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my bag-my life
night before leaving, this is it for the next 5 monthsi fly out at 6:45 pm. anticipation mixed with a bit of a nervous energy has me not knowing what the heck to expect. next stop L.A., then Miami, then San Jose Costa Rica, where i finally end up at a backpackers hostel tired as hell. I spend 3 days waiting for word from a friend, looks like she won´t make it so im heading to the beach. First stop jaco to get a board, however i manage to drop my bank card into the case of the machine, after jamming my hand into the money dispenser to get my card I decide i hate Jaco and head out the next day. Next stop Panahachel, then Montezuma, then Malpaise/Santa Theresa...my following of the waves begins...
Nicaragua and the waves of Popoyos and Maderas, Guatemala and the volcanoes, jungles and lakes and finally into El Salvadore the last mecca of surfing adventures. I have found my new temporary home among the some of the best most uncrowded waves in the world. A place called El Tunco has harbored my backpack and boards for the last 2 months and i find it hard to imagine where i go next. The sunsrises in
evening session
the tired but satisfied walk in from the waves in santa theresa costa rica the mornings here are something to experience...it begins with a paddle out in the dark, only being able to make out the white from the waves as they break...its eerie how calm the ocean is and the way that everything is so quiet in the ocean at 5:15 AM..i usually manage to catch a couple waves alone, or with one other person before the crowds start to come...it is the busy time as people from all over the world, a lot of americans actually are starting to make their way here for the surf...there are talks of the way the waves get here in the rainy season which is just starting...every morning i notice how the high tide is starting to push farther and farther up the beach...its like the ocean is swelling and its almost feels creepy as i begin to feel the strength in the waves starting to feel more powerful. slowly the surfers here are starting to pull their longer guns out of their quivers...6´7´s and 6´8´s are starting to be more popular as the small quick waves give way to the looming giants.
1 week ago there was talk of a swell coming on a
Popoyos Nicaragua
Private residence. northern current from a storm far off the pacific. i crowded around an old computer checking the tide charts, and looking at the different colors that each represent the intensity and height of the waves along the coast...light blue in areas in east and north el salvadore, and right along our coastline a dark blue splotch of color floated. i hear a swedish guy standing behind me say,"thats us eh?" and another guy from canada says under his breath, "hell yeah thats us, hell yeah" i try to nod my head in an agreement of how stoked i am, but inside i feel my stomach churn a little bit. an israeli guy named Itai yells "boys the swells are coming" in his thick accent, he almost sounds like a soldier talking about incoming enemy troops. every morning for the next couple days we paddle out, but nothing big comes in to greet us, then on one morning as i paddle out i start to realize that i have to paddle far left to get around the right hand point break, the whitewater is stretching half way accross the length of the kilometer long beach, with each duckdive it feels stronger
volcanic lake, cigars
a day trip from Granada in Nicaragua, very relaxing clear water in a very deep crater. boys from V.I. and stronger, and finally after 20 minutes im out past the break...a couple older guys sit out waiting, they dont say anything, just nod. i know its big this morning, because usually John and Eric two guy from the US who have been coming for 15 years are chatty and excited about the consistent but relativly small waves. this morning they just sit on the boards, backs glowing in the first light of the morning, the sun hasnt even climbed up above the mountains yet. then as if on cue, i see the sun juuuust crest over the mountain that tapers down into the ocean and for a second the reflection that dances on the calm water starts to shimmer...no joke, it reminds me of that scene in jurrasic park when they sit in the car as the t-rex makes its first thunderous footsteps in their direction. i turn and face the horizon and i see my first swell set coming towards us...just like in the movies, john yells to eric who´s off his board stretching, " hey man, outside" i start to paddle forward, it takes me a couple paddles before i start moving, and then i start heading
boy with horse
a boy bathing his horse in the morning in nicaragua towards my left, as the sea rises and falls i see the first set wave heaving up as it makes contact with the right point of playa zunzal. it rises and rises and rises and i as it jacks up in front of me, a paddle over and it makes a "whooooooooooooosh" as i rips over my head, it rains for a second then im paddling again as the next one comes. i see john paddling hard towards the face then he starts to turn and paddle away as it jacks up behind him. he drops down the face and i see his front leg go up onto his board, knees bent, hes completely verticle and i dont think hes even touching the face as he drops down it, the lip quivers above him as he makes a huge bottom turn towards me and up the face...its so loud that i try to whistle and cheer him on like ive seen others do when someone makes that "first drop" but my mouth and lips are dry and i cant...i just get over the wave as he makes a top turn and continues on, now i look back to see just
kids in panahachel
guatemalan angels playing in an alleyway the back of the wave, whitewater ripping off the top the sun shooting accross the glassy funnel of water as john dissapears behind it. the wave is now the horizon and the road, and beach are nowhere to be seen.
