Centroamerica 2014-15

Looking for a life change but having no idea what that might be, we found ourselves accepting a volunteer job at a surf hostel in Nicaragua. That launched us into a ten-month adventure through Central America. From our arrival in Nicaragua in October 2014, we worked our way north, through Honduras, Belize, Mexico, then up to New York City and London before our return to Belfast in July 2015.

Chasing Peaks: Six Months at Buena Vista Surf Club

Note: this is one of two unusually long posts covering the six months we worked at Buena Vista Surf Club. If I was ever going to finish it, let alone keep it to a few pages, I had to let a lot go. There are many stories and people missing (you know who you are) [...]

Tags: buena vista surf club, central america, centroamerica, latin america, nicaragua, ocean, pacific, sea, surf, surfing, watersports|

My View from the Lip: Six Months of Surf and Self-reflection on the Nicaraguan Pacific

Note: this is an unusually long post, as it covers a six-month period in one place. And, while this post focuses on our surfing experience, it runs simultaneously with the more general piece about our lives as hotel managers at Buena Vista Surf Club during the same period. Back in my teens my best [...]

Tags: buena vista surf club, central america, centroamerica, latin america, nicaragua, ocean, pacific, sea, surf, surfing, watersports|

Back to Civilisation in Granada, via Masaya & Apoyo

After the highlands of the north, we travelled south by bus to the city of Masaya. On the way we were struck by how uncultivated Nica was. Rather than crop-filled fields, we saw large areas of grass and trees. Everything was green. We passed fertile plains that were fringed by volcanoes, and sprinkled with colourful [...]

Tags: apoyo, backpacking, central america, centroamerica, granada, masaya, nicaragua, travel, tribal, volcano|

Hoofing it Through the Cloud Forest in Miraflor, Northern Highlands

Note: Following the previous post from Los Zorros, in the northwest of Nicaragua, we travelled by bus to Estelí, in the more central northern region of highlands that border Honduras. We followed instructions for where to catch buses from Estelí to Miraflor but were doubtful and uncomfortable when we got there. It was 05:15 and [...]

Tags: backpacking, central america, centroamerica, cloud forest, esteli, horse, horse riding, horseback riding, jungle, latin america, miraflor, nicaragua, rainforest, travel|

Thunder and Turtle Eggs at Los Zorros & Padre Ramos Reserve

https://www.flickr.com/photos/morph/15324342157/sizes/c/ We took a microbus (minivan) from León to Chinandega. We could see tree-coated volcanoes right from start, flickering like a zoetrope through the trees at the side of road. While I tried to take photos of the view, a lady beside me brushed her hand on my shoulder. I reluctantly turned [...]

Tags: backpacking, beach, central america, centroamerica, kayak, latin america, mangrove, nature reserve, nicaragua, storm, travel, turtle, turtle eggs|

León – Crumbling Under its own Passion

Jet lag and exhaustion caught us around 22:00 so we got an early night and woke to the sounds of a metalwork shop jangling through the gap between the wall and ceiling. It was the only rough edge to an otherwise blissful place to stay. We followed the Lonely Planet walking tour of the city’s [...]

Tags: backpacking, central america, centroamerica, city, latin america, leon, nicaragua, travel|

Between Belfast and Managua, Lost in Time

San Salvador Airport, El Salvador. Airport Time. Timeless time. Tired and impatient in the no man’s land between timezones and nations. Between the Here that we wished you were at, and the There back at the start of the journey. The sleepers on the airport floors and benches experience perhaps an even more extreme time [...]

Tags: air travel, airport, belfast, central america, centroamerica, dublin, el salvador, new york, nicaragua, san salvador, travel|