July 1st
When it rains here, it’s like standing in a shower. Everything becomes muddy, wet, and best of all, green. The trees, the grass, the plants, all brighten up the second the rains start to come down. The daily rainstorms can either be a few minuets, or become a lightning and thunder show for hours. The metal roofs shake with each clap of thunder, and in-between, the rain pounds on it constantly.
It’s my first day in Playa Gigante, and since my place isn’t completely set up, so while Matt and his wife are in Managua for the night, I’m crashing at their place. I was relaxing in the front reading a book for most the afternoon, and when I decided to get ready to head into town to get dinner and some grocery shopping done, the show began.
It started with chickens and pigs running from the yard, to under the roof of the front patio where I had been reading. Thunder sounded in the distance, and I could hear light drops of rain sprinkling on the roof. Quickly those sprinkles turned into a faucet! The sky became darker except for the occasional bolt of lightning. I started to count between light and sound. First a consistent 4 or 5 seconds between them, and then as I turned around to grab something from the house, I saw nothing but white, immediately followed by the sound of a gun being shot right next to my ear. The pigs, chickens and dog (which had hidden itself under my chair) all jumped and looked around franticly. I turned around to see another flash of light followed by an even bigger shot of thunder. As I sat back down, the storm began to move further and further away, but the rolling thunder could still be heard in the background. The show is over. Just the rain stayed around, keeping things wet and green.
Looks like I might have energy bars for dinner, that walk to the restaurant is looking pretty long now.
July 3rd
“Roughing it” seems too harsh; I have a bathroom and shower. “Simple” sounds too simple for a 4-burner stove and a sink with running water. “In nature” doesn’t seem to work because I have a roof, doors and a patio. I’m going to go with rustic.
The metal roof is held up by the exposed wooden rafters, and the bamboo railing around the patio is more like a window that has some sticks in front of it. The mosquito netting have a few holes in it, but I don’t think too many found their way through last night. The wasps circle around the patio, only to return to their hive that is hanging in a corner. The electricity works about 50% of the time, so the fan sits around not really being used too much. This is my “rustic” new cabina. 1 bedroom, 1 bath, full kitchen, hammock on the patio, and pulled back from the road. It’s perfect!
Birds fly from tree to tree, snagging bugs from mid-air. The howler monkeys were in the trees last night having a voice contest with the cows. I’m not sure if the chickens running through the front yard are considered mine, or the neighbors down the road. Butterflies fly from flower to flower, and sometimes landing on my colorful boardshorts that are hanging over the railing. A massive spider connected its web to my towel hanging right next to the boardshorts. Last night it caught a massive fly, and this morning it has picked up and moved onto a new location. A scorpion was able to navigate the bug netting, and made his way to the inside, right above my head. It’s nothing scary, just makes you get out of bed pretty quick in the mornings!
I am about a 5 min walk to the center square of Playa Gigante, a 3 min walk to go surfing at the beautiful Playa Amarillo, and a 20 min walk to the perfect waves of Playa Colorado. There are also the boat trips. Matt said that he would like to have me going on most of the boat trips with the customers. Either up north to surf Playgrounds and other spots, or down south to surf the perfect left point Manzanillo.
Well today is a lazy Sunday, so time to lotion up, and head down to the surf to see how it looks! I wonder if I can train one of the resident howler monkeys to put sunscreen on my back?
July 3rd, Night:
Today was a chill day. Went to go look at the waves in the mid-morning, but no waves. I didn’t know what to do with all my excess energy I was having, and since I was already sun screened up, I decided to put it to good use, and do something I don’t think I have done in 5 years. I went for a run. I can imagine the thoughts going through the minds of the Nicaraguans as they saw a 6’6” white boy running through town in the middle of the day. I ran down to Playa Amarillo, and then climbed around the rocks to check out the route to Playa Colorados. Even though the wind was a slight onshore, and the waves were only 2-3 feet, it was packed. About 10 guys on the main peak, with another 7 or so scattered around on other little peaks.
After the run, and a quick dip in the ocean to cool off, it was naptime. I put on some on the computer, and laid down in the hammock and passed out. It’s so perfect here. The patio is never in direct sun, so I never have to worry about getting too hot just hanging out in front of the house. The quick nap turned into a 2-hour slumber, and then I guess it was time to check the surf again. Nothing special at Playa Amarillo, but the tide was too high to get to Colorados, so I just paddled out to mess around. More and more Nicaraguan kids paddled out while I was out there, and one of the standout locals and I were splitting the wedge coming off the cliff.
After a nice 2-hour session, I was starving. I hadn’t eaten since breakfast. I heard about a restaurant that was on the top of the point between Gigante and Amarillo. I grabbed my flashlight, and ventured up there. When I got there, it was empty except for the woman who ran it, and her daughter. I asked if she was serving dinner, and she said that there were tamales, and then rambled on with a bunch of things that I had no idea what they were. I guess tamales were the call. It was EPIC! Best food I have had down here yet. And the setting was amazing. Right on the edge of the cliff facing west, staring straight at the sun dodging the clouds to drop below the horizon. After the dinner, the guy who owned the place came up to me with a menu. Although I loved my meal, I wish I had been able to get everything else on the menu. Fresh snapper, mahi mahi, whole grilled fish, and the best looking item, lobster. Best part of it, the prices were so cheap. A full “big ass” lobster (their words, not mine), $12. And my meal, which was a tamale and a beer… $2.25. I think I found my new dinner spot. Well back at the cabina, and at 7:30 I’m getting ready to hit the sack! It is amazing how dark it gets here so quickly. Makes it nice to be early to bed, and early to rise. There were some waves starting to push through after sunset, so I’m hoping I can see the full potential of Amarillo that I have been hearing about.
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