i let those sets go by and i manage to catch my own giant, nowhere near to johns, that was the biggest set ive seen in person, but my wave still requirs that drop and the turn, my adrenaline pumping so hard that i feel sick, i ride along and here some whistles as i drop down the face then fast up to the top then back down, my board cutting accross the biggest face of my life, as i slows i make on more cut back and then pop off the lip, for 2 seconds im airborne before i splash and sink into the ocean, i open my eyes for a second and its dark...but as i come out of the water and pull myself back onto my board, i can barely breath in, the butterflys are so intense and my legs are shaking. i paddle back out and catch a few more, but none like my first.
boarding the boat to santa cruz
early morning, with Ben and Bex, Mel, and the rest of the crew. Heading to the 10 yr celebration at La Iguana Perdida. Lago Atitlan in the background with the volcanoes surrounding. the locals say this is just the beginning, it gets bigger, and that this is nothing...for me its something, im surfing in el salvadore, im living among other surfers who are so stoked to surf everyday that this is all they talk about, allllll day. im calling home right now, one of the best stretch of waves in central america and i feel so goddamn alive! this of course is another cheesy email, you that are working and going to school are probably like, "what the hell is this, all these surfing emails, same shit everytime" and to you i apologize, i sit down to write about other things, but i keep ending up talking about the same thing, so i guess this is what this trip is right now. of course im seeing life here, where i stay, at the most 3 other gringos accompany me, its off the beaten path and the people there are starting to really smile when they see me, an old man tipped his hat the other day and smiled...thats what im living for here...the people, and the ocean. of course there is sadness here too...borracho domingo (drunk sunday) where guys one day
volcan
lago atitlan in the morning off from work, hey work 6 days a week 9 hrs a day,get their one day off, go to church then drink all day, passing out in streets, tiendas and throwing up and crying and yelling, its really sad to see. i talk with construction workers who are working on a resort that is being built and they make 6 dollars a day. this is enough for 1 dinner of meet, and a lunch and breakfast of tortillas bread. but people are happy, everyone is quick to help, and even though some have nothing, they have eachother and their children are so loved, everymother with a newborn on the bus holds her baby like a treasure...and kids here really smile.
sometimes i feel horrible, i have my ipod camera, enough to eat a meal every day and 3 ttimes a day, enough for a beer when i want one, surfboard wax etc. but in the smaller towns the younger kids sometimes cant figure out why i have this stuff, of course i dont show them everything, but they know. i try to help out without making it charity, a meal here, a surfboard fin, i help repare their boards
edge of an active crater
kneeling on the edge of papaya´s volcanoe in guatemala, near antigua. lava and all, too exciting for my own good! as well. sometimes i have to wonder about all of this...and their desperation shows sometimes. surfing on a point called km. 59 a friend of mine left the water early to sit in the shade and was robbed by 2 men with pistols that came from the jungle, they took his surfboard at 1 pm in the afternoon, with 4 friends in the water. but i try to be smart, i lay low at night, and if we go to new places we try to stay with locals and be in a big group..yes the civil war is over here, but the guns arent gone, and the people who are really poor are sometimes the most dangerous, but dont worry, i will work my hardest not to put myself in these situations, and if i am, you can be damn sure that i will hand over whatever they want.
i dont know how much longer ill be here for, 2 or 3 more months i think, i love the travelling, but it can be tiring...and once these big big waves start to come i think ill be doing more picture taking then surfing...ill leave those monsters for the real
zunzal el salvadore
zunzal sunset, laying in a hammock, sets coming in strong giant slayers, who come with their big wave guns in search of those perfect rides, and ill be the one on the beach watching, but who knows, maybe if the time is right and i dont feel my legs shaking too much, maybe ill paddle out and try to ride one of those waves myself, but only of if it all feels right...
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Ericca
non-member comment
Puta papa!
Nice photos papa! Hey DR, I was on here looking up photos of El Salvador and I found your blog. Nice! I especially like the one of Erik surfing the beer wave. It awesome! The sunrise picture is nice too. I`m gonna have to get one like that before I leave. Oh, by the way, that`s not Erik and Ben, it`s Tim. See ya!