Ya know, San Juan Del Sur should be called San Juan-derful Del Sur. I'm obsessed. It’s an adorable small beach town that attracts mainly backpackers due to the lack of hotel development. This place is one of those diamonds in the rough that I feel blessed to have encountered. A type of place that will be over-run within the next decade with all inclusive resorts, exspensive American food and designer bathing suit walking tourists. So get here before that happens, it has officially reached my top five favorite places in the world.
The hostel I stayed in probably added to my experience here. The Navy boys and I had heard from some Israelis on Ometepe, that Yajure hostel was super clean, on the beach, had hot water (a rarity down here) and charged the same price as everywhere else. So we were in. At the hostel we were greeted by the owners who run the place themselves. Chelle, a Venezuelan retired pro surfer and Liz a professional world traveler from Australia. Together these two created the best hostel I have ever stayed in. Being that Yajure was once a large beach front home, they managed to not only keep the homey feel, but amplify it with their welcoming and loving personalities.
I wasn't the only one who felt this vibe, by the end of the week everyone in the hostel seemed to be quite the little family. My initiation to San Juan was finding myself in a pool that overlooked San Juan, at an after party at a hostel that wasn't my own. I somehow found my way back to Yajure, re-cooped and prepared myself for the next week of awesome which was:
Lay by the pool.
Surf.
Read.
Eat "grand promocion" (30 cent ice cream cone).
Have epic talks with Chelle.
Take advantage of free drinks for girls at Iguana bar.
Middle of the night swimming.
Repeat.
The navy boys left the day after Friendsday which was completely appropriate. We celebrated Friendsday with a surf, a swim, a game of kings cup, an outing to the bars and a swim in the ocean as the sun came up. They said there goodbyes to me with an early morning group cuddle. A few hours later I finally faced the world for real to find a note..
It's funny how close you become to people in the environment of travel. I'll miss those fools.
This place was a big slap in the face of life, a big dose of love. Aside from my newly acquired brothers, I stumbled upon one of those talks, those talks that do things to your heart. One of the days we went surfing, I came in for a break, found a good patch of sand and just sat watching all the talent within the waves. Chelle joined me not long after and his laid back appearance set the tone to our talk. Tall, extremely tan, dread locked man with either a joint or surf board in hand at all times. This man has
lived, played hard, worked hard and most definitely loved hard. I did some major listening, acting as a sponge to his success in the realm of life. As the sun started to set we before headed back into the water and surfed to a setting sun and rainbow colored water. Perfection.
This town was insane and I love it. I’ll save detailed stories from here for when I get home.
Yea, it’s that epic.
No comments:
Post a Comment