10/31/2005 - Good Bye, San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua
We just paid another visit to Immigration at the border town of Penas Blanca. We paid our exit fee and got our passports stamped to exit the country. We will be pulling up anchor tomorrow morning and heading to Costa Rica. Our first stop will be Bahia San Elena for a few nights and then our first check in point is Play del Cocos.
The ride to the border was absolutely beautiful. The countryside is so green here, every shade of green you can imagine. The fields are filled with livestock: cattle, horses, sheep, goats and every bird imaginable. Most of the fields are not even enclosed with fences. The animals just seem to know that´s home and that´s where they stay. You seem them roaming the roads every now and then but even with high speed traffic they seem to rule the way. The cows look so happy here, like they are thinking, I´ve died and gone to Nicaragua! They have a view of beautiful rolling hills and the Island of Ometepe with two of the largest volcanoes I have ever seen.
In spite of a very rough anchorage the first 7 days, we have enjoyed our stay in San Juan del Sur. As Hurricane Wilma was touching down, we were experiencing high offshore winds which we believed were feeding into the hurricane. It caused our boat to rock and roll non-stop for the first week. We spent as much time off the boat as we could because it simply was not comfortable aboard. Finally, on Day 8, the wind shifted and we woke up that morning to a calm anchorage and were back in the world of comfort.
We haven´t been doing many boat projects since we arrived, but Jake did take care of the most important thing. He fixed the starboard engine. It was a very simple task of cleaning the carburetor. He actually found a piece of debris in the line and even though is was just a speck of dust that is all it takes to kill an engine. We are glad to be running on both engines again.
We met a great guy named, Randy, who just moved here and has purchased land. He treated us to a panga ride up and down the coast to inspect his property and a side trip to see if we could spot any of the Olive Ridley sea turtles that are currently nesting on the nearby beach. The real estate market is booming here. Sounds like it is a good time to buy, as prices are low, and can only go up.
There is not a dinghy dock here in San Juan del Sur, so in order to get to shore we have had some exciting adventures. Basically, you have 3 choices, all of which I find quite frightening to say the least: 1) take a water taxi into shore, 2) pack a dry bag and swim into shore, or 3) jump in the dinghy and surf onto the beach. These may sound like simple things. Well, they are not. What is simple is to have your boat at a dock and step off the boat to get onto terra firma. We have not had that option in quite some time and probably won´t for a long while, so Jake tells me I should toughen up and get used to it.
Option 1: The water taxi was scarey for me especially the first week because the anchorage is so rough. The water taxi is this 15 foot tug boat surrounded with car tires that is used to taxi the fisherman to and from shore. It is a sturdy little work boat with an engine so loud that it is deafening. The exhaust spews out black soot on whomever sits too near. Lord knows what keeps this little tug from capsizing. My stomach was lurching around more than the boat. You had to be quick to step aboard and even quicker to step off or you would find yourself in the brink or worse crushed against the dock or even worse our boat could get crushed by the taxi itself. Two blessings about the water taxi. It only cost a dollar and the pilot was quite skilled at his job, so there were no mishaps, only fear of them.
Option 2: Swimming into shore with a dry bag may sound like fun... for somebody who knows how to swim, but I am far from a confident swimmer, so the challenge of swimming the 100 yards into shore amongst breaking surf has been a little more than intimidating. I have swum in twice now and managed without too much difficulty. However, the first night when I swam back after dark went okay for me, but Jake got stung severely by a jelly fish. He weathered it well, although it was 4 days ago and he is still wearing red marks all over his upper chest and arm. We put a vinegar soaked towel on the sting and that seemed to help take away the burn but I don´t recommend swimming at night when it is even harder to see the jelly fish. Last night, however, I did not heed my own advice and it wasn´t the jelly fish that got me but a huge wave that knocked me flat. I was still picking sand out of my teeth when I woke up this morning. I actually failed to swim back to the boat last night. I was simply terrified that another wave would knock me down and I made Jake swim back alone and he and Dave put the dinghy in the water and surfed in to rescue me.
Option 3: I was glad that Jake rescued me last night with the dinghy, but that in itself is another terrifying option (again, only for me, as Jake and Dave think it´s great fun and adventure, they are such geeks). I, on the other hand, always dread the worst and have actually seen another cruiser hit the waves at the wrong time and the wave flipped their dinghy over (outboard and all) and tossed it around like it´s a volleyball. Not good. If an engine gets submerged, it´s a search and rescue emergency to get it out of the water and rinsed clean and hopefully, you will get it working again.
Well, they say that fear is your worst enemy, and maybe after a few more months into this second season of cruising, I will look back at this entry and say, ¨Remember when I used to be afraid of that?¨ That´s a big MAYBE, but only time will tell.
Speaking of more fears... Hurricane Beta did not touch us although it scared quite a few of the locals and tourists. We kept a good eye on the weather by checking our favorite weather site: www.buoyweather.com It confirmed for us the track of the storm and we knew we were not going to get a direct hit here in San Juan del Sur. We had a bit of rain yesterday and it´s actually raining right now, but it is a light rain and the sun is out. A rainbow just appeared outside the window of the internet cafe where I am sitting.
The local exchange rate equals 16 cordobas to 1 dollar. We have found San Juan del Sur to be quite inexpensive. You can get a hotel room for as little as $5, a beer is $1, a good bottle of rum is under $10, most entress are in the $3-5 dollar range. Fine dining and lodging for those with the budget is also available. There is a bank here, and ATM, and many little local markets and internet cafes. All of the restaurants and bars are great and have a diverse menu selection. We recommend Big Wave Dave´s, Ricardo´s, and The Iguana for good cervezas and lots of fun.
Our new crew, Dave, is fitting in just fine. He´s having a great time and we are enjoying having one more person on board to share the cooking and cleaning. Dave´s website is: www.wanderingnaturalist.com
So, that´s all for now. San Juan del Sur is definitely a place I would recommend visiting. It´s nice to have all the comforts of a small resort town yet still see how the locals have been making their living quite modestly and without the aid of automobiles and large machines. Horses and oxen still pull carts here to get to and from the market and for local transportation. It´s strange and sad to see the automobiles starting to take over the roads. Yet the animals don´t seem to mind and they just plod away, business as usual.
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