Nicaragua in a Nutshell

Time to catch you up on the adventure that had me on the edge of my seat from start to finish, and without a second to spare to send you my usual travel updates.

So, I severely left you hanging on my Nicaragua adventure. Unless, of course, you’ve been following along on Instagram or Facebook this past month, where I was sharing weekly recaps. The whole story lives in my Nicaragua highlight here if you’d like to catch up on those stories.

To make up for traveling without you, I’ve decided to organize this update by destination, looping you in on the highlights and lowlights of each place on the map I visited. Ready? Let’s go.

Managua

You’ve already got this one. Go ahead and read my last update to you to catch up on how Managua went, and check out the foot tracks I pulled together here.

Granada

My five days in Granada began with a spontaneous invite to join a $2 Isletas de Granada boat tour, which I should have known was the first indication of how flowy this entire Nicaragua trip would be. In my travels and in life, I’ve learned that when things feel effortless, buckle up because an adventure has begun.

Sure enough, my five-day stay in Granada became a series of one thing leading to the next. The next day I cashed in on the free day pass at the local gym, meeting and making friends with the yoga instructor, Hugh, in the process. Then, later that day, I cashed in on another free perk of Hostal Azul, free use of the hostel bike for two hours.

On that bike ride through town and along Granada’s lakefront promenade, I happened to bump into Hugh again. I mentioned I’d signed up for the afternoon Masaya Volcano tour and he mentioned he had dinner plans with another woman who was at yoga that morning. We invited each other to each and, just like that, we were joined forces exploring Granada together in the days that followed.

We sampled the local street food, attended a mentalist show, and spontaneously decided to get our tarot cards read the next day - a first for both of us. We shared many meals, moments, and conversations together, to the point where I walked away from Granada with a true friend I know I’ll see again sometime.

Granada Foot Tracks

Popoyo

From Granada, I took the chicken bus and a rattling taxi to the surf town of Popoyo, where I spent a week going all in on my surf education. Over the course of the week, I grew increasingly addicted to paddling out in Beginner’s Bay every. single. day. Sometimes even twice a day. I wanted to get this so badly.

Needless to say, my body was exhausted by week’s end. Did I go overboard? Maybe. But surfing was awakening in me the long-dormant athlete, a side of me I haven’t felt since my soccer days in high school, and it was showing me just what I’m made of.

There was one moment in particular, during a surf lesson with Luli of Sardina Surf, that I was given a smaller board, something I didn’t quite believe I was ready for. In fact, the first few waves really seemed to confirm that belief. I was a wobbly mess. But when Luli offered to swim back ashore and get me the bigger board, something in me said not to give up just yet. The moment I decided I could and would find my balance on the smaller board, I did. It was such a lesson in mind over matter.

Popoyo Foot Tracks

Ometepe

Where to begin with this magical island. Ometepe is jungle paradise in the middle of a massive lake that could easily trick you into believing you’re on an island out at sea. I stayed at a spot call El Pital Chocolate Paradise, a waterfront hostel/hotel that always had the scent of chocolate hanging in the air and the songs and howls of the tropical birdlife and resident monkeys setting the soundscape.

There were so many moments in Ometepe that I felt what I can only describe as pure bliss. Ometepe, in a few words, is my happy place. It was a reminder to me of what a future home of mine might look like and include - integrated with nature and forest, refreshingly simple, and close to water and forested trails.

Besides my dream setting come to life, Ometepe also served as the setting for some meaningful interactions and experiences. There were cacao ceremonies and soul-nourishing yoga classes, scooter adventures to waterfalls and kayak put-in points through the mangroves. There was also the interestingly timed food poisoning that led me to extend my stay in Ometepe, and the night 1 fall from the rickety stairs leading to my dorm that left a frightening bruise on my bum and altered my more active plans on the island. I started writing my book, at the urging of a new friend named Dor from Israel, and became yet more convinced that yoga teacher training is a very probable near future next step for me after meeting yet another recently certified instructor named Ina from Germany.

