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So I'm not sure which is worse, the cat crying outside our window at 3am or the rooster at sunrise...eitherway, we didn't get much sleep last night. Speaking of the rooster, he's about the worst rooster I've ever heard, he crows all day long! Also speaking of roosters, cockfighting is a big thing here, we saw several cockfighting rings on the drive yesterday...wish we could get the scoop on when a fight is going on that we could attend. The yard chickens are everywhere; roaming all over roads, in people's yards, and even around the hotel. Guess you have to have an abudant supply of yard chickens for the chicken buses...
Our first breakfast at Mango Rosa was excellent. Heather had French toast and I had the hangover sandwich even though I wasn't hungover, it was perfect.
Its already noon by the time we get loaded up and headed towards the beach, so of course the sun is overhead already and it's HOT today! We're going to need some shade if we are going to survive more than 15 minutes, so we decide to check out Playa Maderas to see if there is any more shade there than we saw on Marsella yesterday. The road to Maderas proves to be about the same distance as to Marsella, but as described, its considerably rougher, especially on the downside of the hill right before the water. And when I say hill, I'm talking about an easy 200' elevation change, and the grading is at least 30%. Throw a little snow on this hill and call it a double black! But you're rewarded at the bottom of the hill with a fairly pretty beach with some nice rock formations to the North. There are 2 small hostels and a beach bar/restaurant that advertises itself as serving "the best fish tacos in Nicaragua". This is the most easily accessible good surfing beach within an hour of SJdS, so of course its full up already with surfers and girls laying out on the beach. The beach itself offers zero shade at this time of the day and all the shade along with the lounge chairs under the porches are full-up. This doesn't really look like a family beach, more of the singles crowd, so we decide to head back to Marsella because we know there is at least the one palapa and maybe the beach bar there rents lounge chairs and umbrellas (we couldn't tell last night because they had already closed up shop for the evening).
Getting back up the hill also turns out to be as advertised...requires 4x4. I initially hit the bottom of the hill at a pretty good clip in 2 wheel drive in 2nd gear, which gets up almost halfway, then I drop it into 1st gear as the RPM's start dropping on me, which gets us just to the halfway marked, which is the easy half of the hill, the grading, moguls, and loose gravel get worse further up the hill. "Ah hell, we're not going to make it!" Stall out, hold the brake, shift to neutral, and start a controlled reverse decent down the hill...meanwhile outside the truck...a guy wearing camo pants and hat with a tan shirt and combat boots is walking down the hill casually swinging a 4' machette...and the 2 guys at the surf instruction shack on the side of the hill are looking at us with that face that spells out, "dumb gringos". Heather taps me on the shoulder and says, "Babe, what's that guy doing with the machette? ...babe, lock the doors, I'm nervous...", my response, "sweetheart, it's obvious he is coming to work, I'm sure he's the lawn guy for those hostels down there." (They don't have many weedeaters or lawn mowers here, grass is mostly cut by hand with a machette) But I lock the doors just in case! Back at the bottom of the hill, I put it in 4 high and easily make it up the hill this time, albeit a little bumpy because I was more worried about not making it again in front of those surf instructors than ensuring that it was a comfortable ride for my passengers!
Back on Marsella beach, it's just like yesterday, not a soul to see! Just us and the beach (and the one lady and her son working at the beach bar). There isn't any more shade at this beach than at Maderas, but there is no one to share it with, so we decide to post up under the 4' tall palapa. Its no less than 95 degrees, but it feels like 105...thank God for this crappy little palapa! A cold beer for me and a margarita for Heather fix us up though! The day consists of laying under the palapa, taking 3 minutes strolls out to the water, a quick walk to the beach bar to refill drinks and order some ceviche, a couple of 15 minute beach naps, and that's about it! It was a great way to spend our time as a family on the beach!
Watch out for the manure on the beach, obviously someone rides horses on the beach. Why is it that backpackers don't have an understanding of personal space? Near the end of the day a couple of backpackers show up on a 4-wheeler and crawl up under the palapa with us. Mind you, the palapa is about 20' wide by 15' deep...where do they decide to lay down...4' from us, rather than at the other end like you'd expect. They went straight to sleep and didn't bother us other than their close proximity.
After 4 hours in the heat of the beach, we were ready for an afternoon siesta, so we headed back to the casita where Heather and Maclaren decided to take up the whole bed and leave no room for me to sleep...so I decided to go to the bar and have a beer while I blogged the day.
Sunset on the Beach #2, we've decided that we're going to watch the sunset at Playa Marsella every night we're here...which will make us have a late dinner every night, but these sunsets are worth it! Tonight is not a disappointment, the sunset was much prettier tonight than it was last night. After an hour on the beach snapping photos of my ladies in the sand, surf, and sunset; I'm convinced there is no place on Earth I'd rather be right now.
Back to Mango Rosa for dinner, good conversation with Indelasio, a couple more beers (seems like the only thing we've had to drink on this trip is coffee, water, and beer!), and I decide that tonight is the perfect night for some shots of the stars. The sky is amazingly clear and there is very little light pollution...I'm thrilled with the shots that I got!
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jondells Where are the surfing pics?