Surfing Paradise

Just a few Kilometers up the coast was the small town of Santa Teresa/Mal Pais the reason for the two names is that both towns just comprise of the beach road and they merge into each other at some point...exactly where, we are not sure.

Unfortunately we jumped off the bus at the start of the one town and the Funky Monkey, where we were going to stay was at the end of the other town. We walked with full backpacks, on the dustiest road ever in 30degree heat.
Can you imagine how I was bitching! We arrived after walking for nearly an hour at the Funky Monkey. We looked like two members of an African tribe who cover themselve in clay before warfare. Did I mention the 30degree heat?

We had met Sam, an Australian surf instructor in Nicaragua, and she had suggested we stay at the Funky Monkey. It was beautiful and up the hill from the beach which made it a bit cooler. The place was more of a lodge then a Backpackers but they had 2 dorms so it made it affordable for us. There was a swimming pool and the communial kitchen had the best view for sunsets.

The next day we hired a ATV (All Terrain Vechile 4x4 motor bike) for the day to go and see a waterfall everybody had been talking about. What great fun! It could drive anywhere. Just before finding the waterfall we realised that we made our way all the way back to Montezuma and it was the same waterfall that we had visited a few days before!
So we took a long ride along the beach before we returned to Santa Terasa. On the way back we found a small bay where the fishing boats came in, and we got to buy some fresh fish to take home and cook for dinner.

The day had finally arrived and I was to go have surfing lessons with Sam.
With a 8ft surf board tucked under my arm we were off to the beach.
Myself and another lady were the keen students.We spent some time on the sand where we were tought the finer details of surfing.
What we were not told was that that morning the waves were so big that the local surfers would not even attempt to go out! Sure it was now low tide, but the waves looked pretty mean. It was not too bad and I did not get to stand up but I am sure with a bit more practice I can give up my day job and join the Pro-circuit.

Our time on the Pacific coast was about done and it was time to head to San Jose to cross over to the Carribean side.

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