Days 766-772! It’s finally time to head out from San Juan Del Sur and head back to one of my favorite hostels, Free Spirit Hostel in El Transito, Nicaragua. This week is full of surfing, hanging out with friends old and new, and a semi-stressful travel day! Hope you enjoy and sorry for yet another late edition.

We kickstart the week on Thursday, February 5th… yet again, having no power at the hostel. And unfortunately, this lasted the entire day.

But with no WiFi means lots of reading time! I ended up finishing the 5th Harry Potter. That did mean I was out of books to read till the power came back on, but I was happy with my progress through the series so far. I had breakfast and then Alex, Evan, and I played two rounds of Settlers of Catan.

The first round was super quick and Alex demolished us. The second round was a lot longer but Evan squeaked out the victory. I played guitar for a bit afterwards and then made myself lunch. Alex was kind enough to let me hop on his hotspot to download the 6th Harry Potter book to my kindle so I had something to read for the rest of the day with no power.

The early afternoon rolled around and I finally got to doing a to-do that I had been putting off for a couple weeks. I applied to be a live-in supervisor at a hostel in California and needed to film a handful of videos answering interview questions. Like “what is the biggest lesson I’ve learned while traveling” or “why would I be a good fit for the position” or “describe your dream life in 30 seconds.”

I had some check-ins to do later in the day, then I read more, and after that played some guitar with Stephan. Stephan, his son, and I ended up playing some chess too, but it got too dark as the sun set.

I was leaving the hostel to head on to my next volunteering gig on Saturday and to celebrate the fun time we all had together, we were throwing a pizza party. Philip, the manager, takes his pizza making seriously and we had to prep the dough 2 days prior. So around 8pm Evan, Stephane and I went over to his house to help out.

We kneaded dough and got it in the fridge, hung out and chatted for a bit, and then called it a night.

I woke up on Friday, February 6th and started my morning with more reading. The 6th Harry Potter book was already sucking me in and I was having trouble putting it down. After breakfast, Evan, Alex, and I played, our now routine, game of Catan. The food truck came just after we finished and then it was time for me to head on a little outing!

I hadn’t been to the main city of San Juan Del Sur in the entirety of my stay at Hostel Clandestino. I’d either just bought food at the food truck or asked someone who was already going to town (or the nearby store) to grab me something. But today, I needed to pull out money for my upcoming travel day and time in El Transito. So I joined Philip on his trip to the city.

We had to make a handful of stops for the hostel, some for miscellaneous things but mostly items for pizza night which we got at the market. It was my first time in the market, I’m not sure why I never checked it out when I was staying in the city, but it was full of fresh produce, clothing, and restaurants. I had a list of things to get Evan and Alex while I was here and I also got myself some food too to finish up my week at the hostel.

Philip and I ate lunch at the market, the portion was a lot smaller than I was hoping but it was only 150 cordobas. I think I would’ve rather ate at La Reina Del Sur, but I was happy to try a new spot.

We had a couple more stops, one of which was a tee shirt for Evan and I. We were finally getting our Hostel Clandestino shirts fresh off the press! Right next to the shirt shop was a fresh orange juice stand, squeezed right in front of us, so we got two for 50 cordobas each. Our last stop on the city trip was Ahora Más, a grocery store. I had a few items to get for Evan and I got myself a couple cheap sweet treats. The whole trip took around 3 hours, I found it nice to be back in the city for a bit but I was looking forward to the calm and quiet of the hostel again.

I read more after delivering the groceries to Evan and Alex. Evan and I went for a surf skate in the hostel’s skate bowl, and then after dinner, it was time for a final game of poker. I ended up coming in second and walked away with 200 cordobas. Not a bad way to end the night.

I woke up Saturday, February 7th and had a big breakfast. Since I was leaving the hostel the following day I wanted to finish up as much food as I could to not let it go to waste. After breakfast, Evan and I headed to Philip’s to split up the pizza dough into the correct size. Philip was weighing all of them and Evan and I were making them into the smooth balls so they’d be ready to stretch out into pizza crusts.

We wrapped up and Evan and I joined Alex back at the hostel for our final games of Catan. The first of which was a HUGE blowout by Evan, it was unreal how much he dominated. The second game was much closer and I thought I was going to pull out the win, but at the last second Alex squeaked out the win. After the games, I packed up my clothes, which didn’t take too long as I don’t have much with me.

While cooking lunch, I taught Alex how to make maduró plantains and tostones. It was fun passing along the cooking knowledge I’ve picked up while traveling Central America. After lunch Evan and I got everything ready for pizza night like cutting boards, bowls, plates, etc. We also picked up the dough balls from the fridge at Philip’s house and started chopping up all the vegetables that we bought the day before in the city.

We surf skated a bit while we waited for the brick oven to heat up. There are two sections of the skate bowl at the hostel. And today, I was actually able to make it out of the bottom section and into the top and I even made it over one of the small mounds in the bowl too! I was excited with my progress.

