We stood on the beach at twilight, this place quite different than anything else I'd seen on the trip. The water was calm, no waves at all, and the harbor was loaded with small moored boats. Lots of casual beach soccer games going on as well as families splashing in the water. Then there was the huge status of Jesus on top of the mountain off in the distance. It seemed like that statue was somehow visible most of our trip.
The scene was peaceful, but not quite restful. The sand was more like dirt and many of the people milling about seemed not to be on vacation time.
If there was a constant sound, it wasn't the gentle sound of the ocean lapping on the beach, it was the incessant sound of Flipper, the dolphin. Not a real dolphin, but vendors of beach toys with little noisemakers designed to get your attention. If that didn't work, the vendors would then try plan B: stand right next to you for the next 30 minutes squeaking that gizmo. Since we had children in our posse, we got to enjoy the sound for most of our time on the beach, sometimes in stereo.
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| Sam and Elena..before they had anything to worry about |
We had decided to have dinner in San Juan del Sur, a place described by Sam as the Mecca for beach tourism in Nicaragua. It had surf shops, bars, and plenty of people strolling through the town. Sam drove the big van, while Pam and I rode in the back. I was quite happy at not driving for a while, and yet, I still had the white knuckles while Sam drove down the smallest city streets I'd ever seen. The place was quite edgy, streets full of people selling their wares, dark bars with music blaring, and the constant feeling that our vehicle contained some of the only white people that had ever ventured this way. All I know is that Pam kept filming and I kept saying "Put that camera away!"...but I'm glad she got the shot. I'm not saying the town was rough, but Pam really wanted to go shopping, and she never mentioned it once in this place...
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| my vantage point of driving through San Juan Del Sur |
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| Waiting for the bus |
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| the kid got the good helmet |
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| the food I wanted to try...but didn't |
The van seemed to take up the whole road, and we were constantly dodging rickshaws, pedestrians, and the ubiquitous dirtbikes with multiple passengers on them.
Sam was expert with this and even parallel parked the monster easily in front of the restaurant. I glanced around, somehow feeling like I was in a James Bond movie, and that I would be able to spot the bad guy in the crowd. But, there was no bad guy and we just enjoyed a really nice dinner on the beach, while listening to classic rock on the club sound system. I often wondered if they switched the music depending on what kind of crowd they had that night. I sure didn't need to hear the same old stuff in another country, and after a while the music was switched to something I knew nothing about, modern Spanish rock music and Reggaeton.
I enjoyed the music, the food, and the people. And...I didn't have to drive back in the dark, so I was good. I had a really nice time, and every once in a while when I felt that something was missing, the Flipper sound would start back up and I knew everything was going to be Ok.
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