5 a.m got picked up by a small shuttle van crammed with 9 other tourist. The driver grabbed my gear and threw my surfboard on the top along with everyones backpacks. Roped it up and we took off. The bus was dropping me off in Leon. Leon is a colonial city at the north part of Nicaragua. To get there we had drive through 3 countries: El Salvador, Honduras and finally Nicaragua. Best part is the alliance the countries have with each other means none of us needed to get out of the bus. We just pass our passports to the driver and he does the rest. 10 hours later we ended up in Leon.
Today Garrett arrives in Nicaragua and I'm supposed to meet him in San Juan Del Sur. Which is the southern part of the country. I figured I could get a shuttle bus straight there but talking with the hostels they said there is no such shuttle available. This is where the fun begins. I get on my phone and skype Garrett to figure out a solution. I was hoping I could convince him to come up to Leon and start the trip here but he was flying into Managua and it didn't make any sense. The solution was for me to find a "oca" local shuttle bus, drive to Managua, from Managua jump on another oca and go to Grenada. Thats where Garrett and I would meet up. Pretty ridiculous. I already spent 10 hours on a bus and about to do another 6 just to get to Grenada.
To get to the oca I flagged down a bicycle taxi and he peddled me over to the terminal at about 2 mph an hour. Super funny with a surfboard blocking his view and dodging traffic. After this guy taking me down some sketchy allies we arrived at the oca station. Which in reality is dirt road with school buses, trash, ladies selling drinks out of a pouch and of course oca's. I started to walk with my gear and some oca guy started to yell "Managua". I laugh and start heading his direction. He grabbed my board and tossed it up top of the van. Grabbed some rope and tied it up. 5 minutes later we hit the road. Me, the white gringo and 10 locals crammed in this van. Again, absolutely ridiculous. The whole entire time I for sure thought my board was gonna fly off. It was the only thing on the van and was making loud noises the whole trip.
Anyways, 3 hours in we ended up in Managua. At this point I had no idea how to get from Managua to Grenada but thats part of the fun. I got off the bus, paid my $3 taxi fee and walked about 10 feet before some dude yelled "Grenada. Hoped on this new oca and took off within 5 minutes. Crazy organized caos but it works so well.
Somehow ended up in Grenada and jumped off the bus in central park. Walked around for a half hour, aimlessly looking for a hostel. Ended up on the wrong side of town and finally asked a few people where the good hostels were. Huffing and puffing around I finally found a hostel called the "Bearded Monkey". Checked in and emailed Garrett letting him know where to meet me. It was about 8 pm at this point and had no idea how Garrett was even going to get here.
For me, I unloaded my gear and hit the town looking for some food and check out the surroundings. Found some good "buffet" style Nicaraguan food. Rice, beans, plantains, pork and salad. Fast and easy. Went back to the hostel and fell asleep.
Woke up around 11 pm to some guy walking around the room. Looked over and yelled "Garrett!". He goes "Sean?"
New adventure begins...
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