Central, then the art gallery and cultural academy at La Casa de Los Tres Mundos, then the convent of San Francisco church with pre-Columbian statues from Zapatera Island in Lake Nicaragua. Granada was destroyed or burned to the ground at least four times - once by Captain Morgan, a couple more times by other pirates who sailed up Río San Juan and then across the lake. Finally, Granada was burned down by filibuster William Walker in 1856. So, most historical buildings had some older and some newer features. For example, a gate may be from 16th century, while the rest of the building from mid 19th. Then we switched to a horse-driven carriage and continued our tour through the city with its old Spanish colonial houses. We went to see the old train station which was abandoned after President Violeta Chamorro sold Nicaraguan train to Costa Rica. We also saw La Polvora - the old fort where Spanish stored gunpowder and weapons to fight English and French pirates in 17th and 18th century. Then we went to Iglesia La Merced church and climbed the bell tower for great panoramic views of Granada. Finally, we went to see the cemetery, which had some amazing old marble tombstones and mausoleums. There sure were some old wealthy families in Granada. The cemetery was not as ostentatious as Recoleta in Buenos Aires, but still unexpectedly impressive. Afterwards, we came back to Parque Central and went to look for a good lunch place. We found a nice restaurant called La Claraboya right next to El Zaguan. We shared four appetizers - fried plantains with cheese, pulpo (grilled octopus), orange and beet salad, and empanadillas. All were delicious and we left very satisfied. After lunch we strolled down Calle Calzada looking at different stores and cafes. One store had very nice leather goods, and we bought Sofia a little cosmetics bag. Then we walked back towards our hotel and stopped for coffee at another hotel with a nice courtyard.

 

In Granada

In Granada - view from Iglesia la Merced bell tower

In Granada - lunch at La Claraboya

At 4:00 pm, our guide picked us up at our hotel for the night tour of Masaya volcano. First we drove to the national park entrance and continued up the road to the parking area. There we hiked a couple of trails to see the craters and smoking holes and the panorama at sunset, which was beautiful. Then we drove to another parking area where we got hard hats and flashlights from the park ranger. Thus equipped, we descended into a lava tube - cave formed by flowing lava. The cave was 600 meters deep, but we went only 200 meters down so as not to disturb the bats living there. We saw stalactites and lava bubbles. At one point we turned off our flashlights just to see how pitch black dark it was in the cave. After coming out of the cave, we crouched next to another smaller entrance and saw bats leaving the cave in a swarm. Finally, we drove to a point where we could see the glow of the magma below in the crater. We could stay there only a few minutes because the sulfur smell was overpowering. We even had to put bandannas over our noses and mouths...

 

On Masaya Volcano

Afterwards, we returned to our hotel, changed and went for another great steak dinner at El Zaguan. This time we both had filet mignon - mine was in Merlot sauce, Sofia's in mushroom sauce. After dinner we went back to our hotel and called it a night.

Wednesday, Dec 31 [Leon]

This morning after breakfast our guide picked us up for Apoyo Laguna hike. First we drove to Catarina village where we saw a funky little procession to celebrate St. Sylvester. People were dancing, shooting fireworks, and being generally merry and festive. It was only 9:00 am, but many of them seemed drunk and happy for it. Then we started our hike down, which took about an hour. It was a nice hike through dry tropical forest, however we did not see any wildlife. The driver met us with the car at the bottom and we drove to a small lakefront lodge. We spent about an hour there relaxing at a nice little beach. It was pretty windy and the water was rough, difficult to get in. I went for a quick swim anyway, which was nice and refreshing.

 

Swimming in Laguna de Apoyo

Afterwards, we returned to Granada. Before going back to the hotel, we stopped by Nora's guayaberas store, since Sofia wanted to get me one. However, they were all too loose, not fitted as I usually wear. So, we left the store quickly and empty handed. Then we went for a quick lunch at La Claraboya again, bought some coffee to bring back home, and returned to our hotel. Took a quick shower and went for massage at La Bolcona hotel and spa two blocks away. Feeling relaxed after that, we came back to our room and took a nice two-hour nap. Then we packed for next day's departure and went for a walk before dinner. The streets were full of people, with everybody in festive mood. Many had the doors of their houses wide open, the entire families sitting in folding or rocking chairs in front chatting and greeting passerby with "Feliz Ano Nuevo!"

Then we got to Ciudad Lounge where I made a reservation for New Year's Eve. We were greeted by Noemi (the owner) and seated in the courtyard for drinks and appetizers. Later we switched to a table in the main building for our main course, and back to courtyard for champagne and dessert. The lounge was beautifully designed and decorated, with old Spanish colonial house facing the street, a modern steel-and-concrete structure in the back housing the kitchen, and the courtyard in-between. The setting was very intimate - there were only 3 other couples and a family of 5, however one of the couples and the family left before 11:00 pm. Noemi stopped by to chat several times and William (the chef and owner) came out of the kitchen as well with his dog Brad Pitt (a lab and pitt bull mix). The drinks were great and the food was excellent, even though Sofia was a bit disappointed with the chocolate dessert. At midnight, it seemed like the entire city exploded, so many fireworks were launched at once. Some kids laid multiple block-length daisy-chains of fireworks and triggered them. A few were too close to parked cars, so car security alarms added to the general mayhem. It was crazy fun - possibly the most fun New Years ever!

