What a flight – well actually two. We left Seattle at 9:30 pm and did the six hour flight to Miami, followed by a four hour layover and another two hour flight to Nicaragua. No sleep – I’m saying NO SLEEP! Jackson was up until at least midnight, but he finally crashed. However, four hours of sleep for a two year old in a 36 hour time frame does not make for a compliant or happy child. Day one in Minagua was hard!
Somehow we found our hotel – in what the guide book called “where the streets have no name”. Truly, there are no street sings in Nicaragua, so getting lost is part of the adventure. We stayed at a fairly nice place in Barrio Martha Quezada for the price. Although, honestly felt a little uneasy at times walking around the neighborhood looking for food. The most enjoyable part was our host William, who had spent eight years in San Jose, CA and was the only person with whom we could effectively communicate. Chris swears the banana pancakes in the hotel were the best he’s ever had – meaning that Jackson devoured them as well. We were only slightly electrocuted by the shower’s hot water heater (aka the plug in over the shower head that gave a jolt when you were all wet and attempted to turn it off). We spent only one night in Minagua to recover and then headed out to explore more relaxed areas of the country.
First stop was San Juan Del Sur. Beautiful, if not a little touristy. Wonderful bay with fun beach bars and restaurants. We went for a drink at Iguana Bar to watch sun set and ended up rained in with a fantastic thunder and lightening show. With nowhere else to go, had dinner and some incredible Seafood Soup! Jackson made friends with the ten waiters who were so bored with no other customers that they played with him all night. J even snuggled in one man’s lap for a good 20 minutes (made for a cute picture).
Day three in Nicaragua was getting our bearings with the local beaches – Chris checking out the surf. Playa Maderas has breaks for both beginners and experts and allowed Jackson a fun first time playing in the surf. He loved it! Went all the way down to El Ostional, which was deserted, but the beach was beautiful and we could see Costa Rica across the water! The small village of El Coco allowed us our first beach sunset. Finally starting to feel like we are on vacation, and we think Jackson is too. Where to go tomorrow…?
