Farewell Costa Rica, Ola Nicaragua

Tamarindo was just as I had remembered it…just with many more bars and a couple hotels in the town now. We actually ended up staying at the same hostel in the exact room we were in 5 years ago which was really cool. This place brought back a ton of great memories. Unfortunatly 5 years later this place was much much more expensive to stay in so we could only afford to stay for two nights.

From Tamarindo we said farewell to Costa Rica and headed for Nicaragua.

 

After crossing the border we ran into our friends from Seattle. We met this couple (Eric and Melissa) back in Bocus Del Toro. We all caught a bus to San Juan Del Sur, also known as San Juan Del Blur as it’s known as a party town. I would say this was easily one of my favorite places so far.

Reunited!!

We stayed at a hostel called “Mama Sara’s House” after it was recommended to us by our friends Jody and Janelle (thanks guys!!!). I am so glad we were able to stay here because Mama Sara really was the sweetest lady in the world and made you feel right at home.  She welcomed us with freshly squeezed lemonade and always wanted to feed us.  She baked empanadas and made Nicaraguan dishes for us to try.

Mama Sara!

Mama Sara's delicious cooking

My liver took a beating over the week we spent here…I blame it on our American friends….and maybe the fact that a liter of Flor de Cana cost us only 6 dollars! We attended “Sunday Funday” which was a pool party pub crawl that consisted of a couple hundred backpackers pool party hopping. It was a great time. We also attended the Tuesday night pub crawl which was similar except it didn’t take place during the day and there was no pools involved.

Found a Canadian bar with ceasar's!

The many bottles of rum consumed

Sunday Funday

We met a ton of really great people here which probably helped making it one of my favorite places so far. The town was filled with Canadians!! We even met a really nice couple from Calgary. After spending a week here we were ok to move on and started heading north.

Our Calgary friends

After a very crowded bus and one bumpy ferry ride, we arrived in Isla de Ometepe. Ometepe is known for its twin volcanic peaks; Maderas and Concepcion. We rented motorbikes and rode around the island stopping to cool down at Ojo de Agua; a natural spring swimming hole with crystal clear turquoise waters. After two nights in Ometepe we headed to Granada.

Howler monkeys

 

Granada was a loud bustling city where kids would beg for food as you ate and the poor would beg for money on the streets. The one thing that really turned me off about Granada was seeing all the kids sniffing glue. We were warned about the “glue huffing” but it wasn’t until we saw them sucking on bottles filled with glue in the streets that it became a real thing. These kids were so high off glue they looked more like zombies. They even tried to pick Ben’s pocket but thankfully didn’t succeed. It was very depressing to see such young kids in such a horrible state. On a nicer note we did take a really nice day trip to one of Nicaragua’s natural wonders Laguna deApoyo, also known as the crater lake. It was pretty cool to know you were swimming inside the crater of a volcano.

From Granada we travelled to Leon another large colonial city. The place known for it's famous volcano boarding! Rated #2 on cnn's thrill seeker's bucket list which we can now cross off our lists!...stay tuned for details and photos.

Bocas del Toro & Puerto Viejo

From the islands we headed back to Panama City to catch an overnight bus to Bocas del Toro. Before leaving Panama City for the night we went and visited the canal. We arrived just in time to watch a massive freight ship go through the canal which was pretty cool to see.

 

Then came the ten hour overnight bus from hell….as we were standing in line to get onto the bus I started feeling super sick. Within 5 minutes of the bus departing I was in the tiny smelly bathroom on the bus puking my guts out….food poisoning. Not sure from what exactly but I knew it was going to be a long night. To make matters worse, the toilet wouldn’t flush. After asking a couple of Chilean girls on our bus to translate for us and notify the bus driver that the toilet wouldn’t flush, a lock was then put on the bathroom door and I was given a bunch of bags. I was getting sick every 20 minutes or so. It was horrible…thought I was going to die. Pretty sure everyone on the bus hated me for not only locking the one bathroom on the bus but for having to listen to me get sick in bags all night long!...i will be watching what I eat more closely from here on out….We did eventually make it to the beautiful beach town of Bocas del Toro. The streets were lined with colourful little cafes, bakeries and restaurants. Food carts in the streets sold grilled chicken and fresh fruit smoothies.  We took it easy our first day there as I was still super sick. I felt much better the second day there so we rented a couple of bikes and rode around the island to visit a few beaches. Surfing was pretty huge in this town so it was cool to sit on the beach and watch them. The waves are just massive! The next day we booked a day tour that took us to three places around the islands. We went to dolphin bay and got to see a few not far from the boat. We then went to a place called coral cay to do some snorkeling and then spent a couple of hours on Red frog beach. Although we were not lucky enough to see any of these red frogs (strawberrypoison-dart frogs), we were told they do still exist but will soon be extinct on the island. After the tour we enjoyed a delicious Thai dinner at this restaurant overlooking the ocean.

 

Sweet sweet paradise!

Dolphin Bay

Coolest little boat bar on the island!

 

We were lucky enough to find a couple of bars on the island that were playing superbowl which Ben was thrilled about… too bad the game was so brutal! The next morning we said farewell to Panama and crossed the border into Costa Rica. Because Ben had already been to Panama 5 years ago we didn’t want to spend a whole lot of time there. We both have also backpacked through Costa Rica 5 years ago so we only plan to spend about a week in Costa Rica.

Superbowl!!

 

Our journey through Panama was short but sweet. Only a week and a half through our journey it was very apparent that our Spanish sucks and we need to learn more. Note to self… don’t go to subway for lunch if you don’t speak the language (impossible)…If all else fails we rely on our charades to get us by.

First stop in Costa Rica was a small beach town called Puerto Viejo. A place where shoes are optional and dreadlocks are common. Street vendors line the streets selling bracelets, rings and other trinkets. The town was filled with red, green and yellow bars playing reggae music.  In this hippy town the smell of marijuana fills the air and you are commonly offered drugs as you walk up and down the streets. We stayed at a hostel called Rocking J’s also known as the “Hammock hotel"...also known for being a party hostel. Accommodations are very basic with tight rows of tents and hammocks you can sleep in for $6.00 a night. We stayed in a double room however it looked more like a jail cell with a steal door and a small bared window...but the hostel itself was fun! The bar had beer pong, pool tables and $1.00 vodka drinks they referred to as “Jungle Juice.”

Rocking J's Hostel

Yesterday morning we caught a bus from Puerto Viejo to San Jose where we caught another bus to Tamarindo. It ended up being about 9 or 10 hours of bus rides which made for another long day of travel. Tamarindo is where we started our journey through Costa Rica 5 years ago. This was one of my favorite little beach towns and I am looking forward to seeing how it has developed over the last 5 years.