Ciudad Lounge

Thursday, Jan 1 [Leon]

After breakfast, we checked out of our hotel and said goodbye to Granada. We had a private transfer to Rivas and San Jorge, where the driver bought us Ometepe ferry tickets and told us to wait for 10:30 am departure. It was very crowded - young backpackers, local couples and entire families with kids and whole picnic setups, several cars and trucks... Finally the ferry arrived and everybody loaded on. It was extremely crowded and loading everybody delayed the departure by at least 30 minutes. The crossing took about an hour in very rough waters of Lake Nicaragua. Finally we arrived to Ometepe island and disembarked at the port of Myogalpa. Our driver was waiting for us, and the drive to our hotel Finca San Juan de la Isla took almost an hour on bad roads. The hotel was great - several individual cabins facing the lake, and a few more without lake view. The environment was very rustic but comfortable. Our cabin was small but very well laid out for a comfortable stay. The shower had hot water and good water pressure, the fixtures and lighting all worked fine, and there was a place to hang clothes. Outside, there was a great view of Lake Nicaragua and a small beach with chairs and umbrellas. We had a quick and simple lunch cooked on a wood-fired stove and headed out for a walk. The guidebook recommended visiting "Ojo de Agua" or "Eye of the Water" - a natural spring fed freshwater pool with extremely clear water. It was supposed to be about a 40 minute hike away, however about 5 minutes in we encountered a small stream. There was no way to jump over it and we did not feel like taking off our hiking shoes to cross it. I tried to build a bridge by dropping a large piece of wood across, but it washed away. After wasting 10 minutes or so, we finally took off our shoes and waded across. Then we continued up the beach until we encountered a much larger stream, that the map identified as the Río de Buon Successo. We did not feel comfortable wading across this stream, so we took another hiking route that led upriver. We walked through a dry tropical forest past a few houses with chickens, pigs, goats, cows, and dogs. People were cooking, sitting outside talking, or doing household chores. Everybody looked happy and festive. It was pretty busy at Ojo de Agua when we got there - locals and tourists, kids and adults - all swimming, jumping in a water off a swing, or lounging around picnicking. We even recognized a few people from our ferry. I went for a quick swim, and we headed back to our hotel. When we got back, the power was out. The staff told us it should be restored in 30 minutes or so. So, we went for a walk on the beach and saw an amazing site of hundreds of fireflies in the grass along lake shore, blinking like nature's own Christmas lights! Dinner was great - simple but fresh food served outside. It was very windy next to the lake - we even had to put our hoodies on. However - no mosquitos or flies!

On Ometepe Island

Friday, Jan 2 [Sofia]

We woke up with alarm at 6:00 am to go for a swim in Lake Nicaragua. It is very beautiful here, very lush vegetation and plantain trees, blue birds flying around. After an excellent quick breakfast we were picked up by our guide Eric and driven to hike the waterfall San Ramon trail. The hike was about an hour of going through jungle, scrambling over rocks and gaining pretty decent elevation. The waterfall is not as big as Haleakala but still quite tall and very pretty. We climbed on a big rock for a good picture before leaving the waterfall. It was nice that we got there early - we met several groups going to waterfall on our way back.

San Ramon waterfall

Then we drove to hotel El Paraiso on Santo Domingo beach for a brief swim interrupted by tropical rain and had a good lunch of local lake fish. Local "pigeons" that look like blue birds with big tail landed on our table and I fed them some of my rice. We loaded onto a 3:00 pm ferry from San Jose, which looks like an old retired river boat donated by Netherlands, and even watched part of Hangover 3 dubbed in Spanish.

The transfer to Morgan Rock resort near San Juan del Sur took over an hour - half of the roads are not paved. Morgan Rock property is enormous - 4,000 acres - and it takes abut 20 min just to drive through it. The resort is amazingly rustic and beautiful, but very natural and not overly landscaped. By the time we were escorted into our room - across a long suspension bridge and stairs up the hill - it was already pitch dark and we couldn't fully appreciate a full ocean view, even though we could hear the surf very close. We are staying in cabin 5 out of 15 cabins perched on the side of a hill. The cabins are essentially very luxurious tree houses, each with a separate open area with suspended bed and a mosquito-protected part with bedroom, bathroom, couch and everything else. The entire cabin feels very open and airy, not hot even in absence of AC. We went for dinner at Morgan Rock restaurant which had a very nice atmosphere and soft music. I had shrimp from local shrimp farm and Leon had pork, finishing up our long day with tres leches cake and chocolate mousse.

