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We left the city of Managua for the coast...we didn't know much at all about where we were heading, only that we wanted to go to Popoyo-nicas most famous surf break. we expected there to be a town etc etc. called salinas there.
we got on a bus for $3US which took us two hours south to a town called Rivas. from rivas (we arrived at pitch black and heard the town is dodgy!) we quickly got hustled into a taxi who charged us a craaazy $80 US to drive us the rest of ther way to the surf. RIPPED OFF BIG TIME, but we wanted out and we had no other options considering time of night-there were no more taxis to barter off between either. we got thrown into this cab-the boot wasnt working so me and beth were on the back seat with three MASSIVE travel backpacks. we thought it would be ok until we worked out it was gonna be a 2 hour drive...on dirt roads! and dirt roads here are out of control. they have deep pot holes that if u drive in you will get stuck, so the taxi was werving all over the place to avoid these holes. it was crazy...noty to mention the lack of communication between us all and him...he couldnt speak english, we couldnt speak spanish-well brian knew the basics....luckily enough to get by!! haha
anyway, we arrived at what we come to know as popoyo surf camp in the dark at about 9.00pm. he kickedu s out of his cab and left us on our way...'Popoyo, Popoyo' he kept saying! we didnt know where we were and nothing is signed clearly. there were a couple of dingy buildings around us but we didnt know what they were...all we knew is we could hear waves so new we were at the coast!! luckily, someone eventually come over to us and sort of directed us to a building which turned out to be a hotel. we got a room for 6 bucks a night each.. it had three beds and 2 old fans and nothing else!! except sheets. so we slept and woke really early, checked the waves and popoyo...brian surfed, i didnt it was about 6 foot and massive barrels, heeeeaps heavy! so i photographed which was heaps of fun. i also met a young local surfer named Samir when i was chilling on the beach, who was an awesome guy and ended up showing us around through the jungle and to the town of salinas which is usually a 2 hr walk from the surf resort, but his short cut through the jungle and river took us only 30 mins! what a legend...oh and he is the only nicaraguan person i met who speaks engligh. he taught himself by talking to tourists in the surf. haha
we stayed a few more days, i eventually built up the nerve to paddle out at popoyo! woohoo! scarey though but i did it...we had 2 boards that brian had bought in costa rica for like 80 bucks each. we tried to sell them to the local ding repair but had no luck so we gave them to Samir for helping us. he was soooo happy!
i need to tell you that Salinas and Popoyo have absoulately nothing! there is no phone, no internet, no SHOPS! well, the only shops are a small food store where u can get drinks etc. oh and a beer is under a dollar, water is like 15 cents and for a massive meal its $4.00 sooo cheap, but we felt as though we stepped into another time zone, like 50 years ago. Salinas-the closest town to popoyo surf camp, is just a farming village with nothing at all! they catch a bus once a week into rivas which is 2 hours or so...this is what we did to get home, the bus took longer than the cab but cost $2.00 instead of $80! however, we did get a cab back to managua from rivas-2 hour trip. we talked him down to $40 US because that was all we had...oh yeah i forgot to mentin we ran out of money since there were no ATMS or Credit machines anywehere at all!!! sooo funny! beth had no money the whole time me and brian had enough just to get by!!!!! oh and before leaving we did heaps of walking and walked for HOURS trying to find stuff...we found nothing really except Salinas!! which has nothing!!
anyway, this taxi ride from rivas to managua was the most scariest experience ever! they are craaaazy drivers and weave all ovr the road driving fast overtaking etc etc, meanwhile there are pushbikes on the highways-and the highways are sooo busy with cars and trucks...oh and farmers walking ON the roads with animals. its outta control. im just glad to have made it to managua safely haha Oh and no seatbelts, dodgy mechanics in the cars...ahhhhh
we are heading back to Portland (brians hometown) a couple of days earlier because we only had 3 days there originally but we want longer, we wanna have the wk end there because brian goes back to work then so we wont be able to do as much and hang out as much which would be ashame. so its gonna be fun!!!
take care
love Zoe
xoxo
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