I spent just over a week in Nicaragua and am still not over it. I’ll be honest and admit my lack of knowledge regarding Central America past Guatemala and Mexico, so the idea of visiting Nicaragua had never really come to mind. I’ve also always had Europe as a more accessible area to explore, and it was always a lot more digestible for me mentally as someone who doesn’t speak Spanish. But wow, I absolutely loved my first trip to Latin America.
I arrived on Saturday in Liberia, Costa Rica (it was cheaper for me to fly into-although maybe less so when you take into account The travel methods i had to pursue to make it to my first destination before the final ferry of the day.) Regardless, I took a taxi from the airport to the border and then proceeded to complete the simple but yet complicated task of walking from Costa Rica to Nicaragua. One thing I constantly observe in adulthood is the lack of signs in certain necessary spots. But, in this case, there were officials around to redirect me if I started to go in the wrong direction. Luckily, my first taxi driver (thank you Luis) had a connection in Nicaragua for another taxi that could take me to San Jorge (thank you Samuel). After a surprising amount of time for how many people were ahead of me in line, and I paid the required $13 (and an additional $1 at the door that I still think was a scam), I officially entered into Nicaragua legally. Sam saved me from the taxi vultures that spawned as soon as I stepped foot outside and we began our journey to get to the ferry, relying on charades to communicate because both of our verbal language skills were lacking. Nonetheless, we made it to San Jorge with a bit of time to spare (although it is worth noting I did catch the last ferry of the day, thankfully) and he helped me to purchase my ticket for the ride to Moyogalpa.
What’s interesting about Nicaragua, and other countries within Central America is that many of them accept USD (although they have to be in pristine condition) on top of their own currency. El Salvador being the exception—they adopted the USD as their official tender in 2001. So me getting my change back from the ticket purchase was my first encounter with the Nicaraguan Cordoba.
Boarded and sat on the ferry, I prepared mentally for the ride, as I’ve found I have to do before every boat ride since my NOAA research cruise where I learned I can actually get seasick; though I do comfort myself with the idea that it’s only on small vessels going through the San FRANCISCO Bay that it happens. The ferry took around an hour and on it, I got my first unrestricted view of the two volcanoes Ometepe hosts; maderas and conception. Honestly, over a week later and with no sight of the island other than my mind and photos, I’m stll not over the views. I’m gonna forever be shouting to the masses that Ometepe is one of the most beautiful hidden gems, although maybe that’s taught a bit in the us cause the travel advisory recommends reconsidering travel.
After deboarding in Moyogalpa, I found another taxi to take me to my hostel. During the ride, my taxi driver Elin RECOMMENDED his families scooter rental and hooked me up with a good price for a multi-day rental. After forty minutes, we finally made it to Raindance and I checked in. I dropped my stuff in my dorm and then went up to the bar where I missed their 2 for 1 pizza deal by just a minute. SIgh, but for the best since I wasn’t even able to finish the single pizza I did order. The nexgt morning at breakfast, thanks to ELin, I booked my scooter. after taking pictures to be able to prove what damage existed on the scooter before I obtained it, I set off to explore the island. Luckily, I had found my first friends during breakfast and was able to join them in going to ojo de agua. it’s important to note that I both packed super last minute (as in while my uber was on the way to pick me up) and I did not look into anything that I wanted to make sure to do on the island. needless to say, i was amazed with our first stop, a natural swimming pool fed by water from the maderas volcano. We had to pay a $10 entrance fee each but that included a $5 food voucher so i felt it was a good deal. Inside the park, there was a trail to walk on and a tarzan swing (read: slippery ass piece of wood to grab onto) to jump into the water with. WE stayed there for a few hours, swimming and soaking up rays before splitting up with the plan to meet back up to watch the sunset at playa mango. My trip to playa mango taught me just how TREACHEROUS the terrain on the island could be, ESPECIALLY when paired with the lack of checking licenses during the rental process. luckily for me, i had a year of motorcycle experience (i’m being generous with myself but I earned it since I actually owned a moto) that I was able to fall back on so I felt somewhat comfortable navigating the island. beach access via scooter aside, playa mango was a great place On the west of the island and (surprise, surprise) with a view of conception. the sunset experience on the beach was unmatched, especially when coupled with a CERVEZA (VIctoria or ToÑa, obvs). After the sunset, we all made our way back to the hostel to wind down. It was on this night, knowing that the next day was my last full day on the island, that I knew I made a mistake in not staying on the island for long enough. So, after debating with my new friends, I booked myself another two days at my hostel. Decision made, I went to bed.
