Granada to Surf Camp

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Saturday morning. Up fairly early, pack and have my last divine little breakfast from the lady working the hostel. She's so cute. Like a grandmother. I want to hug her when I leave. This morning we have pancakes and they are amazing. I don't normally say this about pancakes. They aren't my thing. But the street food or the suspect Donne from the night before has left me not feeling so good. So on this morning pancakes are perfect! My ride arrives at 8:20 and I'm off on the next part of my adventure. Peter, an older Dutch man, talks my ear off on th way to the airport. He's been living in Granada for 17 years and is married to a Nicaraguan woman. He's quite interesting. It's an hour long car ride so I won't go into all the conversations but the funniest ones was about bribing the police. If I ever rent a car and drive in Nicaragua I now know the ins and outs of how to get out of a ticket.

I arrive back at the airport and bid farewell to my new friend. As I enter the International arrival area I run into an old friend. The guy that helped me find my driver on my arrival day is at the airport. We wave and say hello. I settle into a good spot Along the railing and wait for the fun of airport people watching to begin. Is it strange that I'm excited to be back here and see what will happen this time? Unfortunately, no mariachi band this time. My old friend comes back over and tells me that my driver has arrived. I'm a little confused. I said Surf Amigas and he said yes. He had remembered my name and when he talked to the driver he came over to let me know. This country really does have the nicest people!!! As it turns out the girl standing next to me is heading to the camp too. We immediately start chatting. Her name is Nash. She's 18 and from Seattle. The most impressive thing is she'll be finished with college next year. Wow!!! We're soon joined by Danielle, 25 from California but living in Denver now. And then Lo. 28 and teaching abroad in Guatemala city. Every one is very nice and chatty but all I keep thinking is, I thought the median age on these trips was 35. Haha

Our drive is right thru Managua and it's quite interesting to see the city. The traffic is insane and perhaps explains just a little bit about driving in Miami. And I've joked in the past about how driving in Miami is like playing a game of frogger, yet well, it's a whole other level here. But then because it's all common practice here there is a fluidity to it as well and no one is upset or yelling. Everyone knows and accepts the rules or lack there of and It works. But I have to admit being in the front passenger seat is a little bit of a nail biter.

Once beyond Managua, we pass thru some beautiful countryside. Up and over some hills. Past lake Managua. Past several more volcanoes. We only see the outskirts of Leon which is one city I would have liked to have seen. And then into Chinandega. This is the town where our driver is from. The town is small and very busy with people for a Saturday afternoon. It does not look like this is a place you find many tourists. But it's still interesting to see.

We make our way north and then west of here. I still don't quite have the name of our location but we turn off the main highway onto a small paved road. From here we make it onto a dirt road. For about 20 minutes we bump along past small games and people on horses or pushing carts. We the. Come down to a basin where a small rover meets the ocean and drive across onto another dirt road. This road has homes right on the beach. And big beautiful homes! We take this road for a few minutes until it ends and we arrive at El Coco Loco Resort. As we pull in it really doesn't look like much. It's hard to tell what your looking at. But as we climb out of the van it all begins to emerge. We're looking at a large area of land with several huts and a path heading directly to the beach. Introductions happen quickly and I essentially retain no information. Far to excited to be here. Here I am off the grid! No WiFi. No cell service. Heaven!

Ok. The lay of the land. The resort has several huts that sleep two or three people each. In between then is a community sink, shower (that is enclosed but outdoors), and a self composting toilet. The resort is eco friendly. There are narrow paths made of crushed shells that lead to the different areas around the resort. As you make your way up the hill you come into the open field that doubles as a soccer field and then up to the volleyball court and then to the main lodge. The main lodge has a pool, long tables for meal, tons of hammocks and rocking chairs. Just beyond this is the elevated open hut that houses the yoga studio. We settle in for a late lunch that is delicious...fresh tomato soup and grilled veggie sandwich. Then we settle in for some lounging time. I head back to my hut to unpack and organize for the week. My hut has two beds an a hammock on the front porch. It's also the furthest away from main building which I kind of like. The only activity today is yoga. Up on the raised platform with the wind blowing and the sound of the ocean. It's a slow moving Yin class that feels amazing after all my walking and laziness from the last week. Also having taken a break from yoga for the past 6 months, it also just feels good to be back in to it. I have no idea how long the class was but it felt great. This is the vacation I was looking for.

More people arrived in the evening. I made my way out onto the black sand beach to watch sunset. It was so incredible. There was a layer of clouds just above the horizon an the sun glowed orange as it split it's time between the clouds and the horizon. Stunning. I can't wait to have 6 more nights like these.

Conversation with the other girls and the instructors is great. Everyone is quite mellow and friendly. There are definitely some people in this group that will be fun to stay in touch with.

Dinner is amazing and there is a ton of laughing around the table. They lay out the general plan for the week and I can't wait for it to start. I find out that my roommate will be arriving around midnight. I'm sad that I won't meet her until the morning. We are given a time of 5:30 AM to meet the next morning which makes for an early evening to bed. It's hard to fall asleep with all the excitement in the air.

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