Whenever we holiday, I always have visions of hanging by the pool with a handsome waiter bringing a endless string of pina coladas. And it pretty much never works out that way. After one day at the resort (any resort!) we get restless and feel the need to explore. No different here. On day two, we took the shuttle to town, found a rental place and came away with a shiny, new Polaris Ranger! We figured this baby would be able to get us up into the mountains and down to all the secluded beaches. Perfect!
We started our exploration with a trip up the mountain to the statue of Christo. This statue is an incredible monument that overlooks the hills, valleys, and town of San Juan del Sur. It’s impressive from a distance and it’s awesome up close. And the views of the ocean and the town are probably the best in the area. The last bit of the trek is a climb up a set of stairs that made us regret the big breakfast we had that morning. But so worth it!
Oh, have to throw this in! On the way to Christo we gave a ride to a young surfer/backpacker guy. Turns out he is from Regina and he’s worked as a tree planter in the Chetwynd area. We are always finding connections like that wherever we travel. You just have to start talking to people. Pretty amazing how small the world is!
We started our exploration with a trip up the mountain to the statue of Christo. This statue is an incredible monument that overlooks the hills, valleys, and town of San Juan del Sur. It’s impressive from a distance and it’s awesome up close. And the views of the ocean and the town are probably the best in the area. The last bit of the trek is a climb up a set of stairs that made us regret the big breakfast we had that morning. But so worth it!
Oh, have to throw this in! On the way to Christo we gave a ride to a young surfer/backpacker guy. Turns out he is from Regina and he’s worked as a tree planter in the Chetwynd area. We are always finding connections like that wherever we travel. You just have to start talking to people. Pretty amazing how small the world is!
Our next few days were spent exploring. It didn't take us long to realize that driving here wouldn't be a problem. After all, we come from Belize! The traffic is heavier here but the roads are better. The signs are in Spanish but you don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure them out.
We decided that the beaches would be our first destinations. The main beach in the town of San Juan del Sur is nice but it's not even close to being the best. I think we covered about six amazing beaches in total and most times we were close to being the only people there! By far my favourite and a complete surprise was Playa la Flor....the turtle beach! Nicaragua has a number of beaches that a few different species of turtles come to lay eggs. We are almost at the end of the laying season so I didn't expect to see anything but the day we visited we saw the females laying all over the beach. The babies don't actually hatch and make their way back to the ocean until night.
Funny thing is that I walked out to the beach with my eyes focussed on the beautiful surf and sand. I had the camera ready to take pictures of another gorgeous Nicaraguan landscape...sparkly water, blue skies, white beach with rocks spread across it. But wait...the rocks were all turtles!!!! One of the most amazing things that I have ever seen.
Once we clued in and actually noticed the turtles, they were everywhere! We walked at the water's edge to ensure that we didn't disturb them while laying but they were washing onto the shore at our feet!
Our life motto is "When was the last time that you did something for the first time?". This was one of those days!
We decided that the beaches would be our first destinations. The main beach in the town of San Juan del Sur is nice but it's not even close to being the best. I think we covered about six amazing beaches in total and most times we were close to being the only people there! By far my favourite and a complete surprise was Playa la Flor....the turtle beach! Nicaragua has a number of beaches that a few different species of turtles come to lay eggs. We are almost at the end of the laying season so I didn't expect to see anything but the day we visited we saw the females laying all over the beach. The babies don't actually hatch and make their way back to the ocean until night.
Funny thing is that I walked out to the beach with my eyes focussed on the beautiful surf and sand. I had the camera ready to take pictures of another gorgeous Nicaraguan landscape...sparkly water, blue skies, white beach with rocks spread across it. But wait...the rocks were all turtles!!!! One of the most amazing things that I have ever seen.
Once we clued in and actually noticed the turtles, they were everywhere! We walked at the water's edge to ensure that we didn't disturb them while laying but they were washing onto the shore at our feet!
Our life motto is "When was the last time that you did something for the first time?". This was one of those days!