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Buenas!
I am titalated that you guys are enjoying our journey. Although I am falling a bit behind with these posts, I will not be deterred (I am typing this one on my iphone!). It feels a little strange hunting down computers to reconnect with the digital world when I am surrounded by such non-digitalness. I have a self-imposed conflict about it actually. Part of me says,¨swoop into analog!¨ and experience every moment without distraction. But a seemingly stronger voice yanks me back to the computer to spew out my thoughts and experiences. I really think it helps digest and process life when you are forced to explain it. Otherwise lovely moments and profound life lessons can evaporate without really sucking all the goodness out of them.
Annnnnyway,
After Corcovado, we took a string of ridiculous transporation connections to get to the beach town of Domincal. This included a boat, 3 buses, a pickup truck and a cab. One of the bus rides in particular was tremendous. There were easily 30 or 40 people standing without seats for this 2 hour leg of the trip (including us with all of our bags). Some of the highlights of this
ride were: yowling cats and canary-like twirps blasting from the front of the bus, a 7 year old girl doing a Britney Spears like dance around the seat pole and periodically sticking most of her body out of the speeding bus, an endless string of semi trucks wildly honking at us for reasons we could only guess at, pot holed roads that would catapult us into the air amidst the smacks of rocks into the bottom of the bus. Going places is fun!
We finally arrive in this sleepy surf town and decide to rent some surf boards. The town has an authentic beach vibe to it. No commericial chains, low number of tourists (and those that we met were ultra cool) and a slow paced attitude towards everything. I definitely want to return here. Dave had some decent surf experience. Scott and I are basically newbies...although this is Scotts Very First Time. The waves look safe enough and the water feels like a bath tub. There are only a handful of wave riders out with us, so we have plenty of room to goof up. After a brief lesson from Dave, we start shredding. I am able to
stand up enough times to feel like a rad dude. After 30 minutes or so I lose track of the other 2 so I decide to get out and search for them. I notice a bit of commotion further down the beach and decide to check it out. I notice one of the distant shadows is holding 2 pieces of a surf board....no....that couldn´t be Scott! Should I run for my camera or make sure he is ok? I opt for the good samaratin route and later regretted it. It was indeed Scott holding 2 short boards that were once 1 longboard. Yowza! He was perfectly fine and nearly wrote off surfing on the spot...later to vow revenge on the great blue beast.
After some basic eat-sleep-bus in Jaco and San Jose. We took a long border-crossing bus to Managua, the capital of Nicaragua. I have to admit that I am pretty average when it comes to history and even the specifics of current affaris. I try to read some Google news every morning, but this skeleton of knowledge feels quite inadaquate when arriving in a country full of culture, armed with all of my own stereotypes and fears.
What do you think of when you hear Nicaragua? Drugs? Crime? Sandinistas? Certainly these things are a part of the countries history, but it is only 1 layer. Maybe it sounds cliche...and I am certainly not qualified to comment on this with any authority...but we have met quite a number of openly giving and hospitable people in a country with much less than our own. A stark contrast to some of my experiences in the wealthy cities of America. A man on the street saw my expensive camera and told me ¨Money makes Money¨. Perhaps he meant Money Wants Money.
We rented a car and did some of the highlights around the capital. This included the 2 cultural mecas Grenada and Leon. We browsed some of the museums that preserved pictures and artifacts of the cival war. The pictures of those who died were quite intense. The architecture was colorful and authentic. Again, no tourists in sight. This is now the expectation rather than the exception. The last stop of the day was Lake Nicaragua. This is a massive lake with 2 volcanoes in it and feels very much like an ocean. There are even fresh water sharks! We
arrived at sunset and assumed our experience would be an average stroll and a simple photo. As per usual , a random stroke of luck appeared in the form of a man with a boat. He would motor us around the lake for a small fee. Hurray!
After some elbow nudging of my fellow travelers, we have decided to descend on the Corn Islands...a Carribean (and scuba) paradise. Scorch!
More to come!
brad
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Tassos
non-member comment
you forgot
you forgot in your list of things one thinks about Nicaragua, "the great Cornholio"!