Today I woke up well rested. I found this bed to be the most comfortable one that i have slept in this entire trip. Holly didn't get much sleep because she was achy and didn't know that our mini fridge had bottles of water for the pills she took dry.
We walked downstairs for breakfast and there she was... the Suzuki EN125. We were very excited. Ike was able to get the bike for us at a super great rate. $20/day. Apperantly there was a mistake when telling us it was 20 initially but the owner of the bike didnt want to make a liar out of anybody so he honored the price.
Breakfast was great and very well portioned. I don't know if we have mentioned that Holly and I are on a mission to share as many meals as possible. We have noticed that most of the places where we have eaten--both expensive and cheap--serve up way too much food for one person. I suppose they are fairly similar to American portions.
Today we had the "big" breakfast which, like this hotel, is a bit pricier than we have been enjoying. This breakfast included one triangle slice of watermelon, one slice of papaya, three slices of toast, jam, butter, coffee or tea, scrambled eggs and gallo pinto. Gallo pinto is just rice an beans but this is what nicas call it. The food was delicious and again Holly and I were able to split it. She had tea and I had coffee. The Tea is a basic nestle tea bag. I have yet to have good cafe con leche though I haven't specifically seaked it out. Maybe I'll just make some myself. Breakfast was $4.50
Because we couldnt wait to jump on the motorcycle we didn't even go back up to our room to put bahingsuits on. We just jumped on and explored the island. If enjoy motorcycleling, dirt biking specifically, the island is a great place. Big Corn Island, near Long Bay, has a couple of great dirt trails that go up to private homes. We took a lot of pictures and videos of this.
While we had the bike we decided to check out other potential places to stay/eat/drink. We found Yellowtail (Dorcy's) the number is just about impossible to find online. We were disappointed to hear that it is now more expensive than it is listed online. But we decided we are going to stay there 4 nights. $25/night. he positive is that there is cheap drinks right next door and the beach is right in front. Ideal for snorkeling. We had lunch at an eatery right next to Yellowtail, this place is called Seva's. its pretty pricey, but we are slowly finding that the entire island is. We ate a chicken sandwich and split it. The sandwich, one bottle of water, and one beer it was 110(C) --(about $5.50US) not including tip.
After this we went to fuel up the motorcycle. Gas on the island is expensive i think. I didnt check the price but I do know that 130(c) filled the gas tank which is only about 2 Gallons.
We went back to the hotel to get into our swim gear. We went to Sally Peachie and swam in the carribean. Holly and I are both scared of stepping on things in water so we bought these beach shoes from Ike's and were happy campers the rest of the day.
We ate Dinner at Salva's a big plate of rice with beef, shrimp and chicken. 150(C)
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
DAY 3
Hola readers. This post is post-dated for reasons that will be revealed later.We decided to pack up and try a new spot today and head Northwest past the city of Leon to get to a 'Surf Lodge' we read about on a flyer. The Surfing Turtle Lodge was our destination and our journey for the day would include heading Northwest through the city of Leon, through the beach town of Poneloya, and onto a small island called Isla Los Brasliles where we were hoping to get some surfing under our belt.
We were able to check bus schedules leaving Managua online, which was actually pretty great. After some delicious leftovers from the night before, we packed up and hailed a cab to UCA, the Universidad de CentroAmerica, where the buses take off (15(C) a person). There is a choice between a chicken
bus (school bus style, a little scrappy, but it works), and a 'microbus' (smaller than a bus and larger than a van, seats about 11 people). We went with the Microbus because it gets you there a bit faster and isn't a whole lot more expensive (40 cordobas vs. 20 cordobas). Got to Leon, in the Subtiava market square, where we grabbed a cab right off the bus to go a few more blocks to the El Mercadito where we would then catch a chicken bus to Poneloya. The cabbie charged us about 20(C) per person, uggghh.Off we went, finally, to the end of the line in Poneloya. It was looking nice - beachside, beautiful ocean where we got off. By now we were really hot and hungry, so we sat down
at the first beachside eatery we saw. Really charming and hospitable, we grabbed a table under the rickety thatched hut, ordered some delicious fried chicken and fried fish, and I knocked back a few beers to sweeten the deal. This place is just down the path(literally, a path) from where we needed to grab our boat to the island, so we enjoy the scenery and watch the locals enjoy the water with a humorous sprinkling of animals occupying the same beach.After some quick directions, we walk down the path and find the small fishing boat to the island, throw our bags in, and take off for the very very short ride to the island. I loved that every boat had a slow leak that equired scooping buckets of water out before every ride, haha.