Pizza night was a lot of fun! Everyone from the hostel joined us and even some people not from the hostel came by too. Evan and I were helping in the kitchen and serving the pizza, but the payoff was free pizza, and a lot of it too since we had over 50 dough balls.

Even a family of monkeys came by!

I also made mojitos, which was good preparation for my upcoming gig at Free Spirit Hostel in El Transito.

I got to make my own pizza at the end and then we made a ton of leftovers for us and whoever else was around. We finished off the night by cleaning up and sitting around snacking on pizza and chatting. It was a really lovely way to finish off my time here at Hostel Clandestino.

I woke up half an hour before my 6am alarm on Sunday, February 8th. Instead of going back to sleep, I decided to get up and FaceTime my friend Anne-Sophie. It had been a little bit since we caught up, there’s a lot of snow in Denmark, so I was trying to not rub it in too much about still being in sunny, warm, Nicaragua.

I had breakfast later than I anticipated and had to rush through eating. I said my “see you laters” to Evan and Philip (I had said it to Stephan and Corina the night before), and headed out. But just before I left I got asked for help by one of the guests. Her boyfriend got stuck in the bathroom and the door wouldn’t budge, the handle when turned didn’t unlock the door anymore! I got Philip to come help and had to head on my way.

I was actually being accompanied by my French friends Alex! He ended up extending his stay to align with mine so we could head to El Transito together, where he was going as well!

Our first leg of the travel journey was walking down the hill to Playa Maderas to catch the $4 shuttle into the city. We arrived just on time and then rode into town. The shuttle dropped us off at the market bus station and we immediately got onto a bus to Rivas. Unfortunately they charged us 100 cordobas each (when the locals all paid 30…), I tried talking them down knowing I’ve paid anywhere from 30-60 cordobas before but they wouldn’t budge. I ended up reading the entire ride.

The next leg was from Rivas to Managua. Alex and I snacked on leftover pizza and I bought a fruit juice in a bag from one of the vendors who got on the bus. I’m not sure what fruit it was but it was delicious!

For some reason this bus ride was also 100 cordobas, instead of the usual 200 (which I’ve seen locals pay as well). But I guess that evened out getting “scammed” on the first bus. About 3/4ths of the way through the ride, a couple taxi drivers got on asking us if we were going to Leon, which is the direction of El Transito. They offered to take us to the right bus station for 100 cordobas each, which seemed fair so we said yes.

They dropped us off at a local shuttle station. I was expecting another chicken bus but instead we got a small, hot, and stuffy shuttle full of locals.

I fell asleep pretty quickly, but only 30 minutes in Alex woke me up to show me we were on the wrong road to Leon. We had told the shuttle driver to drop us off at mile marker 44, where the turn off is to El Transito… but I didn’t show him WHICH mile marker 44. There was a bit of confusion when he told us we got there and we told him we needed to change our drop off spot… but it could’ve all been avoided if we had just shown them on Google Maps instead of assuming there was one route to Leon.

We ended up getting off the shuttle at El Empalme de Izapa and then having to back track down the correct road to mile marker 44.

We tried our luck with hitch hiking for a bit… but didn’t have any luck. We chatted with a couple locals who were waiting at the bus stop as well and they said a bus to Managua should be coming soon. Sure enough, one came about 30 minutes later and we took it to the correct turn off to El Transito.

The bus was full to the brim and people found it very humorous that two “gringos” were coming on this local bus. We got dropped off at the corner and there was a small crowd of locals all trying to hitch hike into town, which we were going to have to do today since there were no more busses into El Transito (we missed the only one from Managua at 11:30am, Sundays aren’t the best day for traveling).

It only took 20 minutes, but we hopped onto a packed bed of a pickup truck and enjoyed an uncomfortable bumpy ride.

The truck dropped us off one kilometer outside of the city. The other locals waited for another ride but I took the hike into town, which didn’t take super long. Alex and I split ways as he was heading to a different hostel and I walked through the familiar streets to Free Spirt Hostel.

I immediately saw Wilson and Dinh, current manager and director of the hostel, both of whom were happy to see me an we briefly caught up. The kitchen ladies were happy to see me again too, which was nice they remembered me. The hostel was absolutely packed, a much different vibe than the last time I was here. But everyone was friendly and there were two guests who I spent time with in Hostel Clandestino as well!

It was around high tide and the sun was starting to go down. So I took a 9’ longboard out into the waves, which were very small.

The first dinner back was pasta night and the current owner in town was cooking up chicken wings for the Super Bowl. I shadowed the bartender and ended up just serving alongside them. It was very similar to my bartending experience in Australia. I learned a couple of the cocktails as well but had plenty more to learn.

It went super well and the other volunteers are really nice and fun. I was super happy to be back at the hostel!

I woke up at 6:20am on Monday, February 9th. The waves weren’t looking amazing but by 6:30am I decided to head out and surf anyways. I took out a 9’6” longboard and had fun catching small waves and attempting to practice cross-stepping up the board (to hopefully eventually execute a hang 5 or 10). I ended up surfing for around 2 hours and then ate breakfast after I came in. I chatted with some of the guests, a lot of who are from French Canada. I read and relaxed in a hammock for a bit and tried to nap as well.

