After our day at la laguna we got to sleep in and then met up with Hobie at the Garden Cafe, a cute little place that serves the best salads in Central America (at least as far as we've seen). We snuck in this picture before Hobie got there so he wouldn't have to be embarassed by our touristy photo session.
The cafe was a popular spot for the gringos living in town to bump into each other while sipping their delicious (and only $2!!) coconut-lime smoothies. We met a british girl, Vicky, who had been traveling for quite some time in Costa Rica and is now planning on settling down in Granada for awhile. She was really sweet and happy to have us join her on her quest for a ballgown to wear to the marine's ball, which she was attending with a diplomat. Fancy, fancy. Unfortunately none of the gowns that made their way through the US thrift-store circuit and then on down to the Nicaraguan "tienda de ropa americana" (store of american clothes) were to her liking. Kirby searched for some new hiking pants, to no avail, and I found a new purse which, in addition to being much more stylish than my last one, has more than tripled my storage capacity!
As I read back over what I'm writing, I can see why these posts are getting longer and longer. Why the heck am I writing about a purse!? Anyways... after shopping we made our way through the colorful streets down to the church to climb the belltower for the best view of Granada.
The blend of colonial architecture and bright latin-style colors makes for a really beutiful and interesting city. The church was impressive as well, with intricate stained glass and lots of ornamental figures and architectural elements. After we climbed to the top to take in the view, Kirby took a few minutes to light a candle for her nana. She is no longer with us physically, but she is still very much a part of Kirby's life in spirit, and it's been so nice getting to know more about her through Kirby's stories. She was a very strong and loving woman, and it's easy to see that she passed on those and many other wonderful aspects of her character to her family.
After our time in town we returned to the monkey mansion to get ready to go to one of Hobie's friends house for their weekly pizza dinner. There is a Frenchman in town who bakes fresh bread every day and makes some of the most delicious pizza we've ever had, but only on Mondays for those who order ahead of time. Luckily it was Monday and our orders were in. Our hosts for the evening, Ben and Pita, recently started a business in Granada of growing and selling bamboo for sustainable construction. They were hilarious and very generous of their food as well as their stories of the trials and tribulations of starting a business in Nicaragua. By the end of the night, it felt like we were saying goodbye to old friends.
When we got home we indulged ourselves with a rockin' dance party. Kirby and I had been dying to shake our groove thangs! The last time we'd had a serious booty shakedown was at Ladies night in Manuel Antonio in mid-September. Hobie seems to devote as much dedication to his dancing as he does his yoga, and our shared love of the dance floor was a big part of why we got along so well at Burning Man. At his house, he not only danced but also played DJ - so happy to have some California girls dancing their little hearts out to songs that usually clear the dance floor in Nicaragua. Apparently his taste is a little too "complex electronica" for their taste.
The next day we decided to do something really touristy and rent kayaks for a jaunt on the lake. It was a beautiful vew looking over the water and back at the dormant volcano and we split our time between paddling and posing for pictures. I even jumped in the water for a split second.
The best part of our kayak adventure, however, was the snack we had afterwards at a nearby restaurant. We ordered tostones, a Nicaraguan specialty consisting of fried plantain slices topped with fried cheese. They came with refried beans and pico de gallo, and all the flavors combined created something more deliciously satisfying than I could ever convey with just words. Luckily we have this picture, too! Another great thing about Nicaragua is how cheap the restaurants are - cheap enough that WE could afford to eat at them! For those delicious tostones, along with 2 beers apiece, we paid only $10!
After savoring our last tostone we went shopping for groceries. Even though the restaurants are cheap, buying bread and spreading on our free peanut butter is even cheaper, and a good trade off for the opportunity to treat ourselves every so often.
When we got home it was time for dinner (Kirby made lasagna again, woot woot!) and another dance party. Hobie has a huge costume bin so we dug into it and found some amazing outfits for ourselves. Aside from our love of costumes, it was just fun to be wearing something different! Even though its nice to live simply, it gets monotonous to choose between the same 10 shirts for 3 months.
Hobie got some time off work by switching his yoga teaching schedule around, so we decided to take a little road trip up to the mountains in the north to check out a yoga retreat center that he had been wanting to visit for a long time called Finca Esperanza Verde. It was beautifully nestled into one of the canyons in the mountains to the north.
