“Clean and dry...”

As I sit on the beach reading, a crab superhighway bustles beneath my feet. It’s really quite a sight to behold. Dozens of hermit crabs hustling this way and that with no real purpose but to keep moving. In many ways our trip feels like that of the hermit crab up to this point. No concrete destination, but keep moving. The road has become a big part of our life. We have surpassed the 9,000km mark this week and find ourselves in the very far south end of Nicaragua. It didn’t take us long to get here, only a day from the northern border, and we now have visual contact with the northern coast of Costa Rica. The drive down was fairly uneventful, with the exception of the police check stop just outside of Leon.

It started with the standard license and car permit, but then I was asked to get out of the car. I followed the officer over to his beat up Toyota Hilux where he proceeded to explain how I was going to fast beside the turning lane. How fast was I going? His reaction indicated that he had no idea and the whole operation was a farce to get money. Then he became honest, which was a relief, and his good mood and jovial nature helped me to relax. He said that they had little money for gas, and that they needed 4 gallons to fill up there police truck. In litres? I asked. 16 litres he said, they wanted 20 dollars. Thankfully we were directly across from a gas station where I was able to calculate the price of 16 litres. He saw the wheels turning in my head and said, okay, 10 dollars. I told him I only had 9, and the deal was done, we were on our way.

We have set up in the town of San Juan del Sur for a week to get away from the hustle of the road, to leave the other hermit crabs bustling along the highway. I managed to bargain for $15 dollars a night for our current place which has a private bathroom, a public kitchen to be used, and free wireless internet. Denielle has been filtering water with our trusty UV penlight, keeping us hydrated for free. One of the things that I tend to miss while I’m somewhere tropical is the feeling of being clean and dry. With the excessive heat and high humidity, one seldom finds themselves in these conditions. However, we just had our laundry done after a month on the road, and I’m typing in clean warm dry clothes and am quite content. We’re only a block from the beach, but there are no waves here and hardly any beach to speak of. The high tide mark encroaches right up to the street and beachfront restaurants. We’ve been going to beaches to the north and south of town each day, as have most of the other tourists. There are some waves to be had, but are often crowded and small. The wind is another entity in itself. Gusts constantly howling in from the lake ensure that newly applied sunscreen is an exfoliating process.

The main surf beach is Playa Maderas, and takes about 20 minutes to get to. Our little matrix doesn’t have too many problems navigating the rough road until the last half kilometre or so. The first day we made an attempt up a very steep hill that was thwarted by an oncoming truck. After reversing all the way back down we took another run at it with greater speed. The crux of the manoeuvre was the large series of ruts and bumps about three quarters of the way up. Our second attempt saw the car come to a stop just beyond this, and alas another reverse trip to the bottom. One last attempt carried us quickly past the bumps, but the steepness of the hill and the non-aggressive tread pattern of the tires saw a battle between slipping out in second gear and stalling the engine. I pumped the clutch to keep the engine alive, knowing first gear would result in more spinning. Gingerly, and with much toil on the clutch, the car arrived on the top of the hill, only to find an even steeper hill going down towards the beach. We parked the car at the top and continued on foot.

Today was our second time to Maderas, as yesterday’s trip to the southern beaches of Playa Tamarindo and Remonso resulted in no waves. This time we parked the car at the bottom of the first hill and walked the extra couple hundred meters. The surfing was much better today, but as we left, 35 people were in the water trying their best to hit one another with their giant rented surfboards. Quite the hazard when you consider the strong offshore winds grabbing them like kites as the land-legged masses go catapulting into the water in every direction. A few more relaxing days here and then we’re off to Isla Ometepe, the largest volcanic lake island in the world. Although that seems like a narrow category, kind of like me being the best surfer from Calgary in southern Nicaragua this week.

We’re excited to go to the island though, and climb the two volcanoes. The active Volcan Concepcion rises just under 1700 meters from the warm lake waters, and spews sulphurous gas from the top. The other volcano, extinct for 900 years is slightly lower but features a lake in the crater in the top. Numerous opportunities exist for spotting wildlife, so we can hardly wait. And then it will be on towards Costa Rica and down the Nicoya Peninsula.

Tyler.