THe next day, me and sydney and Jordynn (The two friends in which I spent the majority of my time with, loVe you guys!!) went to el pital, a chocolate farm on the island (!!) where we had a guided chocolate tasting and tour. Our guide, justin, was so passionate and informed and engaging. I could honestly go on forever on how positive of an EXPERIENCE it was, even taking into account the tour was $22, I would RECOMMEND it 100%. yet another thing on the island that I had no KNOWLEDGE about going into and walked away so thankful to have experienced it. It doesn’t hurt that the RESTAURANT on site had yet another amazing view of the volcano and DELICIOUS food. From the tour we went to…….playa mango for another sunset. post sunset, we again returned to our hostel, where multiple mishaps (i’m thinking of My dear fArah) occured at the hands of the full moon, and played drinking games before splitting off for bed.
Waking up on my third full day, i set out to go kayaking with sydney and Jordynn. We started on the lake and then went to the rio istian with the hopes of seeing caimans (spoiler alert: we did!) We also saw little blue herons, Great egrets, snowy egrets, snapping turtles, lizards, some kind of duck, and ospreys (which have such a pretty call.) We luckily were provided with a guide (shoutout anderson) for our tour or else I would’ve only been able to identify a handful of the things we saw. And I def would have not noticed the caimans hiding the the grass. Once again, our guide was passionate and engaging, answering all of the questions I had, which I was so appreciative of. He also said at the start of the tour that his english was not good bbut yet he was ale to fully tell me about his sobriety journey without struggling for a single word to express himself which was amazing to hear, although I expected nothing less from him after he was telling me aout the plentiful wildlife in english (he also taught himself which is even more amazing!!) after kayaking, we went babck to our hostel where we had the afternoon to ourselves. I then decided to go with another friend abck to el pital to swim in the glorious water there before returning my scooter that late afternoon. to catch a shuttle. to watch the sunset. at playa mango again. we were creatures of habit during our time on the island, lol. the colectivo was great, we rode in the bed of a pickup to get to the beach, which allowed all of us who had been navigating the harrowing roads to observe the JOURNEY a bit more. as always, the beach was great. me and syd swam out to the platform since that night was my last playa mango sunset and then we all caught a ride back to the hostel. all of us noticed, at what felt like the same time, the stars in the sky. truly, nothing beats a night sky with no light pollution. to be frank, the nights at the hostel all kind of blurred but I’m sure we all hung out and played yet another drinking game before heading to bed.
My final full day in Ometepe started with breakfast (obvs) to fuel myself for a waterfall hike. transportation was provided through our hostel and it took us up to the point where we only needed to hike 40 minutes instead of over an hour (thank god.) even with the head start, the hike was not the LACKADAISICAL walk I thought it would be, so it was rough. the waterfall was pretty when we got to the top, and a nice reprieve from the heat which was great. After chilling in the pool for a while, we made our way back down to catch our ride back to the hostel. A group of us then went to get lunch at a local spot 15 minutes down the road by foot. they had a variety of pupusas and tacos that were all made fresh to order so we all feasted in preparation for the party that our hostel was hosting later that afternoon. Post meal, we went back and got ourselves ready for an evening of festivities. For me, the only thing I was looking forward to was rage cage (HYPE) and dancing with friends; both of which I ended up doing as well as stepping on a sliver of glass (the aftermath I’m still dealing with, yikes.) i didn’t end up getting to bed until late because of some unexpected tension between a friend and another person but we ended the night on a high so everything turned out fine overall.
