From the Beach to Volcano Island

After the chilliness of Esteli it was time to warm up - I headed to the Pacific coast and ended up spending a lazy week on the beach at Maderas. The closest town is San Juan Sel Sur - famed for it's surfing culture.

San Juan Del Sur

The surf beaches are actually north of the town so I headed up there. It was a long sandy walk to my backpackers - called Matilda's but well worth it. It was the quiet end of the beach - just a couple of beach bars and lazy travelers

Entrance to Matilda's

Some backpackers liked to stay in these "dog kennels"!!

I spent my days on the beach and my nights in a hammock listening to the waves crash on the shore. Some people preferred to sleep in the 'dog kennels" Tiny little huts about 3 feet high - just room for a mattress and your backpack!

Beautiful beautiful Maderas beach - I could have stayed for months....

But this was essentially a surf beach and I was determined to get up on a surfboard and ride a wave! The only thing I learned is that surfing is a very difficult sport! I had an hours lesson followed by lots of practice for the rest of the day - ended up feeling like I'd spent 6 hours in a washing machine! I did get up on the board for 10 seconds - obviously there is no footage to prove this!

Would love to be able to tell you this is me - but it isn't!

With my board - where it's safe - on dry land!

Too soon it was time to move on but not before one of the beach dogs at Maderas needed a bit of dentistry - see my Beach Dog Dental post on my Vet work blog! I moved onto Ometepe - an island in the middle of Lake Nicaragua

Ometepe in the middle of Lake Nicaragua

The island is made up of 2 volcanoes - Concepcion and Maderas and is full of little laid back retreats where you can eat good food, do yoga (which I didn't do - not bendy enough!) and relax. For the more adventurous there are bike rides and volcano climbing to be done.

Volcano Concepcion

Volcano Maderas

Petroglyphs on the volcano slopes

Crested Blue Jay (I think!) 

Concepcion volcano from the shore of Lake Nicaragua

The nearest I got to climbing it!

                             Best shower in Nicaragua!

But there's only so much relaxation to be done before my feet get itchy - time to hop on a ferry and head towards the border with Costa Rica...