We were ready to get to Nicaragua, a country we had heard about a lot, thanks to JC. The first thing we noticed crossing the border, was how much time Nicaraguans had to spend at the Costa Rican border to get inside of Costa Rica. Nicaragua is a very poor country, so we guess that the Costa Ricans are a little afraid of foreigners offering cheap labour. Upon arrival in Nicaragua the atmosphere changed remarkably. All of the sudden people were friendly again.
Our first stop was San Juan del Sur, a nice little beach town (so far the first and only one in Nicaragua on the pacific coast). To put it short: We had a blast. The town provides the right mixture of locals and travellers, the surf is great (offshore winds every day, because of the Nicaraguan Lake) and it s easy to make new friends. On the first night we met Becky and Sam, a cool Canadian couple who we decided to travel with for almost two weeks. Saminator and Beckalicious were the perfect couple to travel with, because they had a car (only joking guys, we also traveled with you because you bought us rounds). Together we went to Isla de Ometepe, Masaya, Leon and Managua (We ll come to that in a minute). Before doing so we spend a week in San Juan del Sur, where I worked on my surfing skills and had the best day surfing Playa Colorado (thanks for the ride and all the help Carl). On the day before we left San Juan, Jana and I went out to a Restaurant/Club called Iguana. Guess who was there, movie star Matthew McConaughey drunk like a thirteen year old. Poor guy was so wasted they had to carry him out of the club. I am sorry ladies, it s not how it seems to be in the movies…
We went to Isla de Ometepe, a bizarre island in the middle of the big Nicaraguan Lake (approx. 150 km x 70 km). The island consists of two small islands (each with a volcano, one is active), which are joined by a small stretch of land. Sam and Becky waited for us when we arrived by ferry and we went to the hostel they stayed at. Met Nate and Bill (how is it going guys), two americans we became friends with in San Juan, in the hostel and had a beautiful day at the Ojo del agua (a natural lagoon in between the two volcanoes) on the next day. Did some hiking to a waterfall on the next day and we were on our way to Masaya.
JC I am sorry my friend you won t like that: so far Nicaragua is the most corrupt country we visited. On our way to Masaya we were stopped by the police (apparently recognizing us as „Gringos“, because my surfboard was strapped on the roof of our car). They pulled us over, asking if we would have a triangle and a fire extinguisher. After showing them both, they told us that our triangle would not work. I showed the officer that it did. So then he told me that we would need two, for „safety reasons“. Well we did not have two triangles, so he told us to pay a fine of 300 Cordobas. After telling him that we would need his name and a bill, because we wanted to get the money back from the car rental, he congratulated me for my good spanish and let us go without paying.
The next time we were stopped by the police was on the way of one of Leon s beaches back to the city. The cop who pulled us over asked us for a triangle and fire extinguisher again. This time we knew the procedure already and told him that we would have both in the trunk. He didn t bother to take a look, but instead asked us if we could do him a favour and lend him some money for gas. We told him he could give us money and then we would drive to the next gas station to bring him some. That was too much for him and he let us go.
So here is our advice, if ever pulled over by the cops in Nicaragua make their life as hard as possible and you are good to go.
Masaya has some really nice markets, where the girls did some shopping. We went to a neraby active volcano, we could drive all the way up to the top. When we parked our car some guides started yelling at us. We wondered why and they explained us, that we wold have to park our car the other way around. So in case of an eruption we could drive away faster…
Our next stop was Leon, definitely the highlight of Nicaragua s cities. It s an old colonial city, maybe 30 minutes away from the pacific coast. We stayed in a hostel called Lazybones, which we would highly recommend to stay in if you are in Leon.
1. Playa Colorado 
2. Bjoern getting waves
3. San Juan del Sur 
4. Germay : Poland
5. Someone s getting wasted 
6. Ojo de Agua
7. Just chilling
8. Big bug
9. Driving around
10. Petroglyphs
11. Farmlife 
12. Waterfall
13. Lake of Nicaragua
14. Volcano on Isla de Ometepe 
15. Volcano near Masaya
16. On top of the volcano
17. Getting there
18. Nice views 
19. Leon 
20. Leon 
