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Rising at 5:30am as usual I didn't feel the need to leave the hotel that early so waited a couple of hours before getting a taxi to the other bus station to go to Granada. The guys told me it was $4 US for a start but the lonely planet had told me it was basically $1. I ended up paying about $2 but as soon as I got on the bus there was a sign in Spanish saying $C20 and I had paid $C40. The guy collected all the other passengers money so I told him he owed me $C20, I was angry not because of the money - obviously it was only $1 - but sick of people ripping me off!!! He told me it was because I had a backpack (which was strapped to the roof!!). I was annoyed but continued on, picking up and dropping off passengers from the mini bus. We pulled up at a stop and all of a sudden everyone jumped over to the side of the bus and there was a massive punch up!!! I thought it was going to end with a knife being pulled but all of a sudden we took off and the guy was back on board! Got to Granada and everyone got off, i asked the driver where the parque central was and he asked me where I was staying so I told him, the other guy told me it was going to cost me (I gathered from what he was saying) but I pretended I didn't understand- because in Antigua I had a hotel drop off and had intended to walk! The guy got my backpack off the roof and told me I had to pay another $C20- I told him no way and that I had no cordobas!! I had already paid double so I basically ran into the hostel! The Bearded Monkey seemed ok, spacious but dark dorms, free Internet, a garden courtyard area with hammocks and free coffee (though creamer wasn't free haha) for $5/night. Chilled out for a bit, spoke to Tom on skype and then headed out to stroll around Granada. It was pretty quiet, but perhaps because it was Sunday morning! It's quite pretty, with colonial colourful buildings, lots of churches, a central park and a nice feel to it. Had some food then headed back to the hostel for a while and then back out again! Found it interesting how many comments were made wherever I walked!! I had heard nicaraguans were fascinated with blondes so maybe that was it!! "wow you are a beautiful girl", whistles, hissing, etc!!! All harmless fun, but was strange that it was much more than anywhere else I had been! Went back to the hostel and just chilled out, spoke to each family member except Georgie for the first time since I left a month ago, which was nice!!
Woke up late this morning- at 6:30!! Got up not long after, and wandered down to the bus station amongst the markets. I hadn't even reached it before someone spotted me lugging my backpack around and called out 'rivas?!!' to me and lead me to the bus. Got on and waited for about 15 mins, sweltering in the heat before we departed. All kinds of people came on board selling a variety of things. A guy wanted money for playing a few blows of his harmonica and other unskillful things like that- at least he was trying I spose! The ride to Rivas was one of my better bus trips in the region despite it appearing more like a chicken bus than a coach bus! A couple of Irish girls were going to San Juan del sur too so we were pushed through the market x bus terminal and found the bus. Took off not long after and I kept an eye on my backpack which was edging itself towards the back door of the bus! It was raining half the way there so I was glad when it stopped! I was hoping to be able to get to camping matildas at playa maderas but apparently (lonely planet- wrong again!) there was no public bus to the northern beaches so got a shuttle from the main surf shop & hostel nearby. Was hoping I'd have time to grab some groceries, or at least snacks to take to the beach but only had 10 mins so managed to get an ice-cream to keep me going. Arrived at playa maderas and asked the driver how to get to Matildas. What an adventure that turned out to be!! With my huge backpack and my quality trekking shoes (ie thongs) I headed along the beach and around about 4 points, of sharp rocks, reef and tumbling waves to climb over and avoid!! Finally made it to matildas, dripping with sweat and the lady, matilda of course put me into one of the 'casitas'- which are like tiny little huts with only enough space to fit a double mattress and about as high as my chest at the highest point! They are cute and about $7/night. I was just glad to not have to be in a dorm!
Went and got some food because I was starving. There's a little kitchen thing that matildas sister runs on the beach next to the campground, i met a couple of people already staying there, an Aussie (Ryan) and a Swiss girl (Stefanie) and went for a swim. Chilled out for the rest of the arvo and went for a walk to the beach behind the campground. There is hardly anyone around- a couple of houses and small hotels/guesthouses so it's really nice. The other part of the beaches that I walked from is where all the day trippers come and there's a couple of hotels there. It's still pretty much unspoiled though! Later a big group of us went for a walk to the big pointed rock around the point to watch the sunset. It was a bit too cloudy across the horizon for a spectacular sunset, but it was nice all the same! Had a homecooked meal of chicken, beans, rice and some vegetable thing with a tortilla which was pretty good! It was $4, so a bit more than you'd pay at a street stall or something but hardly expensive for the isolation it seemed we were in!
After fighting off my body's urge to get up at 5:30 I slept till 8 and went for a swim and had a coffee. It had been raining for a lot of the night which along with the sound of the breaking waves, helped me sleep well! It rained again after, quite heavily and forced me to sit in my casita and wet the bed (with my wet bathers I mean!) for a while which was annoying! Eventually went outside again and had breakfast with the others after they rose. I managed to persuade Stefi, Ryan and Geiri (icelandic guy!) to come to the main beach of playa madera because I wanted to go surfing! Walked the half an hour or so to the beach, which was pretty hard because the tide was quite high! I hired a board and headed out.. There were quite a few people but only one other girl who I definitely couldn't relate to - she was wearing a g-string for surfing!? I got smashed on the first wave I took off on.. Head hit the sand and had that horrible 'im drowning!' feeling. But got back out there and managed to get a few- were pretty much the biggest waves I'd been on! I just kept getting caught out trying to get out to the back after catching a wave and getting hammered!! Eventually decided to head in, didn't realise there were so many rocks to one side so I cut my knee as I tried to head in! Grabbed some ice-cream before heading back to matildas. Got organized and went into San Juan Del Sur to go to the supermarket and stuff, had a delicious tea of pizza and pasta from an Italian restaurant followed by ice-cream. I love their ice-cream!!! The stupid taxi driver that we paid to take us there and back tried to tell us that it has gone from the original cost of $30 up to $50 because he had to wait longer.. Pfft.. Just hung around for the rest of the night and did very little apart from meet a couple of cool kiwis (one had a very strong accent, it was pretty funny!) who were travelling with an Aussie couple.
The next morning was looking perfect weather-wise when I was up early, but started to feel a bit sick so went back to my 'casita' and it poured down. Packed up some of my stuff while escaping the rain, caught up with the kiwi girls again and agreed to head to the main part of playa maderas (it is sooooo annoying that matildas doesn't have surfboards to hire!!) at about lunch time. We did the almost high tide trek again and the Aussie guy mark and I hired boards but regrettably because he used his for only a few minutes and I was out for only about 45 minutes- I was too frustrated with sore ribs, a bulky board and pretty crappy conditions! The girls decided they wanted 2-4-1 dacquiris so I had one too and just relaxed by the water. We decided we should head back to the campground so we got back and had tea etc and a bonfire on the beach which was quite enjoyable, with a couple of the guys pretty good at twirling fire sticks and a great vibe.
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