As I mentioned in my last post, Bigfoot is a notorious party hostel, and although you might try, you can't escape it while you're there. It's loud and the hostel is centered around a communal area, so everything and everyone is right outside where you sleep. The first and second night were a blast and I enjoyed some pool and a few cold tonas (the local beer) with my old friends. The third night I had tried to relax and do nothing but realized that I wouldn't be able to sleep and it turned into one of the best adventures that I've had in a while! So by my fourth night I needed a break to relax and decompress. At the Lazy Turtle (Tortuga Booluda) I met an american girl from Hawaii (Nina) that was heading out of Leon as well. We both wanted to go to the beach and she told me that in here lonelyplanet guide book there was a highly recommended hostel in Poneloya. I said sure, and off we went...
Leaving the city was a bit of a journey, the walk to the bus station was pretty long with all our stuff. At one point we saw a old abandoned church and we decided to take a little break to check it out. Just to be sure that we were heading the right way I decided to try and use my spanish (which has improved a little) to ask some school kids where the bus station was. The group was mostly girls and as soon as they heard me speak in spanish they got all giddy and said some stuff back to me extremely quickly. I couldn't quite understand but I picked up that they would walk us over. A majority of the people here are really extremely kind and it's sad that a few people looking for a quick buck make petty crime a deterrent for this country.
The bus ride was pretty quick and dropped us off in a small coastal village, we managed to find the boat launch to get across to Isla Brasiles where our hostel was. When we got there though I saw about five guys with loaded AK-47's hoping into the boat that we were about to get into. I could tell they were military and assumed that they were monitoring the coast for drugs. The same guys came to our hostel several nights and the owner offers them coffee and cigarettes, I asked if they were for protection of the hostel but the owner told me that they are actually for protection of the turtles. It is common for poachers to steal the eggs to eat and drink them, you can buy them in a shot glass with alcohol because they are considered an aphrodisiac. Still, it's very interesting to be sitting eating dinner and see four or five guys with fully automatic weapons stroll up to smoke a cigarette.
Other than that this place has been like a paradise. I highly recommend anyone in Nica to come here and relax beach-side for a few days. The Surfing Turtle Lodge is a really relaxed vibe with lots of open space to sit and read in a hammock with a good book and meet really down-to-earth people! The surf isn't fantastic but it changes with the weather and if you're a good swimmer then you can body-surf and have a blast. The riptides are very strong and will/have sucked people out to their death but as long as you don't panic then you're okay and I was told if you just wait the current will bring you down shore to a place that is much calmer. More about this hostel and my adventures in the next blog...
Leaving the city was a bit of a journey, the walk to the bus station was pretty long with all our stuff. At one point we saw a old abandoned church and we decided to take a little break to check it out. Just to be sure that we were heading the right way I decided to try and use my spanish (which has improved a little) to ask some school kids where the bus station was. The group was mostly girls and as soon as they heard me speak in spanish they got all giddy and said some stuff back to me extremely quickly. I couldn't quite understand but I picked up that they would walk us over. A majority of the people here are really extremely kind and it's sad that a few people looking for a quick buck make petty crime a deterrent for this country.
The bus ride was pretty quick and dropped us off in a small coastal village, we managed to find the boat launch to get across to Isla Brasiles where our hostel was. When we got there though I saw about five guys with loaded AK-47's hoping into the boat that we were about to get into. I could tell they were military and assumed that they were monitoring the coast for drugs. The same guys came to our hostel several nights and the owner offers them coffee and cigarettes, I asked if they were for protection of the hostel but the owner told me that they are actually for protection of the turtles. It is common for poachers to steal the eggs to eat and drink them, you can buy them in a shot glass with alcohol because they are considered an aphrodisiac. Still, it's very interesting to be sitting eating dinner and see four or five guys with fully automatic weapons stroll up to smoke a cigarette.
Other than that this place has been like a paradise. I highly recommend anyone in Nica to come here and relax beach-side for a few days. The Surfing Turtle Lodge is a really relaxed vibe with lots of open space to sit and read in a hammock with a good book and meet really down-to-earth people! The surf isn't fantastic but it changes with the weather and if you're a good swimmer then you can body-surf and have a blast. The riptides are very strong and will/have sucked people out to their death but as long as you don't panic then you're okay and I was told if you just wait the current will bring you down shore to a place that is much calmer. More about this hostel and my adventures in the next blog...