San Juan Del Sur, Nicaragua, The best place in the world (so far)

Yesterday was Valentines Day, and my suprise was that I got to sleep in. When I woke up I went for breakfast with Greg, Priya, and Fanny (our swedish friend). Our New Yorker friends met us and I had the best egg and bean burrito thus far. We explored the town and decided to cook a huge fish taco feast for dinner. Greg was tired from a 10km run down the beach so I went to the market to price out some ingredients while he had a nap. I ended up buying 6 tomatoes, 6 limes, a clove of garlic, 2 avacados, a chile, a jalapeño, 20 tortillas, beans, rice, cilantro and sour cream for 8 dollars. All that was left was the fish. I woke Greg up and we went for margaritas. We asked our waiter where we could buy a fish, and he told us there was a market down the beach a ways, or that the fishermen came back at 4pm. We walked to the market but all they had was tuna so we decided to take our chances with the fishermen. To no avail, we hiked up to the mirador (spanish for lookout) to this huge jesus statue overlooking the bay. It was a steep hike but we made it for sunset and it was incredible!! You could see all the way to Costa Rica! The view of the town was amazing. If my forehead wasnt so scabby the pictures would be a lot nicer. On the way back down we crossed the suspension bridge, which, when lit up at night looked like a mini version of the golden gate. We were still fish-less and had people expecting us so we stopped in at a fish and chip shop on the way back home. Turned out the guy was from Galiano Island and his girlfriends mom had fish we could buy. We walked a ways down the road and paid 12 bucks for 6 pounds!! We all feasted and went the beach for some shenanigans. Vodka is $4 for 40oz. so we bought 3 between the 12 of us. We tried not to drink too much because I was still sunburned and didnt want to feel too terrible (plus it was valentines day so the real reason we snuck away was for some much needed privacy). We went to bed around 1. This morning I woke up at a nice 9am and went to the usual brekfast place, Cafe Barrios. Greg wanted to surf but we decided to do something different so we hired a boat ($90 for 3 hours) and 9 of us went to a beautiful beach an hour or so away. Joe caught his first fish on the way(!) which we will barbeque up tonight. The sunset was incredible! Our hostel has become like a family and it will be hard to leave. Greg and I went and bought a poutine at the fish and chips shop to thank the Galiano fellow for the fish. The local beer here in Nicaragua is ´Victoria´ what a coincidence!? Tomorrow us an a couple of new found friends will travel to Granada, then back on Friday for the surf competition and reggae festival. It could be ridiculously hard to leave this place.

 The church on Sunday. We sat outside and listened to the locals sing. It was beauitiful. Notice the moon up there?

 The Parque Central.

 Home, Casa Oro. Best place in the world.

 My sunburn. SLLLOWWWWLLLYYYYY getting better.

 The Jesus statue we hiked to at the top of the hill.

The chapel at the base of giant Jesus.

 This one is awesome.

 Town.

 Our familia before the boat. Julia, Joe, Fanny, Julias boyfriend, Allie and her sister, Me, Greg, Israel and Priya.

 Joes first fish!!!

Playas del Coco, Costa Rica to San Juan Del Sur, Nicaragua

Hola Amigos!!
We arrived in Costa Rica safe and sound with Priya in tow after a lonnggg greyhound bus ride and 2 flights. Everything went as planned! It was hard to sleep, but I finally did. I woke up as we were flying over the mesoamerican reef, in Belize. It was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.

We stayed at a little hotel called the Aserradero. It was pretty pricey but nice enough for the night. The next morning we took a bus for an hour to the beach, Playas del Coco. The hostel we were supposed to stay was no longer there. We must have looked a little lost because this great Italian man, Walter, took us to his friends house where she was renting basic rooms for 10 bucks a piece. We decided to hit the beach, sans sunscreen, for a midday swim. Bad idea. We met a couple guys, Willy and Gerry, snorkelling and decided to spend happy hour with them. Happy hour turned into a 14 hour drink your face off binge but we managed to get up at 6.30 to go hike in Rincon de la Vieja with them. We saw a miniature volcano, boiling mud pits, and beautiful rivers. We were ssuuuppper hungover so decided to take it easy that day and just walked the beach after our hike. I got a reaaallly bad sunburn, my forehead is just one huge blister and my nose as well. Dont know what I was thinking going without sunscreen! We went to bed early. This morning we caught 2 buses to the border, which was mental, then splurged on a $20 taxi to San Juan Del Sur. We are staying in this sweet hostel with free internet, kitchen, hammocks, yoga tomorrow! and rooftop patio. The food and cervesas are cheaper and the beach is gorgeous! Anyways we are off to the beach! Love and miss you all! Wish you were here!