Arriving in Costa Rica, San Jose

Now we're in Costa Rica, we're really excited to be here as we've wanted to visit for so long. We've spent a couple of days in San Jose staying in a cool little hostel in a great neighbourhood only a few mins from the city center. San Jose is a really modern city - we've enjoyed being here and checking out the local restuarants, finding a decent book store and catching up with friends and family with the wonders of the net! The simple things...

Tomorrow we're travelling towards the Pacific coast to Carara National Park where we're hoping to see macaws and monkeys...exciting stuff!

Surfing Maderas - Nicaragua

Maderas is known as the best beach break in Nicaragua, and one of the best in Central America and is packed full of local & gringo pro's come high tide. But I made sure not to get in their way and got lots of useful info from the good guys and a cool chick called Helena. I got a board for just 5 bucks a day from the surf shack and loved being able to just wonder down to the ocean each day, such a treat.

The beach had such a cool vibe, it was perfect for getting some beginners practice in... here's some great pics Pete took on our last day when he came down to meet me for a sundowner at the surf shack!

Maderas beach - Nicaragua

Maderas was just the perfect beach - three beautiful white sandy bays, a world class surf break and just full of lovely chilled out people. We loved it so much, we ended up staying for almost a week at Matilda's place right on the beach.

We enjoyed swinging in the hammocks, eating delicious local food from the shacks on the beach, sleeping a lot and making camp fires. The first night there we had an awesome night with Phillipa, the Ben's and a whole load of other guys who joined the party chilling out on the beach with crates of beer, tunes and a cosy camp fire.

As Pete was still recovering, I spent my days in the sea surfing... or trying too! Bliss!

San Juan del Sur - Nicaragua

San Juan del Sur is Nicaragua's surf... and party capital! And party we did. Here's some pics of Saturday night in San Juan.

We made it down to the beach on Sunday morning, where Ben braved the waves at Maderas beach break for the final surf of the hols... Pete was in bed nursing his fractured ribs!

Phillipa and I also ended up being invited into a local Sunday afternoon cock fight, though thankfully the matches had ended by the time we rocked up. Crazy!

Horse riding, Ometepe - Nicaragua

I should have known it was going to end in tears...

Maudie, Ben and Philipa had thorough-bred (in my eyes) horses with glistening coats and pricked ears...

Mine staggered out of the stables, a few hands too short and fear in his eyes.

But what the hell... we're on holiday. Off down the beach we went. It was beautiful, everyone was enjoying the trot and canter. So was I... until we went through a swarm of flies so thick you could feel them like soup as you waved your hand through the air.

Off my steed went, down the beach at a rapid pace... only to do the splits... throwing me into the air and onto the beach. As our guide chased him 100m down the beach, I rose to the laughter of the others and an incredible winding in my side.

The only cure...RUM. We laughed the night away and I woke in the morning.... sore.

It was Ben's 'best part of the trip' and I am glad Maudie and Phillipa had a great time too.

Isla Ometepe - Lago de Nicaragua

After a fun ferry ride chillin' out for a few hours in our deckchairs, we arrived at Isla Ometepe! Lago de Nicaragua is the biggest lake in Central America and has hundred of small islands, the biggest being Ometepe. Made up of two volcanoes, joined by an isthmus, the islands culture and wildlife are pretty unique. Its a pretty rustic and rural place, the dirt tracks linking up the islands communities made for a pretty wild truck ride!

We caught a truck to Santa Domingo, the 'beach' area in the center of the island. We had a beautiful time there just relaxing, walking and horse riding; waking up at sunrise to see the island come to life was special. Monkeys swung from the trees, herds of cows bathed in the lake and beautiful birds were everywhere!

Pics are: Our view from the breakfast table; a howler monkey; cattle at dawn; taking a stroll along the beach and Captin' Pete on board the ferry!

Granada - Nicaragua

Next we headed south down the coast towards Granada, Nicaragua's oldest town which sits right on the waters edge of Lago de Nicaragua. More polished that Leon, we loved the architecture, the 'taxi' horse & carriages and the buzzy nightlife!

We arrived into Granada late evening and after almost finding ourselves on the street, we found a 'sweaty' hostel close to the center. Still, Granada's main street had a great atmosphere & we had a fab evening due to some tasty typico, a couple of bottles of local rum and some great company of course. We met Ben and Ben, two legendary Thompson air pilots, who were travelling the same route as us - great guys we spent a good week or so with in the end!

The next morning after an eventful night of little sleep and swimming pool antics, Ben & Phillipa hit the local spa and Pete and I did a walking tour of the city before hopping on the lunchtime ferry to Isla Omnitepe! All go...

Pics: Me looking windswept by the lake; Ben, Phillipa & Pete striking a pose; Ben with a cute boy who made him an awesome grasshopper out of grass; partying on the main strip & the cathedral in Parque Central.