Saturday, Jan 3 [Sofia]

Today we woke up in our luxurious treehouse to the amazing view of ocean, beach and palm trees. We took a quick shower and Leon even had time to shave to look presentable for the cows at the farm. We climbed into flat bed of a Morgan Rock truck for "breakfast on the farm" tour together with a family from Minnesota. Seems like most of the people staying here are from US and came to Nicaragua just for Morgan Rock resort. On the farm we milked a very docile but cute brown cow and collected eggs from brown chickens - some of them kept pecking on our sneakers. Then at the farmhouse kitchen we saw how to make corn tortillas and ate a breakfast of fresh scrambled eggs, gallo pinto, homemade cheese and tortillas with good coffee served on local pottery. On the drive back we saw monkeys, sloth and very colorful big orange red green and blue macaws.

After the tour Leon said that it is time to head for the beach. Beach here is pretty big, sand is darker than Caribbean but very soft, and there are beach shacks with hammocks and nice comfortable foldouts. One of the tour guides promised Leon that he may be able to ask owners of the resorts to lend him their stand-up paddle board. However, by the time we picked it up, the wind became so strong that it was a challenge to get it in the water and paddle against the wind, so Leon got to go only for a very short time. At 12 pm it was getting very hot, so we moved to the pool and then to lunch where we had salad, gazpacho, and sandwiches with pork and vegetables. After lunch we took a nap in the swinging bed in the open area of our treehouse. On the way back to the beach we saw a whole family of howler monkeys, doing what monkeys do best - hanging of the trees, eating leaves and looking almost human. We told them that they can come down from the trees and start doing something productive and saw that they started contemplating their options. The sunset on the beach was beautiful - and clouds still stayed pink and orange for an hour after.

View from the Morgan Rock's pool

Howler monkey

Sunday, Jan 4 [Sofia]

It was very windy and loud at night, with waves and trees sounds waking us up periodically. We went for quick breakfast - Nicaraguan style with tortillas, eggs, cheese, rice and beans for Leon and yogurt with granola for me - and headed for the beach. It looked abandoned except for 2 sleeping tourists in one of the cabanas. Sun was looking through some patchy clouds and wind wouldn't stop creating unpleasant gusts of sand. We hung out at the beach until after 11:00 am and then went for our tour of San Juan del Sur and La Flor. It took us about 30 min to reach San Juan del Sur. It is a small surfing town, not very developed with main street going along busy and not very clean beach. Thee were quite a few real estate and law offices and several newer-looking mid-rise buildings (one with a pool on the deck), but the scale and level of development is nowhere near Jaco. We walked around, bought a couple of souvenirs and stopped by El Timon for lunch. The place is very popular, with a nice beach view and artistic multi-level presentation for all dishes. We saw octopus - pulpo - on the menu and could not resist ordering one dish of octopus in rum and another one with potatoes in red wine sauce. When our dishes arrived 30 minutes later we realized that we were doomed - Leon received a whole big octopus 6-8 inches in diameter with all of his tentacles and I had a whole big bowl of hot soup, with equally large size of octopus and vegetables. While I fished for something to eat in my soup, Leon swiftly worked on his sea creature. Soon the octopus lost all of its tentacles.

Lunch at El Timon

Then we drove to La Flor - a very quiet beach in a nature preserve where over 100,000 turtles of 4 different species hatch every year, mainly in June through January. We saw little baby turtles in a basin and some soft turtle egg shells, however no turtle granted us the honor of watching her hatch at the time we were on the beach.

La Flor

Monday, Jan 5 [Sofia]

After a quick breakfast we went for artisan fishing tour for 3 hours on a little boat. It's still quite windy and wavy, with sun frequently hiding in the clouds. The fishing equipment consisted of a fishing wire rolled up on a piece of wooden board on one end and a lure on the other end that we drag behind the boat. Our fishing guides were heading straight for places where they saw most of the pelicans and seagulls, operating on a theory that birds know where to find fish. It didn't quite work out though - I caught one pretty 2 feet bonito fish and that was the end of it. We had to console ourselves with beer and chicken sandwiches. We saw Morgan Rock very close and had a good look at the ocean house of Nicaraguan billionaire Carlos Pellas. After disembarking and taking along cooler with remaining beer and sandwiches we landed on our beach and fell half-asleep in hammocks. Woke up and jumped in the pool which has a very good view of the beach and sparkly ocean. The cook grilled the bonito for our lunch. It had a dark meat and tasted fishy, but was quite tasty. After lunch, we packed and went back to the pool and then the beach to watch the sunset.

Sofia's catch

Sunset on Morgan Rock beach

Tuesday, Jan 6 [Leon]

Woke up at 6:00 am and went for a quick swim in the Pacific - last one for a while - and a walk on the beach. After breakfast, our airport transfer was ready at 8:30 am, as scheduled. We said goodbye to Morgan Rock and its friendly staff and drove off. Our driver was very nice, trying to point out different places of interest to us. The drive to Managua airport took exactly 2 hours and 45 minutes, as Nicaragua Adventures promised, despite getting stuck multiple times behind horse carts, little motorcycle taxis, beer trucks, and buses. Adios Nicaragua! Until next time!