Beach Bums

Since we've been jumping from place to place with only a day or 2 between travel days, we are pretty tired. Our non-travel days had been busy since we were trying to see so much. We decided to have a beach day. We skipped the free pancakes at our hotel, opting instead for a breakfast sandwich at a cute cafe in town. The shuttle for the beach was supposed to leave at 10 so we were rushing a bit to get organized and to eat before it left. However, as things go in Nicuragua, the shuttle was leaving at 11:30. We ended up taking a different shuttle at 11, but it was annoying to wait around for an hour when we could have taken our time. Aw well. We hopped in the back of a truck, where there were benches installed along either side (and a canopy over our heads), and headed on down to the beach. We chose Playa Hermosa because there were bathrooms, wifi, and it was quieter than some of the other ones. And beautiful. We arrived, and staked our spot in the sand.

Within minutes of lying down on my sarong, I was covered in sand. I looked like a sand sculpture, carved on the beach. The fine sand was being blown around by the wind, and the combination of sunscreen and sweat made me sticky, therefore, the perfect place for sand to land. It was even getting into my headphones and gadgets. So I put most of my stuff away and tried to relax despite the sand being in my ears, nose, eyes, mouth, well you get the picture. The beach had wifi, which was so cool, and I was able to chat with people back home! Jan went to check out some stuff and when she came back, she informed me that the water was full of sting rays, and apparently when they sting, it's like glass cutting you. It  was enough of a problem that they had posted signs saying what to do if you got stung. Sting rays hide in the sand so as you walk out into the waves, you can get stung...I think I'll stay safely on shore today! The beach was also infested with wasps and they were flying everywhere. It was such a nuisance as they would fly around and land on you. The last thing I wanted was to be stung by a wasp on my beach day! We finally got some hammocks and enjoyed the last couple of hours laying around in those and using the picnic table.

I didn't get my tan on quite as planned. The day went by quickly and before too long we were headed back into town in our trusty shuttle truck. I hadn't enjoyed the beach nearly enough...sadly, it wasn't a great beach to hang out at, though the surfing seemed awesome!

We returned to our hotel to shower and change. Our plan was to go out and have some fun tonight. We found a pizza place right on the beach and ate there. The pizza was delicious! We then headed over to the Loose Moose, a local Canadian joint, to order the Thirsty Kirsty, the best named drink in town!!!

It was delish. When we arrived, we chatted with some of the guys working there, and everyone was really friendly. But, before too long, the vibe changed and it wasn't exactly what we wanted. We had a long travel day the next day so we decided to go back to the room and get organized instead of staying out. This wasnt really our scene anyways. We walked the short distance back to our hotel. We had both worn dresses, for our big night out! ;p All of a sudden, a big gust of wind came and WHOOSH, up went our skirts! I was able to control mine since it was just a little t-shirt dress...Jan's, however, had a billowy skirt. So, when she grabbed the front, up went the back. When she grabbed the back, up went the side....we were dying laughing. And, I'm pretty sure the creepy men that loitered around the bottom of the street heading to our hotel, enjoyed our show immensely. Jan was doing so much juggling with her skirt that she dropped her ginormous 1.5 Litre water bottle right on her toe! It's a little purple now....

A good quote at our hotel:

Good thing we still have teeth AND have managed to not only smile, but laugh at every moment we've had!