The next morning we packed up to head back to moyogalpa and catch the ferry, catching a rid with Elin, my initial taxi driver. after the transit back to the mainland, we met our next taxi driver (shout out elin for the hook ups once again) and started our journey to popoyo. Popoyo was my final destination of my trip (although i was ORIGINALLY meant to go stay at a surf camp of sorts in a town an hour more south) which i started having to prepare mentally for upon check in. The hostel we stayed at had family meals for dinner most days of the week and free breakfast which was great. They also could organize surf lessons and other experiences which was great. In popoyo, we met up with the friend that we had spent time with in Ometepe and caught up on how our days apart had been. We then all sat down to eat dinner and subsequently play in a trivia night. Our performance was mediocre (honestly, i’ve come to expect my trivia showcases to present like this now) but the vibes were high. A decent amount of people from Ometepe went to Popoyo after, which was truly a big motivator in my decision to go to popoyo in liue of san juan del sur, so my last days were spent reading, reconnecting with friends and living it up. My first full day in popoyo, I read and napped for the majority of the day before playing sand volleyball that evening. The next day I took my first and only surf lesson of the trip (it wigs me out still, I just need to actually let the exposure therapy thing happen so I can enjoy surfing fully) before going to a party on the beach that evening. The surf lesson was great. I was convinced by my friend Joseph to join him during his lesson with rafa, which I came to appreciate. Firstly, taking a surf lesson with someone else is nice because it gives you a bit of a break so you’re not just catching wave after wave (which is exhausting at even a slow pace) and it takes a bit of pressure off of you. It does, however, give a comparison to your performance which was made clear to me when after joseph and i both attempted to catch a wave, he was met with a point and thumbs-up while I RECEIVED a thumbs-down from rafa. i was appreciative of the honest FEEDBACK thought because it allowed me to actually have an inner constructive monologue of what needed to be done. my inner monologue during my attempts was LENGTHY but useful; feet tucked, elbows up, hips open, shoulders square, hands released. All the coaching got me able to do a surf squat and catch waves but I think my inner fear held me back from being able to stand for a prolonged period. SUrf lesson done, we dressed and pregamed a bit for a party referred to as popoyo’s secret. Popoyo’s secret is, in its most simple explanation, a beach party at an ‘undisclosed location’ with two different stages and a bar. you buy a ticket that provides you with a shuttle to arrive and then you can either take a taxi back when you finsi or one of the two return shuttles. I ended my night early-ish and caught the first shuttle back where i was able to talk more in depth with one of my vball teammates from the previous night and a cute hostel volunteer. they both work in holiday resort towns and also believe they happened to meet each other this past summer which were the main things I remember from our chatting. Before long, we were back at our hostel where we all went our SEPARATE ways and crashed for the night. the next (and my final) Morning, I was up early which I used to my advantage to watch the sunrise and finish my book. As far as ways to start the morning, it was not my best because my book was sad so when one of my friends came to greet me for BREAKFAST, I had tears in my eyes. My final day was fairly uneventful, I just chilled and got to know people around the hostel more. After we had another family dinner, i got ready for the movie night that was organized. the movie night turned out to be only Rafa, a german girl i had met earlier in the day, the hostel worker from the previous night, and me. In the spirit of halloween, we decided to watch weapons. It was not as scary as I imagined but It did make me jump in at least three scenes. After the film, I said my farewells to everyone and the went to bed for my early departure abck to costa rica.
Overall, my time in nicaragua was magical (cliché but true) and will be at the forefront of my mind for a good while. The only legit cons of my trip were stepping on glass and it still impacting me a week later (that’s on me for being barefoot after a bottle broke though tbh) and the lack of resources during low season (more like a first world problem) aka I didn’t pack shampoo/conditioner cause I didn’t want to check a abg so I didn’t wash my hair legitimately the whole time I was gone.. but the world still rotated anyway.
this was two years since leaving the COUNTRY and I feel it shows in how much i enjoyed myself. that’s not to say i wouldn’t have enjoyed myself if I had travelled sooner but being outside of the us reinvigorates me, honestly. this has fueled my desire to learn spanish even more (although I fear that it will be at the expense of my french *GULP*) EIther way, I’m looking forward to my next trip to Latin AMerica, and reconnecting with all the friends I made on my trip whenever our paths cross again.
as always, thanks for reading.
xx tash
