Hola

Last I wrote we were about to leave Managua in search of surf. We drove first to Puerto Sandino, and then just south to the small village of Velero. In Valero we had a nice first session at a left point. That morning, my right foot was pricked by rocks, sea urchin, and a cactus. Other than that, the start of our trip was going very smooth. We had a great sunset surf session at the beach break inside from the point we´d surfed earlier. The water is about 80 degrees and the air about 85. Perfect.
We camped our first night on a piece of ocean front government land in Valero for free. The woman in charge wrote us a note in Spanish granting permission to camp. At night, after a change of the guards, we were approached by a man with a sawed off shotgun. Fortunately, the many people we´ve met carrying shotguns have been very friendly. We showed him our note and he gave us a big smile and left us alone. We had a great 3 hour surf in the morning at the beach break. We were all sort of trickling in, when Kris, on his last wave of the morning, got whacked by his board, gouging a decently sized hole in his lower lip. We drove forty five minutes to the town of Masa Chapa, where we hoped there would be a clinic.
We found a clinic, walked in the door and showed the nurse Kris´ cut. She sat him down on the bed beside her and went to work. Within 10 minutes of arriving, Kris was all fixed up with four stitches, two on the outside of his lip and two inside. We asked how much it cost. ¨nada.¨ In and out in 10 minutes at no cost. In America, we still would have been waiting to fill out 30 minutes worth of paperwork.
We got a palapa on the beach and had a lunch consisting of three lobster, a large, whole fish, and tacos, plus beers and soda, for 10 US dollars. An expensive meal in Nicaragua. We surfed right out front after lunch.
Not liking the tourist vibe of Masa Chapa, we headed further south to La Boquita.
We surfed La Boquita in the morning, had another amazing lunch on the beach, surfed again, then headed south. What was going to be a short drive turned out to be over four hours of offroading on roads later described to us as impassible. Our host at our current location, who has lived here for 10 years, has never met anyone who drove through this road. The only traffic we met were several people on horseback and some cattle. The road was rough, to say the least. We forged five rivers in the car, putting the four wheel drive to work. We passed through remote jungle villages consisting of several tin huts, the children running out and chasing the car with big smiles on there faces. We would stop and Steve would hand out packets of colored pens and paper he made for the trip.
We finally made it to El Astillero, where we stayed for the next two nights. For 12.50 US, we got rooms, breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Whole fish or fresh chicken for lunch and dinner, fresh eggs for breakfast. Rice and beans with everything. We would drive 20 minutes to a pristine beach that is a preserve for sea turtles for surfing. It was a magical place and we appreciated our four hour stays on this beautiful beach.
The only concrete plans we had on our trip were reservations in Las Salinas, the surf hub of Nicaragua. That is where we are now. After surfing by ourselves thus far, we are now accompanied by about 30 other surfers for every session. But we are enjoying it, knowing that we are seeing every side of Nicaragua. Though, we will be happy to get back to remote beaches and camping.
That is all for now. I hope all is well with everyone.