At the island we were directed to follow a set of arrows to FINALLY end up at the lodge. Cool. Wait...nope. I don't mind walking or hiking, but as you're probably bored to tears with this post, we were even more anxious to just get there. After about 1.5miles of unexpected walking through a pretty
island forest, we were boiling hot. Its all part of the adventure, right? We show up and its a gorgeous spot! It seems a bit quiet, though. Turns out we we were the only guests, accompanied only by a few staff members. While checking in, we are also presented with an interesting twist. This beautiful brand new lodge is pretty much brand new and all of the amenities and activities advertised on the flyers and website are not yet available. By amenities, I mean any electricity at all, internet, or phone service. Yikes! We are thick skinned gals that camp and such, but we were not expecting this! Especially when you're paying the price for a room that should have all this. Ah well, we decided to stay at our private beach paradise and give it a shot a few nights, at least for the surfing.Our room was nice, with an awesome view. Everything here is brand ne
w, too. We chose a private room, wich had plenty of room, a nice new bed, and curtains covering our screen windows and door. We took a surf board out and ran down to the beach before sunset to pretend we knew what we were doing. The waves look pretty great for begginers and the water temp is perfect. After several unsuccesfull attempts, we called it quits and grabbed a beer in the pitch black night up by the 'Bar' (pretty much just a table at this point, haha).At some point I needed to run up to the room for something and for some reason our keys aren't working... awesome. I keep trying, the staff shows up one by one to try, Anna tries. Nothing. We were already frustrated, so this kind of ticked us off. Finally, they call the owner and get permission to cut the screen door to open it from the inside. Now, we may be the only guests, but it isn't the best feeling to have an easily accesible room, espcially one near the water where you worry mosquitoes will invade (at least we don't have lights inside). Eeesh, what next, honestly.
They give us a lantern for light and we try to lay out and check out the beautiful stars from our private beach, but the mosquitos are too vicious to even stay in the dark at this point, so we carfully make our way upstairs to our room. I think Anna got about 50 bites just on the trip up the stairs, poor thing. I think the surfing lifted our spirits quite a bit, but we were both still kind of uneasy about the lack of pretty much everything at this place and a door we can't lock. Falling asleep to only the sound of the ocean crashing onshore was pretty great in my book, though. Tomorrow we'll probably stay one more night and try to make the best of our private island accomodations.
Buenas Noches!
Monday, December 14, 2009
Day 2
We woke up in Managua today and decided to figure out some sort of itinerary. I would like to see a volcano and maybe learn to surf at some point. Holly wants to get the heck out of Managua as there isn't really much fun to be had here. I ran into a Suzuki GN125, the exact same motorcycle I own back home. There are motorcycles everywhere in this country. I sometimes wonder how it is that anyone can drive here. All cars use their horn very freely.
Eats: Our first meal was at new moon right around the corner from the BIM we had tacos.
Weird since tacos aren't Nicaraguan. The hot sauce they gave us was ridiculously hot. We never want to have that again.
We ended up making dinner after going shopping about 2 blocks away. The supermarket is very big but if you want apples eat all you can in the States. The apples here are imported from the US and can cost about 3X as much as in the US. We bought beef, plantains, sweet peppers, pineapple, and Flor de Caña rum. This rum is popular and specific to Nicaragua.
Money: We went to BAC after somehow winding up here via taxi cab. The cabbie drove the long route so that he could charge more. We received 20.6... Cordobas for every dollar. I find it easy to do quick conversion math by first dividing by 2 and then moving the decimal to the left once place. Example: 200 Cordobas divide by 2 = 100 move the decimal point to the left = 10.0 ...So 200(C)= $10(US)
Transport: Other than the first cabbie giving us the run around through part of the city our experience was pretty good with cabs today. This other cab driver helped us figure out how the heck to get back to the hostel after the initial trip to the Bank. A tip: It is very rare to find places with addresses be sure to note some landmarks or even major streets. BIM is known by some cabbies as "Backpackers" but not all know this place. I used a restaurant named Taquiza as a point so that he could drive us in the right direction.
