Our surfer roommates Andy and Emily had been planning a trip to Popoyo beach for a couple of weeks, which we all decided to postpone the first time around due to the tsunami warning. However, a couple of weeks later proved to be the weekend to go as we had just cause for celebrating Jenna's (british roommate) 21st birthday!
We give complete credit to Andy, Emily, Marina and Antonio for booking us our ghetto-fabulous Nicaraguan limousine to get there, aka this very old, falling apart VW van. What an adventure we had. It went like this:
We were supposed to leave at 4pm, however the shuttle driver came by our house at 4:30 in a different vehicle (not the one we were meant to take) and wanted to make sure we were ready and had paid before coming back with the real van at 5 pm. Then the driver forgot to bring the infamous "cooler" which had been part of the bargaining deal, so we went by the hosting hostel to grab it. Little did we know, this would be the first of our many delays (and so the drinking began). At the hostel the van died because it was out of gas, so the driver and a few of the boys had to walk to buy enough gas to put in so that we could drive to the gas station and fill up. This was the first time we had to push the van to get it going.
Once we finally got on the highway it was 6 pm, but we chugged right along in the dark until turning off onto an unmarked dirt road which we took for a good two hours. (You need a shuttle to get to these beaches because the roads are such that bus schedules to get out there are sporadic, if at all). Once we got on the dirt road, the real fun began. Our driver stopped to ask for directions (are you having a laugh yet?) and the van DIED! So out jumped the boys to pee, and then push start us for the 2nd time. Once we got going again, the driver made sure not to stop completely for any of the following times he needed to ask for directions. Now, you might be thinking what more could happen? Well, let's just say the road started to get really hilly and on the bottom of a good handful of the hills we came to very large puddles and small rivers that we needed to cross. At first we were quite nervous about it all, but eventually we gained confidence in our little VW and at the last river Matt says, "Dale pues! Es Facil!" (Go ahead, it's easy!) and the driver plunges us in only to have the van die just before exiting the river, AND at the bottom of a hill! This time everyone had to exit, jump in the river, and help get us out! Such a pity we did not get photographic evidence!
Note: side door is very sensitive and may fall off upon opening or closing, there is no window in that side door, but check the cooler in the front!
We finally did make it to our destination - hotel Popoyo. It was probably the nicest place we have stayed in our entire 6 months here, but we shared a dorm room with 5 other people so it wasn't too expensive. We enjoyed having air conditioning, hot showers, and our own backyard pool!
Day 1 in Popoyo consisted of walking down the very long stretch of beach in the blazing sun to try and find a beach front restaurant for lunch. No such restaurant was found, but the "melting elefante" (a new fancy, interesting hostel) agreed to whip us up some food. The wait was a good 1.5 to 2 hours, but the food was very well received.
Nicaraguan fish is served whole. Fins, bones, and eyeballs included!
After lunch we mustered up courage to play in the very strong waves. And Jenna and Cindy enlightened us with the fun of taking "jumping" photos.
Day 2 consisted of lots of games including water volleyball with a beach ball with the girls won, of course!
Roomies having a construction competition with massive Jenga wooden blocks.
My favorite Nicaraguan bird: Guis!
Sunset from the hotel rooftop
Jenga master
Jenna's birthday night celebration proved to be loads of fun. Here's surfer Mateo ("like totally dude it was so wicked today surfing the waves, I got a gnarly scar, check it out man!") distracting her as we set up the big surprise: a pinata full of tasty chocolate and other gifts!
And then after some inebriation, and to top off the night, we pushed Jenna into the pool fully dressed which then led to Cindy pushing me in and before you knew it everyone was in!
Well the ride back was pretty mellow and chill because our driver showed up in a brand new, qualified shuttled and left the VW beater behind. All that was missing was the cooler, but we passed out and arrived back in Granada 2 hours later instead of 5.
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