Lunch time rolled around and I ordered my food from my favorite restaurant in town, El Ancla. The mom and dad who run it weren’t around when I stopped by initially, but when I returned I saw them and they both gave me a big warm hug as a welcome back and the mom gave me a small kiss on the cheek, it was very cute.

Before I got my food though, I shadowed one of the other volunteers who was doing the noon shift. So I learned how to open the bar, where to get the drinks to restock the bar, etc. After lunch, I played Catan with Alex, Christian, and Marlena, it was like we were all back at Hostel Clandestino where we all met and played Catan.

The waves were starting to pick up today as a swell was coming to El Transito. So I took out a 5’11 fish surfboard with 40 liters. The waves started small and slowly grew as the session went on making me hopeful for good waves with the coming swell.

After surfing, I watched the sunset, had dinner, and then helped bar back. It was karaoke night, but the projector wasn’t working so it didn’t kick off till around 10pm and by that point I was done bar backing and went to bed.

I woke up at 7am on Tuesday, February 10th for another early surf session. I took out a 6’4” 36 liter board as the waves were much bigger today. The ocean was kind of messy but as the session went on they got better… then it got worse again for a bit before it got better again. Dan, the surfboard repare guy recognized me in the water and we had a nice time catching up. I surfed for 2 hours before calling it quits and heading in for breakfast.

I napped and read in a hammock until it was time for my first solo afternoon shift which was from 12-7pm. I stocked up the bar and had a very chill shift. I made a couple new drinks (piña coladas, perfect storm, and frothing good, all of which are hostel cocktails). I chatted on and off with guests, played some chess with another volunteer, and then kept making drinks as the sun set.

There were some big surf waves at sunset which I would’ve loved to take a stab at, but I was behind the bar. The other volunteer that took over started at 6pm and said she’d be fine by herself for the last hour of my shift, so I was done early!

I chatted more with other guests and the manager, Wilson, until dinner time. Apparently people didn’t especially like the dinner, which was a quinoa salad and falafel. So I ended up eating 4 different people’s leftovers and I was super full afterwards. I wanted to just go to bed, but I ended up joining few guests to the skatepark.

Last time I was here, the skatepark was just a half pipe. Now it was a full fledged skatepark bustling with kids. It was fairly hectic.

I watched my friends Fred and Christian skate around and do tricks. I eventually practiced going back and forth on one of the halfpipes which I was slowly starting to figure out. Some of the local kids came over and chatted with us which was good Spanish practice and another nice way to finish up the night.

I woke up at 7am again on Wednesday, February 11th. When I went to check out the waves, I was met with a very big and heavy wave day. I decided I wanted to give my new short boarding skills a shot at the big swell day and paddled out on the 6’4” board again. This was easily the biggest waves I’ve had while surfing. Luckily the wave period (time between waves) was long so we had time to get out into the lineup.

I caught one big closeout wave and took some big hits by waves as I attempted to duck dive and paddle back into the lineup. It was difficult but I was able to hold my own! I headed in for breakfast and after digesting, I went back out.

This time around I got 2 nice big waves that Wilson actually caught one of the smaller ones on his camera! So I’ll have the photos at some point. It was fun and challenging, but I was proud I went out. Eventually a set doubled in size and I decided I had had enough and caught the white wash back in. I read and chatted with other guests while I continued to watch the other surfers taking on the big waves.

I had El Ancla for lunch again and afterwards played one final game of Catan with Alex, Marlena, and Christian.

Marlena stomped us, which was good for her since her and Christian were leaving the following morning.

I took a nap after the game and when I woke up I FaceTimed my Bubbie and Zeidie (and my mom as well). As always, it was great catching up with them and updating them on my travels and whereabouts.

It was fairly late already and it was time for an afternoon surf. I took out a 6’ 36 liter board, exactly what I was riding in Playa Maderas, and paddled out with Jorgen (another volunteer) and Fred. It was just us three for a bit and we had a blast sending it into big waves and hyping each other up. I actually caught a few really nice waves and had a blast in the big surf again.

I had to cut my session short as I was working the night shift behind the bar, so just before the sun set I got out, showered, and took over at the bar.

We played music bingo after dinner, where guests filled out a bingo card from a list of songs. If the song played, they could cross it out, and then the fist person to get a horizontal, vertical, diagonal, and the whole board cleared won a shot. It ended up being quite the party and I didn’t go till bed till very late… which is something I’ll have to get used to bartending again.

A guest also drew a sketch of George and I behind the bar, I feel like it’s actually quite accurate!

I’m super happy to be back in El Transito. I enjoyed my time in Hostel Clandestino and it’s sad to leave a place I like so much. But it’s also nice to change the scenery! Especially since my trip is coming to an end soon… it’ll definitely fly by before I realize it! Only a few more blog posts until it’s time for San Diego!

Thanks for following along! I’ll see you next week for more surfing!

– Elie