From Grenada, we headed South along Lake Nicaragua and took a ferry to the island of Ometepe. The island was formed by two volcanoes. One of which is still active. The hour long ferry ride over was pretty choppy and it was hard not to get seasick. Once on the island, we checked into a hostel and had a look around town. Pretty basic, small town. Nothing special, but the view of the volcano was amazing. We had pizza for dinner that night and you wouldn't expect it in a small town in Central America, but the pizza was pretty darn good! The next day we rented a motorcycle and set out with the lofty goal of riding around the whole island that day. Turns out that more than half of the road that runs along the perimeter of the island isn't even paved. So, we started out going around the Southern part of the island around the little volcano and would decide later about going around the North shore later. The ride was fun and we saw a lot of wildlife. I already mentioned how the road wasn't paved so it was slow going around most of the Southern route. The road go almost impassable at some points!
By the time we made it back to paved road, we were pretty tired and worn out. We pulled into a little freshwater swimming hole called ....... to cool off and relax. We hung out for awhile until we got hungry and decided to head back to the other main town on the island to get a bite to eat. Unfortunately for us, it was Sunday and the whole darn island pretty much shuts down on Sundays. We couldn't find a place to eat anywhere. We decided to head back to our little town of Moyogalpa and grab a bite there. Nope. Everything was shut down there, as well. We found one restaurant open and had a couple sandwiches there. Not very tasty, but thankful for the meal.
We were pretty much done with the island and itching for some beach time so we decided to move on to San Juan Del Sur on the Pacific side of the country. On the ferry back to the mainland, we met some girls who were also heading to San Juan so we all split a taxi. Seven dollars each for a forty minute cab ride. Not to shabby. In no time at all we were in San Juan and found a bottom dollar hostel right across from the beach for only sixteen US a night. It wasn't the best place but is wasn't the worst. Over the next couple days the town grew on us. There was a gym for me and yoga for Nicole. Also, a friend of a friend owns a restaurant there. Great burger place. We went there to eat and ran into him there. I reintroduced myself and we chatted for a bit. Then he offered to take us surfing at the beach just South of San Juan. I didn't know it until we got there, but there is no actual surf in San Juan Del Sur. It's actually a natural cove with cliffs on either side of the beach. To surf you actually have to leave town and find a different beach.The next day we went surfing at Hermosa beach. The waves were nice and it was later in the day so we were in the water as the sun was beginning to set. I was actually able to stand up on the board I rented which was a big deal for me. I'm still a beginner surfer and the waves were perfect size for my skill level. I was able to get up a couple of times and was very happy about that. Nicole was also able to use the board for a little bit and ride the whitewash in a couple of times. Unfortunately, when Nicole was walking out of the water, she stepped on and got stung by a stingray. At first she thought it was a crab but as the pain set in and didn't leave, everybody was pretty sure it was a stingray. Right on the bottom of her foot, too! She was a trooper, though. Didn't complain once! The local remedy is to heat up some tree sap and put it on the wound. Then soak the area in hot water. With help from the local bartender, we did all that then got her 500mg of ibuprofin and a rum and coke. All of that helped but I could tell she was still in pain. My friend drove us back to our hostel and we thought we would try and get some sleep but the owner of the hostel said we should go to the local hospital for a shot. The pain from the sting would go away with time but a shot of lydacaine would numb the pain for the night. And..... it was free. Free health care in Nicaragua. We hopped in a taxi and got a ride to the hospital. Luckily, it was about eight blocks away. I told the cab driver not to wait for us as I had no idea how long we would be in there. We were in and out in ten minutes! Fastest hospital visit ever! Nicole said it was worth the trip as her foot felt a million times better within minutes of receiving the shot.
I couldn't flag down a cab after we left the hospital so I ended up carrying Nicole to a pizza place near our hostel, then on to the hostel after dinner. Can you tell we like pizza? 
We stayed in town a couple more days to let Nicole's foot heal up a bit then headed just North to Playa Madeiras. Literally, just a mile or so North. We decided to pamper ourselves for a couple days and get an "expensive" thirty dollar a night room. The place looked nice, was near a surfer beach, and had a pool. It turns out that Hotel Madeiras is part of a turtle conservation program and we were lucky enough to be staying with them while turtle eggs were hatching! Our first night there we got to go to the beach at sunset and help release about seventy turtle hatchlings! The we liked the hotel so much we decided to stay an extra night. We ended up staying three nights total. In the three days we were there, we helped release turtles a couple times(me twice and Nicole three times), and hiked to the surf beach and beyond a couple times. Beyond the main surf beach was a series of smaller beaches all separated by rock outcroppings. Each successive beach was more remote with almost no people on them. It was absolutely beautiful beach! After about three days at Madeiras, we decided it was time to move on. We packed our stuff, caught the shuttle to San Juan Del Sur, and hopped a bus headed for Costa Rica......
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