Sunday Funday and the big three-oh in one week.
My name is Joe Harrington, I’m travelling through Central and South America for the next eight months, here’s what happened on week six.
Next stop: Ometepe, Nicaragua
We got off to the worst possible start on our first night in Ometepe. It was dark when we arrived at El Zopilote so it was hard to get our bearings.
What we didn´t realise was that the hostel is on a gigantic site. It took us 10 minutes alone to walk from the entrance to reception and it took another 15 minutes to get to our dorm room.
A guy guided us through small dark paths, up hills, down hills, over fences, up more hills until we final reached the room. It was a trek.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BFEo5-ZmHcF
He left and we decided to go back to the reception/restaurant area but we messed up. We reached a fork in the path and chose to go left, huge mistake. Never go left!
We ended up getting properly lost in the jungle for at least an hour.
We were completely covered in insects, being bitten by all sorts of bugs, stung by thorns, lizards and reptiles were running over our feet, sweat was burning our eyes and we had only the light of a iPhone torch.
It was genuinely an awful experience and a real challenge to keep calm but we eventually found our way back to reception looking like we´d been dragged through a bush, which we kind of were.
Day two in Ometepe was a lot better, we got a good breakfast into us and rented scooters for the day (€25 excluding fuel).
The route we took went all around the island and lasted about six hours which started with us meeting a real life Iguana.
The size of him [Press Play]
https://www.instagram.com/p/BFFxVSnmHYs
I had a crash halfway through on a rocky stretch of road, the classic losing control and accelerating while trying to brake. I bust my feet open but I was grand.
One of the highlights of the drive was this cool sandspit called Punto Jesus Maria which is near the main city Moyogalpa. It´s a narrow strip of black sand that goes one kilometre into the lake.
The view is usually nice, but it was kind of dull when we were there.
Day 3 on the island was about hiking the Maderas Volcano (€8 in El Zopilote).
The hostel told us it’d take 8/9 hours so we left at 7:30am with our guide Sebastian and two French people who didn’t enjoy communicating with other humans.
The hike was great. We were properly in the jungle so it was pretty tough climbing over fallen trees and getting through dense bush and all that.
There were exotic birds singing and swooping, the biggest and most colourful insects I´ve ever seen were scattered around the place and dozens of monkeys were swinging from trees.
The view from the top was breathtaking to be honest.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BFJyaIwGHSK
The hike down was the hard part because the trail was muddy so I ended up on my arse a few times. Even the robotic French people found that funny.
That was the end of the Ometepe adventure, it´s such a beautiful island. Despite the ups and downs, I loved my time there.
Accommodation: El Zopilote. Fantastic organic food, decent beds, incredible jungle location, lovely staff – a really different hostel experience.
It cost €8 per night for a dorm bed.
El Zopilote hostel in the jungle on the island of Ometepe in Nicaragua, not a bad spot to wake up in #Travel pic.twitter.com/flGXESzu4w
— Joe Harrington (@ImJoeHarrington) May 7, 2016
Food: Hostel. Average €6 for a dinner.
Drink: I didn’t drink while I was there.
Highlight: The view from the top of Maderas.
Lowlight: Crashing the scooter. Ouch.
Next stop: San Juan Del Sur, Nicaragua
The main reason backpackers go to San Juan Del Sur is the Sunday Funday Pool Crawl.
It’s basically a huge drinking session with hundreds of people in three different hostels with swimming pools around San Juan.
€30 gets you into the crawl and gets you a Sunday Funday singlet but it doesn’t include drinks. It’s pretty expensive but it is the biggest party in Central America so it’s worth the splurge.
It starts at Pacha Mama hostel at 12pm and it’s non-stop for the rest of the day. We left there at 2pm and went to The Pelican Eyes Hostel on the beach where there was a DJ and live drummer.
The Casa Oro Crew at Pelican Eyes
The party at Pelican Eyes lasts three hours before everyone is shuttled to The Naked Tiger which is on a hill outside of town. It’s a cool place with an amazing view and it’s where things started to get messy.
Here’s a list of things I saw there: sex, cocaine, vomit, unconscious people, sloppy shifting, pills, beer bongs, a great sunset, oral sex, tears, rum and a Burnley football jersey.
So yeah, messy AF.
From Naked Tiger everyone goes to Arribas Bar back in the town. I met a gang of Irish people there so a shout out to the doctors and the boys from Greystones.
I hit the hay at midnight, I was cooked, but some people went on until sunrise. It’s a crazy day, not for everyone, but if you like to pàrty you’ll love it.
Sunday Funday in San Juan Del Sur #Nicaragua pic.twitter.com/YlZEzB3gxJ
— Joe Harrington (@ImJoeHarrington) May 13, 2016
The following morning a group of us went to a private pool in Congo Hills just outside the town which is owned by a Kerry man. Random. That was perfect after Sunday Funday.
That night, I made the decision to stay in San Juan for a week so I could do some Spanish lessons. I did a few lessons before I left Ireland six weeks ago but I want my Spanish to be better.
If you are coming out here or going to South America, you should definitely do classes. It’ll change your whole experience because talking to locals helps you find out more about the culture and they’ll give you information you won’t find in Lonely Planet or TripAdvisor.
I’ve been doing lessons all week with a lady named Vanessa Grandado, a lovely woman with a great sense of humour. I think the lessons are going well, I feel like I’m improving a little bit.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BFSaKfNGHT1
It was my birthday on Thursday, the big three-oh. I thought it might have been a bit of a lonely day because I’m so far away from home, family and friends but it was so nice.
Two of the people I’ve been travelling with for a while Sean (Alaska) and Lotten (Sweden) bought me a personalised cake and the whole gang sang happy birthday on the roof of the hostel.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BFVMfutGHVq
Accommodation: Casa Oro. It cost me €12 per night.
It’s right on the beach, the beds are good, free breakfast and coffee, shuttles to the nearby beaches, surf lessons, a rooftop bar.
Food: Beside Casa Oro is a laundrette who sells amazing food. She does one dish every evening. You bring your plate from the hostel, she fills it up, and it costs €1.50. Amazing.
Drink: Arribas is alway busy, Iguana Bar is also really good. Sunday Funday is obviously the big one.
Highlight: Sunday Funday. I was with a great bunch of people so it was an excellent day.
Lowlight: Mosquito bites. I got nearly 30 in one day, they look disgusting and they are so itchy.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BFPFmSyGHfL
I´ll be in San Juan until Sunday morning, then I head to Costa Rica for a few days and then onto Panama.
If you’ve any tips, advice or questions, let me know on Twitter at@ImJoeHarrington or Instagram/ImJoeHarrington.
Talk to you next week.
Read more:
Diary #2 – Miami, Guatemala City, Antigua
Diary #3 – Antigua, Lake Atitlan
Diary #4 – El Salvador
Diary #5 – El Salvador, Leon, Nicaragua
Diary #6 – Volcano boarding, Laguna De Apoyo, Granada
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