Isla de Ometepe

Yesterday, we took a day trip to the island called Ometepe. It's an island in the middle of Lake Nicaragua, an enormous body of water six times the size of Lake Tahoe! Here it is relative to 

Juan Del Sur and the rest of Nicaragua. 

It takes about 30 minutes on the moto to get from SJDS to Rivas. Then we boarded a small ferry along with our moto for about $4. The first half of the ferry ride was full of excitement; there was a lot of wake and splashing going on! I was nervous to say the least and white-knuckle gripped the railing. Brandon, of course, was un-phased, cool and collected :) 

Here's a clip of the latter half of the boat ride; the waters were calmer and I actually had the guts to remove my hands from the railing to get my phone.

Once we got on the island, we decided to ride around and get a feel for the roads, the size of the island and see the two breathtaking volcanoes all the way around. The roads were rough in some spots, to say the least, but Brandon's a champ at handling giant rocks, huge puddles of water in the road and maneuvering around cows on the moto. My job, (which I think I do well), is to not freak out and knock us off balance when we're inches from a barbed-wire fence or zooming through mud, rocks and water. So much fun!!!

Here's a clip of us on a relatively smooth dirt road, cruising the island :)

We've been on the hunt for a fresh coco and we finally found it on the island. A sign right out of a local's house said they sold cocos, so we stopped feet from the road and watched a man use a saw on a stick cut us down two huge cocos, machete them open and hand them to us for less than a dollar. Although they were older coconuts, the water was light and the coco meat was a perfect snack before lunch. 

FOOD

Here it is! A quick report of our experience in fodder so far... 

Local Restaurants:

Most locals' restaurants are inexpensive, delicious and feature easily some of the best service I've had. Inside El Mercado, or the market, we can get a breakfast for as cheap as $5 for the both of us. Includes "comida typica" or typical Nicaraguan breakfast; rice and beans mix, avocado, cheese, tortilla and eggs. We haven't gotten tired of it yet!

Yesterday, we took the moto for a long drive north to Playa Popoyo, a world-class surfing location. We had lunch at a beautiful hotel there on the beach. Brandon likes Nicaragua's jalapeno chicken; I think he liked it here best!

Grocery Shopping:

This is where the challenge is! We were expecting one-stop-shop, veggie heaven, coconuts everywhere. In reality, El Mercado has a ton of fruits and some veggies, but beware the eggs! I had the privilege of buying extremely "expired" eggs from the market, which I discovered by cracking it open (YUCK). We buy our expire-able provisions at Pali, the local supermarket owned by Walmart (big surprise) and have had only good experiences on eggs, meat and chicken. Milk comes in unappealing bags, so I haven't had enough of a craving to buy a pouch. Although beef is one of Nicaragua's main exports, only one market in town specializes in meat, and it wasn't exactly what we were expecting. It tastes a lot like grass-fed beef, but a little tougher. We have yet to cook and buy pork...

Check out the size of the avocados and mangos from El Mercado! 

Week 1: Work, wildlife and surf!

Wow, it's been a crazy-awesome week and a half! So much to tell. We love our new place, despite the occasional critters, and we have been extra-productive at work and have seen the ocean at least once a day. 

Our typical days have been waking up early and having delicious Costa Rican coffee from our decided breakfast spot called Cafe Tico. There we get a typical Nica breakfast and coffee for under $10 for both of us. Next, we either make El Timon Restaurant on the beach our office, or we head home to put a full day's work in. Here's our view from El Timon:

Yesterday we made our first attempt at surfing here at Playa Ramanso, a well-known surf beach with plenty of breaks. We were recommended that beach by an avid surfer who gave us tips before we ventured out... In short, we got our butts kicked at this turbulent, extremely rocky beach and I was stung by a jellyfish, (the locals poured vinegar on it and said I'd survive) but it hurt enough to remove my surfing motivation for the day. Brandon rode a couple waves in, which was fun to watch. I still need more practice!

The wildlife here keeps it exciting! From giant scary bugs and huge frogs to kittens and baby monkeys, there is always the background sound of the jungle. It's a constant reminder that we're not in Sac anymore. 

Food-wise, we've been trying a lot of local food stops. On Friday, we had dinner, a "media" or 1/2 of a fifth of rum, and appetizers for $14. This could be dangerous! Our next post will probably focus only on food; there's so much to share and we LOVE to eat. The Alley Kats can vouche :)

Pelican Eyes Resort; our new home.. Who's coming to visit?!

The view from the restaurant/bar at Pelican Eyes Resort:

It's been a mix of incredibly stressful and completely wonderful the last five days. We feel lucky, excited, and motivated to live here, but we're definitely still fighting with two airlines to get us our luggage. For now, we've taken to buying cheap street clothes and hand-washing our chonies. Eek! (It is what it is.. Whattaya gonna do). Apparently, our bags are now in Managua as of this morning and should be delivered to us by 3 pm today. Thank goodness!!

On the awesome side of things, we found where we'll be staying for the month of June! A two-bedroom villa in Pelican Eyes Resort. The manager of our current rental in Congo Hills connected us with the owner of this villa inside the resort. Includes gorgeous interior design, wifi, a generator for black-outs, a workspace, monkeys above us in the mango trees, maid service and 24-hour security. All for under $1200 a month. Not to mention we're in view of the pacific. It's exactly what we were looking for and more. We move in on Tuesday!

Here are some photos in case the link doesn't work:

This past weekend, we spent time getting to know the town. Every beach around here is different; Playa Remanso is small, rocky and serves great coffee, Playa Marsella is relaxing and low-key and Playa Madera is the surfer's spot that bumps reggae and island music and sells tacos. All are beautiful!