Alone but not lonely: my solo trek to Nicaragua

As per usual, the month has flown by. Working 2 weeks on and having 2 weeks off breaks the month into 2 chunks--a small measurement when you think about it. It's June 3rd, 92 days since I first arrived in Costa Rica. A biggish number if you think about it. 92 days. My bike trip turned out to be about 80 days and oddly felt longer. Time is a weird, weird thing I tell ya.

May was a beautiful month here. I worked two shifts, one rafting and the next surfing. Lots of new students, new dynamics, new challenges for me. We rafted 2 new rivers I hadn't been on (El General and El Savegre) and my surfing the next week got a lot better. I still clearly remember this one beautiful moment: We had paddled out a bit and I was starting to feel a little more self-sufficient on the waves (being pushed less by the instructors than before) and I stood up, dropped in stably and turned to the right. I actually caught the wave at the right time (doesn't always happen, let's be real). I looked over and saw this beautiful blue curl folding over. I wanted to reach out and put my hand through it like in the movies...but alas I fell off. I feel like the whole week was worth that one moment and that small memory fuels my desire to learn even more. It was probably only 2 or 3 seconds, but those moments are why I believe adventures can inspire, heal and help us grow. They are what we live for. Those are the moments we remember, not stressing over work or checking our bank account.

So then...my next 2 weeks were off. All for me. I also had to renew my tourist visa (it only lasts 90 days), so I thought, "Why not make an adventure out of it?" So I packed my bag, hitch hiked up the hill and headed north--to Nicaragua.

A month ago, I had planned to only travel to somewhere where I knew someone. I thought, "There's no way I'm traveling alone in Central America." My options were Puerto Rico (expensive plane ticket), Florida (cheap plane ticket) or home (really expensive plane ticket). I wasn't sure I had the budget and it donned on me...why not travel alone? I started researching other women's experience traveling solo in Nicaragua and found reassuring reports that it was not a dangerous endeavor. I got up more courage and bought a guidebook. I started reading about the history and culture and sights to see and started to get stoked. Never had I thought I would get to Nicaragua. So I planned a route and decided to take an 11 day journey.

I started out by exploring San Isidro and San Jose for a few days on the way up to the border since I hadn't spent much time there. It was in San Jose, walking along concrete on my way to a museum with a huge smile on my face that I realized how much of a city girl I am. You might think that's weird for a wilderness guide to say, but it's comfortable to me. I grew up in one after all. I feel safe with so many people around and the ability to find anything I need within walking distance. I love me some wilderness, but I also love me some museums, coffee shops, street art and local handy craft stores. Whooooeeee! I sure did appreciate the wifi, smoothies, vegetarian restaurants, shopping, city parks and people watching. I hadn't seen so many interesting people in one place for a while. I even met a couple from Seattle who were road tripping down to Brazil for the world cup. Small world!

I decided to treat myself and take Ticabus across the border. It's like a greyhound type bus with a bathroom and movies (got to see The Hunger Games and Terminator both for the first time in Spanish--hilarious). They help you with the border crossing and charge you more. I started talking with a woman aboard who was from Paris and was teaching at a French school in Costa Rica. We were headed to the same place so after the 8 hour bus ride and a few more stamps in my passport we shared a taxi to our hostels in the city of Granada. My guidebook had made me think that my pick would be affordable but reliable...it turned out to be affordable and dirty. I did get a private room for $10 but had weird dudes ask me where I was going and why I wouldn't come visit him. The next morning I got breakfast and skiddadled out of there to a cute hostel with hammocks and right in town for the same price. Lots of nice people to chat with, fans to relax by and sights to see. I walked around town and discovered a chocolate museum, bakeries, a beautiful restored Spanish building turned organic restaurant/boutique, the picturesque central park, the crowded market and lots and lots of people. I spent one more day in Granada, ok, I'll be honest, pampering myself. I got a $25 massage, $9 manicure, swam in a pool, had a nice dinner with wine...it was great.

I headed on to a hostel situated on a volcanic lagoon. It...was paradise (and called Hostel Paradiso). There were kayaks, a private beach, free coffee, a beachside bar and great food. Not bad for $10 a night. I stayed there 2 full days enjoying swimming a few times a day, talking with people, reading and trying to get a tan. I met an Australian named Courtney and we were headed to the same place next so we decided to travel together. I figured I would be following her (she's visited an entire backpack covered in patches amount of countries). It turns out, she had never been to Granada and didn't speak much Spanish so I turned out to guide us to our bus stop. Public buses in Nicaragua are literally old American school buses. They call them chicken buses and they can get packed full of people, baggage and well, chickens. The bus stop is a patch of dirt in a city block, so after getting directions in Spanish that I understood as 1 block up, 1.5 blocks left, I'm impressed we found it. No chickens on our ride, although people do hop on and walk up and down the aisle selling drinks out of bags and all sorts of food. I had to try some, of course.

After a sweaty hour and a half (Nicaragua is much hotter than Costa Rica it seemed), we made it to Rivas, my jumping off point for the coastal town of San Juan del Sur. I said goodbye to my temporary travel buddy, and pretty soon found another. Hannah from Sweden sat down next to me on the next chicken bus, distraught that her phone had just been pickpocketed out of her purse. We struck up some conversation and as two solo lady travelers, joined together to find a hostel. We soon found a 3rd musketeer whom Hannah had known previously on a farm she had stayed at nearby. Ashley showed us where she was staying and for the next 2 days we hung out. It was amazing feeling scooped up by other travelers and just knowing we would be spending most of our days together. We went shopping, got smoothies, went to yoga, swam in the ocean, laid in the sun, got more smoothies and swapped stories about our adventures. How incredible that you can feel so open and excited to be with people you have just met and will most likely never see again (unless of course we really road trip across Canada in an old school bus like we dreamed of doing :). The traveling bond is a quick one to make. I love it.

Ashley and I were both making the run back across the border on the same day so we made the trek by chicken bus instead of Ticabus together this time. All went pretty smoothly and we enjoyed each others' company accompanied by mangoes and crackery thingys that we had no idea what they were but bought to use up our Nicaraguan currency (the cordoba). After the border crossing we kept asking people where the bus was to San Jose. They told us back by the building and we thought they were trying to get us to buy a more expensive ticket (lots of people at the border try to get you to give them unnecessary money) so we walked past all the semis for probably half a mile before coming to a bus stop...for the same bus as back at the border. Oh well, that's why we got all those funny looks.

After parting ways again with my new found friend, I made my way by bus back to the jungle, meeting up with one of my co-guides Nick on the way. And now I'm off to a rafting itinerary once more.

So even though I set off alone, not knowing what to expect, there weren't many moments I felt lonely. Surrounded by people, city life, and the romantic optimism in travelers' tales, I gathered new places to visit, new perspectives, new appreciation, good conversations and a pride in my choice to set out to a new place. I felt confident. I felt strong. I finally learned to like walking alone.