Fun: We jumped in the pool today. It was great. It goes to about 8ft in the deep end. big enough to actually swim, but not Olympic size by any means. We met a few fellow backpackers and had beers and wine. This place is BYOB and there is no bar.
PS. I thought I read somewhere that there is hot water here. There is not. Today was the first time I ever took a shower in cold water without it being by choice. It will take a little bit to get used to.
Tomorrow we head to the Surfing Turtle Lodge near Leon, Nicaragua
-Anna
Eats: Our first meal was at new moon right around the corner from the BIM we had tacos.
Weird since tacos aren't Nicaraguan. The hot sauce they gave us was ridiculously hot. We never want to have that again.
We ended up making dinner after going shopping about 2 blocks away. The supermarket is very big but if you want apples eat all you can in the States. The apples here are imported from the US and can cost about 3X as much as in the US. We bought beef, plantains, sweet peppers, pineapple, and Flor de Caña rum. This rum is popular and specific to Nicaragua.Money: We went to BAC after somehow winding up here via taxi cab. The cabbie drove the long route so that he could charge more. We received 20.6... Cordobas for every dollar. I find it easy to do quick conversion math by first dividing by 2 and then moving the decimal to the left once place. Example: 200 Cordobas divide by 2 = 100 move the decimal point to the left = 10.0 ...So 200(C)= $10(US)
Transport: Other than the first cabbie giving us the run around through part of the city our experience was pretty good with cabs today. This other cab driver helped us figure out how the heck to get back to the hostel after the initial trip to the Bank. A tip: It is very rare to find places with addresses be sure to note some landmarks or even major streets. BIM is known by some cabbies as "Backpackers" but not all know this place. I used a restaurant named Taquiza as a point so that he could drive us in the right direction.
Fun: We jumped in the pool today. It was great. It goes to about 8ft in the deep end. big enough to actually swim, but not Olympic size by any means. We met a few fellow backpackers and had beers and wine. This place is BYOB and there is no bar.PS. I thought I read somewhere that there is hot water here. There is not. Today was the first time I ever took a shower in cold water without it being by choice. It will take a little bit to get used to.
Tomorrow we head to the Surfing Turtle Lodge near Leon, Nicaragua
-Anna
Sunday, December 13, 2009
DAY 1
December 13th, 2009
Back-story:
-We arrive in Managua at 1030pm after a delayed trip
The Shuttle: Back packers Inn offers a shuttle from the airport to the Hostel for $10 per person. We paid online in advance at: www.Hostelworld.com or via PayPal directly through their website: http://www.managuahostel.com/ Some one waits for you Holding a sign displaying your name.
The Ride: The shuttle will drive right through every red light that it is able to.
On the ride to the hostel we noticed a lot of people out and about casually sitting on sidewalk ledges and at local eateries. Nothing that looked particularly inviting. You begin to wonder where the shuttle is taking you. You aren't necessarily scared, just interested on whether or not the neighborhood where the hostel is will be considered a friendly one.
When we got to the Backpackers Inn Managua, there were other guests coming in at the same time. These "dudes" were carrying surfboards. When we got inside we went to registration desk/room. Durinng the registration make sure you have your passport--not that this should be a problem since you are traveling from outside of the country--without it you will not get a room. We found this especially comforting considering the fact that if BIM (Backpackers Inn Managua) was leniant with this rule, any person off the street would have access to sleeping in the same dorm as those traveling, like us, with money and personal items needed for the trip.
After registering we were shown around the hostel.
We opted to sleep in the Dorm as we are travelers on a budget. The dorm has 8 bunks. I believe there is also a dorm with AC for $4(US) more per person. We would rather keep those $8 and just jump into the pool.
An alternative is filling up on the FREE water available to all g
uests or taking a nice cold shower. The shower is in the same room as the toilet. Be careful not to splash water on the toilet paper.
The pool is in the backroom and we found it to be at a great temperature and very clean. In this patio area where the pool is there is also outdoor seating and hammocks available. The lighting outside is nice. Despite all of this we did not jump into the pool the first night. We were tired and called it a night fairly early.
