Maderas beach on the Pacific side was our next port of call. We managed to persuade a taxi to drive us directly from Granada so it was a relatively easy travel, and a few hours later we were checked in at our eco-lodge, just over the ridge from the seaside. I'm not quite sure what made it an eco-lodge, they seemed proud of their 'natural room air circulation' (hippy-speak for no air-con) and professed to save loads of turtles from certain doom (we saw none) but it was a nice enough place to stay regardless. On our first day the wind picked up and howled all night, not stopping during the whole visit.

Despite the wind we set off for the beach the next day, towels and suncream in hand. It was a pristine beach with next to no development except a handful of shacks selling fish tacos and beer to the surfer brigade who were out in force, enjoying the superb break, a solid right-to-left curler which rolled in with a steady monotony. We strolled fifteen minutes down the shore to the next bay which had a similar, smaller break. Not great for the boards but perfect for body-surfing which I happily enjoyed for at long as I could until Sophie waved me out of the water, wanting her turn in the sea and out of the sand being thrown up by the wind. We didn't stay there much longer, opting to head to the nearby town of San Juan del Sur to see what was happening. We'd heard this was a party town from a number of travelers that we'd met going on the other direction, and they weren't wrong - it had a full strip of gringo owned and operated pubs and restaurants where you could enjoy Canadian caesar and poutine or a good Irish Guinness if you were feeling homesick. No biltong or boerewors though! So we ate gringo food and had a beer, even returning the next day after lazing around the pool for some craft beers and tapas, but it wasn't an overly cultural experience! Still it was a good few days checking out the waves on the south side, and the fact that there just happened to be a craft beer brewery nearby was just a happy coincidence!

Uno mas, por favor.
KL