We packed up our yoga clothes, hiking gear, and some food for the next few days and all piled into his pick-up truck, Caballo Blanco (the white horse). Even though Nicaragua is a much poorer country than Costa Rica, the roads there were much better. The rural dirt roads were still pretty full of potholes, but the main roads were in good condition. We cruised along out of the city of Granada, watching the scenery get more and more rocky and mountainous as we made our way to the mountains of the north.
We had a little snack break in the small town of Matagalpa after a couple hours of driving, giving us a chance to stretch our legs and sit in the park to watch the locals go about their daily lives. After enjoying the last of Kirby's vegetarian lasagna Hobie took us on a little tour of the town to see the church.
We also stopped by a thrift store to see if there was anything that Hobie might want to add to his costume bin. While he was perusing the racks, Kirby ended up finding an adorable fringe skirt that we just had to have. Sadly, the fringe turned into a mossy looking creature due to its vicious encounter with the washing machine. We're going to see what we can do to salvage it when we get home, and if it's beyond all help we may still be able to utilize it in various costuming options. Like the swamp thing.
Back on the road, we continued our climb up into the mountains. Hobie had given me the directions to our destination, but I did a horrible job of navigating and we ended up making every wrong turn possible. The drive was full of interesting sights. Cows on the road (a Central American standard), pick-up trucks filled with more people than I would have imagined possible, and a beautiful sunset that was so magnificent we had to make a quick break for some photos.
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When we got to Finca Esperanza Verde we settled into our room, a 6 bunk cabin with lots of open space in the center and its own bathroom AND shower! It was nice that there were hardly any other visitors there so we had the room all to ourselves and each got our own bottom bunk. We got on some comfy clothes and lots of bug spray and headed down to the yoga pavilion for a nice evening session of yoga and meditation lead by our own personal yogi master.
In the morning we found ourselves enjoying a delicious breakfast of omelets, toast, banana marmalade, fresh fruit, and a beautiful view of the mountains. When we opened the door of our cabin, we were met with a misty view of the canyon, with fog hiding our view of all but the closest ridge. During our breakfast the clouds tiptoed their way along the top of the ridge, gliding over and through the trees and creeping closer and closer to the ground, leaving the blue sky behind them.
After breakfast we headed back to our room to rest for a bit before our morning yoga session. After we were all stretched out we changed our clothes and set out to hike through one of the longer trails on the property. Some girls Hobie had been chatting with at breakfast told him they had seen a sloth on the trail, so Kirby and I were on the lookout. The trail was beautiful, with huge trees and beautiful flowers and leaves that kept Kirby and I very busy snapping up all the pictures we could.
We took a wrong turn at one point but it ended up taking us to a coffee field where some boys were using sticks to beat some plant matter, maybe to separate seeds? I don't actually know what they were doing, but of course I took pictures of them anyways.
Back on the trail we saw beautiful butterflies, a huge beehive, a plant that closes its leaves when you touch it, and what we'd been searching for all day: a sloth! Kirby and I had been scanning the tops of the trees all day, but Hobie spotted the sloth much closer to the ground than we'd imagined. He was just off to the side of the trail and was by far our best sloth sighting during out time here.
When we got back from our hike Hobie had a meeting with the manager to discuss the possibilities of arranging a yoga retreat for his clients in Granada. Kirby and I kept ourselves entertained by taking pictures of the amazing clouds that were moving quickly across the sky above the canyon. I set up the camera for another time lapse project and we happily snapped away.
We decided to hike to the top of the mountain to watch the sunset. It got a little rainy as we were hiking, so by the time we got to the top there wasn't much of a sunset, but we enjoyed being there as the jungle changed from light to dark. Hobie lead us in a meditation while we waited out the rain, then we sat on the observation deck watching the lightning across the canyon. The sunlight faded, the stars came out, and we laid back to enjoy the sights and sounds of the night. It was beautiful but a bit chilly, so Kirby wrapped Hobie's head up in her wrap and transformed him from a man into a little russian babushka. He took on an accent and talked about his woes of the cold and the strife, but "still I bake the bread".
