Back......to Nicaragua

Well after spending the required time out of the country to get a new Visa, we have finally returned to enjoy and experience all that Nicaragua has to offer. Who would have thought that just getting into the country would be so much fun !!

The journey started when we left Playa del Coco in Costa Rica at 6am, expecting a long day of travel with a long border crossing awaiting us. We took a local ¨Chicken Bus¨ for the 2 hour journey to the border. For those of you who aren´t familar with this form of transport, just imagine one of those big yellow American school buses...and then re-imagine that the same bus was retired after 20 years or hard service, sent to Central America, and then served another 10 years or so before it stopped to pick us up...Despite all that it´s always an economical option, and you can´t beat the price. For our travels up till now, we´ve usually been faced with a $30 shuttle/private bus OR...a local ride on the other hand costs us a whole $1. From a financial point of view...not a hard choice.

Of course for that price you do sacrifice a little comfort. Imagine...3 adults stuffed into a bench seat designed for 2 children; absolutely no leg room for anyone over 4 feet tall; add at least another 30 people in the aisle; and then....just when you thought the bus couldn´t get any fuller, stop along the highway every kilometre to pick up more people and ensure that there are at least a few who are hanging out the doors and windows...Still, it works and is such a great part of the whole travelling experience.

When we finally got to the border, we braced ourselves for the expected 3 hour wait. There is only one land border between the 2 countries and it takes a notoriously long time to get through, especially this time of year. NOT this time though. To our surprise and blessed fortunes, we were approached by a local as soon as we got of the bus who offered to take us to our intended destination (San Juan de Sur) for only $20. It was 2 more buses and 2 hours away, so $20 was more than reasonable. However the true value add was in what came next. Our new ´mejor amigo´ - Alberto, proceeded to shove us in front of about 50 waiting people at the Costa Rican border and shunt us straight to the front of the line. Nice. Stamp, bang, thankyou maam.

THEN, he escorted us the next 400 metres to the Nicaraguan border where we encountered another massive 2 hour line up in the blazing sun...that is..for everyone else I mean. Alberto gave us a wink, proceeded to show himself through the door of the Immigration office, and after a short whisper in the ear of the nearest Immigration official, he grabbed our passports, hinted a little dollar or two (actually $4) wouldn´t go astray, and before we knew it, we had offically bribed our first customs officer, and were stamped and out of there in 10 minutes !!

A 45 minute cab ride later and we were sipping cold beers on the beach of San Juan del Sur. The ride itself wasn´t without its adventure however. The road to San Juan was probably the WORST paved road in the World, with arguably more craters in it than the moon. For most of the trip the car was weaving from one side of the road to the other at 60kms an hour and above, while dodging the countless holes. Still, we arrived in one piece and that´s what counts.

San Juan itself is a mellow little beach town which we were under the impression was a Surf beach. Unfortunately it quickly became apparent that San Juan is merely the ´gateway´ to the Surf beaches which were a few kilometres North and South of town. We quickly decided it was going to be too much hassle renting boards, taking buses to the beaches etc., so we just spent the next couple of days relaxing on the beach, watching beautiful sunsets, reading on our hostel balcony and having the most incredible meals at the restaurant next door - Jerry´s Pizza !! A lazy but enjoyable few days.

Here´s a short gallery of pics from our time in San Juan..


If you can´t see the above gallery, check out the link here - If you can´t see the above gallery, check out the link here - San Juan Del Sur