Back-story:
-We arrive in Managua at 1030pm after a delayed trip
The Shuttle: Back packers Inn offers a shuttle from the airport to the Hostel for $10 per person. We paid online in advance at: www.Hostelworld.com or via PayPal directly through their website: http://www.managuahostel.com/ Some one waits for you Holding a sign displaying your name.
The Ride: The shuttle will drive right through every red light that it is able to.
On the ride to the hostel we noticed a lot of people out and about casually sitting on sidewalk ledges and at local eateries. Nothing that looked particularly inviting. You begin to wonder where the shuttle is taking you. You aren't necessarily scared, just interested on whether or not the neighborhood where the hostel is will be considered a friendly one.
When we got to the Backpackers Inn Managua, there were other guests coming in at the same time. These "dudes" were carrying surfboards. When we got inside we went to registration desk/room. Durinng the registration make sure you have your passport--not that this should be a problem since you are traveling from outside of the country--without it you will not get a room. We found this especially comforting considering the fact that if BIM (Backpackers Inn Managua) was leniant with this rule, any person off the street would have access to sleeping in the same dorm as those traveling, like us, with money and personal items needed for the trip.After registering we were shown around the hostel.
We opted to sleep in the Dorm as we are travelers on a budget. The dorm has 8 bunks. I believe there is also a dorm with AC for $4(US) more per person. We would rather keep those $8 and just jump into the pool.An alternative is filling up on the FREE water available to all g
uests or taking a nice cold shower. The shower is in the same room as the toilet. Be careful not to splash water on the toilet paper.The pool is in the backroom and we found it to be at a great temperature and very clean. In this patio area where the pool is there is also outdoor seating and hammocks available. The lighting outside is nice. Despite all of this we did not jump into the pool the first night. We were tired and called it a night fairly early.
Thursday, December 10, 2009
Introduction
I am not much of a blogger--or a writer for that matter--but I wanted to document my trip to maybe try and help fellow travelers planning on visiting Nicaragua. Our trip's span is between Dec 13, 2009 and Jan 13, 2009
About Me:
My name is Anna Lopez. I am 24 years old. I'm from Chicago, IL, USA. I know Spanish pretty well, I am first generation American, both of my parents are from San Luis Potosi, Mexico. I work at a motorcycle/Vespa shop called Motoworks Chicago. My boss loves to travel on his bike and I have to admit the pictures and stories he brings back always make me a little jealous. Motoworks is where I found my travel partner, the lovely Ms. Holly Huff. Hard times--Winter--hit Motoworks and she was laid off. She decided she wanted to leave the country, and well I have been wanting to for sometimes as well. I asked my boss for some time off and he happily gave it to me.
Why Nica:
Who knows, really... But I haven't regretted it yet. Ultimately maybe its because it was Central America and it was a lot warmer than Chicago. Holly and I both knew we wanted to see C.Am. and she had already spent a week in Costa Rica. Honduras was going through some political things. At $360 (US) the roundtrip flight was irresitable.
Where:
Holly and I didnt really setup an itinerary.
How:
Our going away party funded a good amount of the hostels where we will stay. other than that we are on an optimistic budget of $1,500(US) per person with the ability to go over that.
About Me:
My name is Anna Lopez. I am 24 years old. I'm from Chicago, IL, USA. I know Spanish pretty well, I am first generation American, both of my parents are from San Luis Potosi, Mexico. I work at a motorcycle/Vespa shop called Motoworks Chicago. My boss loves to travel on his bike and I have to admit the pictures and stories he brings back always make me a little jealous. Motoworks is where I found my travel partner, the lovely Ms. Holly Huff. Hard times--Winter--hit Motoworks and she was laid off. She decided she wanted to leave the country, and well I have been wanting to for sometimes as well. I asked my boss for some time off and he happily gave it to me.
Why Nica:
Who knows, really... But I haven't regretted it yet. Ultimately maybe its because it was Central America and it was a lot warmer than Chicago. Holly and I both knew we wanted to see C.Am. and she had already spent a week in Costa Rica. Honduras was going through some political things. At $360 (US) the roundtrip flight was irresitable.
Where:
Holly and I didnt really setup an itinerary.
How:
Our going away party funded a good amount of the hostels where we will stay. other than that we are on an optimistic budget of $1,500(US) per person with the ability to go over that.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)