We sat for so long at the observation deck that before we knew it we were surrounded by darkness. Our eyes were accustomed to the dark, though, so we were able to walk back down the trail without even using the flashlight that Kirby had so wisely decided to pack. When we got back to the dining area we were met with a couple surprises. First of all, the staff had been very worried about us since we were out past dark and had actually sent someone out to look for us. Luckily he had a cell phone with him, so they were able to call him back easily. Secondly, the food we were served for dinner was the complete opposite of what we had been expecting. After our delicious and plentiful breakfast we were surprised to see noodles, red sauce, and hard boiled eggs. Not nearly as exciting, but at least it filled us up.
The evening's entertainment consisted of a local family band playing songs around the campfire. We joined the other guests, 2 ladies from San Diego and 2 from Austria, listening to the music and eventually dancing to it as well. There were a couple boys who had accompanied the band and took their turns dancing with whoever was brave enough to join them on the dance floor. I can't really explain their moves but there was a lot of hip shaking and fancy footwork that was so quick it almost didn't go with the music, but somehow it did.
We headed back to our room to sit outside and have some champagne while watching the clouds move across the sky. They were flying by so quickly that we could barely keep up with them, and the moon peeked out from behind them every so often to show off her beauty and light up the sky. It started to sprinkle, so we went inside to have a little dance party, but since we'd only brought the tiny computer the sound quality left much to be desired. Soon we couldn't hear anything at all because it started to rain so hard that the pounding on the roof drowned out the music. Since we couldn't dance any more, Kirby and I left Hobie in the room to read while we ran around in the pouring rain outside.
After another delicious breakfast we took one last hike before getting back on the road to go home. It was even more beautiful than the hike the day before, in part due to the fact that it had rained most of the night and left everything brilliantly green and lush and also because there was a waterfall at the end. We enjoyed looking at the water cascading down the rock, then we jumped into the pool beneath. It was the coldest water we've been in on this entire trip but it felt good to stand under the falls.
We had one last sight to see before heading out: the butterfly gardens. We got a chance to take some more beautiful pictures of butterflies, and then I got distracted by another creature living in the garden: spiders. They looked like they were from another planet, one big ball in the center and 8 long legs spanning at least 4 inches. The more I looked, the more I saw, and soon I realized that I was standing next to a bush covered in spiders.
Back on the road we passed several people walking on the dirt road on what must have been quite a long journey, since the nearest town was several kilometers away. A couple guys asked for a ride to town and Hobie let them hop into the back of the truck, which ended up being good for both them and us. A few minutes after they hopped in the back we realized we had a flat tire and they were able to help Hobie change it. It was great to have their help and allowed Kirby and I to walk around and take pictures of flowers, butterflies, the view, and whatever else was within walking distance. Thanks to our hitchhikers we were moving again in no time.
We stopped in town to let them off, repair the tire, and grab some lunch, then continued on our way. Hobie got really tired after our meal, so I moved into the driver's seat and he took a little nap. I was so excited to be behind the wheel again, driving in another foreign country!
Then we got stopped by some police alongside the road, quickly putting a stop to the great time Kirby and I were having. Luckily I had my CA license with me, so at least it was legal for me to be behind the wheel.
Apparently sometimes there are random stops along the roads in Nicaragua where police ask where you're going, where you've been, and then maybe try to bribe you. They pulled out a laminated document and showed it to Hobie, asking him where his was and telling him that it was a against the law to drive without it. It was a form verifying that the car was in good driving condition and Hobie told us later that it's not actually a legal necessity and that the cops were just using it to try and get bribes from people. They told him that we could drive 45 minutes down the road to the next town to get the document and then return to show it to them. He told them that we were thirsty and wanted to get some cokes, then asked them if they would like any. They said yes, so we went and got some cokes and chips for them, came back to deliver the goods, then drove away without another mention of the "necessary" document.
The encounter with the police was probably my least favorite thing about Nicaragua. In Costa Rica Denise and I were stopped by the police as well, but they were incredibly nice to us. They were very excited that we were here visiting their country, ecouraged us to come back in the future, and gave us some tips about how to stay safe on the roads. It seems the Nicaraguan police force isn't as savvy to the benefits of international tourism.
On our way back into Granada we stopped by a great little restaurant that served delicious tostones, the fried platanos and fried cheese dish that we loved so much, with a side of epic rock ballads from the 80s and 90s. Kirby spiced up the last hour of our drive by searching her ipod for the best song from each letter of the alphabet. Some of the best DJ skills I've ever been witness to, she had us wrapped around her little finger as we danced, sang, and got all nostalgic over some of the classic hits she chose.
Back in Granada we had a little time to relax at the monkey mansion, then it was time for another evening spent in Hobie's yoga studio at Pure. It felt so good to stretch out after our long car ride and we returned to the house feeling relaxed and refreshed. Kirby whipped up some delicious pasta with homemade red sauce for dinner, then it was time for another good night's sleep.
In the morning we were up early for our last yoga class, then stayed at Pure to have a delicious breakfast of chai, eggs, and some of the frenchman's homemade bread. After a quick photo shoot with Hobies tortoise Snoopy we went back to the monkey mansion to do some laundry and relax. We kept meaning to head into town to buy our bus tickets to return to Costa Rica the next morning, but we kept putting it off and before we knew it the day was already alost over.
We headed out into town and started asking people how to get to the bus station. We got about 10 different sets of directions and ended up walking back and forth on the same street several times. We asked a family that was sittting out on their front porch nearby and they gave us the most detailed directions yet, telling us that the Ticabus station was just before the car wash around the corner. Turns out we had been walking right past it a few times but since it was just a nondescript room and the only sigh for it was on the edge of the awning that we were walking under, we hadnt noticed. We asked the guys sitting on the stoop if it was too late to buy tickets and they said yes, it was. We would have to wait til the next morning and hope that the bus didn't sell out before then, since the ticket office in the town that the bus was coming from would still be open for a couple hours.
On our way back to the monkey mansion we decided to treat ourselves to a couple of Nicaragua's favorite beer, Tona, and go sit in the park to catch the last of the sunset and see the nightlife begin. It seemed that we weren't the only ones with that idea and when we arrived at the park it took awhile for us to locate a bench that wasn't already occupied. As we sat watching people walking around and enjoyed the warm evening breeze, we talked about how lucky we were to have this experience and especially to have each other to share all the memories. Finding such a wonderful friend like Kirby is hard to do and we're both so grateful that we share such a special friendship. It feels more like we're sisters than friends and we are both so glad that we will have each other to share the ups and downs of life. This trip has been so amazingly positive, but we both know that there will be times of heartache and sadness in life. It's so good to know that no matter what we will always have our friendship to see us through.
When we got back to the monkey mansion Hobie told us that we were invited to accompany him to a birthday party for the manager of his spa. We got as dressed up as we were able to, put a bow around a bottle of liquor we'd bought that day intending to take back as a gift for a friend in the states, and set out to experience an authentic Nicaraguan party.
The birthday girl, Tanya, had told Hobie which street she lived on and that he would be able to find the house by following the music. She was right. We had no problem finding the party thanks to the loud reggaetone pouring out onto the street from inside the house. We sat down at one of the many tables set up throughout the house and sampled the appetizers being served. Cheese sandwiches made up of American AND squeezeable cheese, with the crusts cut off, were the first things served. Mini muffins came next, then liver pate with bread crostinis. Quite the interesting mix. Seems that liver pate is not a very popular Nicaraguan snack - I only saw one person besides myself trying it, and neither of us went back for more.
After appetizers it was time to hit the dance floor, then dinner. The meal was delicious and we were quite hungry after shakin' it to the reggaetone and having quite a few rum and cokes. After dinner we sat for a bit chatting and waiting for our food to digest before we shook it around to the music of the live band that was now playing. After more dancing the cake was served, along with a wine glass of sangria for everyone to toast the birthday girl. After nibbling our cake, it was back to the dance floor, then outside for some fresh air, where Kirby and I were bombarded by some of the male guests. They wanted to take pictures with us, even though it was our camera we were using, so now we have about a dozen pictures of us with various Nicaraguan men, taken one right after another.
The Nicas really know how to party and we ended up staying and dancing longer than we'd anticipated. Finally we had to get back so that we could rest up for our early morning departure. It came down to the last minute, but there ended up being 2 empty spots on the bus and we happily settled in for the 8 hour ride back to San Jose and Galileo. It was sad to say goodbye to Nicaragua, and it's strange to think that in just a couple days we'll be saying goodbye to Costa Rica, but we're excited about the next adventure: finding jobs in the states that will pay us enough to survive and save up enough money for another trip somewhere else in the world.
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