Ometepe was full of blessings and gifts, some pleasantly delivered and others not so much. It was difficult tearing myself away from Ometepe’s shores, but the next spot wound up rivaling Ometepe in its impact too.

Ometepe Foot Tracks

El Tránsito

El Transito is a spot I almost never even heard about. And what a shame that would have been. It was mentioned by my hostel host in Popoyo just as I was leaving. She claimed it had a lot of similarities to Popoyo, which I absolutely adored. I had known I wanted to keep surfing but was at a loss for where.

San Juan del Sur, where I thought I’d go after Ometepe, was sounding less and less appealing to me with each conversation I had with backpackers who had been. Its party-first mentality and waves only reachable by bus just didn’t feel like the right fit for me. So, I was so glad when El Transito suddenly entered my awareness.

Getting to El Transito from Granada (where I spent two quick nights after Ometepe) wasn’t the easiest. It required taking a chicken bus first to a questionably safe local market in Managua and then transferring chicken buses there with my fingers crossed I’d time my arrival for one of the limited direct buses to El Transito. I did time my arrival for the last departing direct bus (praise god!), but said bus overheated en route and I found myself nearly stranded at a gas station 1 hour from El Transito.

Fortunately, after many buckets worth of water were dumped on the engine, the bus continued its journey towards El Transito, now a lot emptier as many of the passengers had found other means of getting there. At the turn off the highway towards El Transito, a German guy named Max boarded, surfboard in tow. As the only foreigners on the bus, we got to talking and he became my guardian angel of sorts, not only helping me find my way to my hostel in town (my cellphone decided to overheat and become dysfunctional along with the bus), but also in planting the seed in my mind to stay longer in El Transito instead of continuing north to the surf town of Las Peñitas a few days later. He’d been to both and vouched El Transito had a lot more going for it.

Sure enough, El Transito quickly lured me into its rhythms. I stayed at a surfhouse, a first for me, and loved how homey it was. With just six other guests plus the staff and the routine of sitting around the table together for breakfast and dinner each day, yoga classes in the afternoon, and group surf lessons together, they started to feel like family. I didn’t want to leave - the surfhouse or El Transito - by the time my three-day stay was up, but the surfhouse was shutting down for the season. If I was to stay, I’d have to move lodging.

This is where I recalled the spot I knew Max had stayed - Solid Surf Hostel. I had no idea if he was still there and hadn’t seen him since he pointed me in the right direction on Day 1. They had space for me, so I booked and relocated. Sure enough Max was still there, along with yet another international group of surf travelers that started to feel like family too.

Yet again, I felt like Nicaragua was feeding me all the right people and experiences at exactly the right time. Max, in particular, felt like a kindred spirit, someone I was sure I was meant to meet. He unlocked in me a level of carefreeness and self-acceptance that I didn’t even realize was there for me to access. As a whole, though, El Transito left me feeling part of a greater global surf community, and what a community to be a part of!

El Tránsito Foot Tracks

Leon

Leon was short and sweet, brief enough to leave me wanting more and ensuring this Nicaragua story is far from over. I only had two days within its colonial and cobblestoned streets, and in those two days, I boarded down Volcan Cerro Negro, watched the sunset from the white-washed rooftop of the basilica, and practiced my very limited salsa dancing skills at the free class held at my hostel.

I am beyond grateful for this entire experience in Nicaragua. It goes down as one of my richest and most pivotal trips to date, one that’s been very hard to move on from mentally. The people I met, the places I saw, the moments I experienced - all of it has left me changed for the better as a person, as a traveler, and even as I writer (or maybe I should say author?).

Apologies again for not taking you along as it happened, but this was one of those trips that needed my full present-moment attention. Nicaragua took me for a ride I will not soon forget.

Leon Foot Tracks

Currently in Mexico

I’m currently a week or so into a new adventure, this time in Mexico. I’m exploring a few spots I’ve never been to, like Guadalajara and the Riviera Nayarit, before I settle into a housesit in my old home base city of Oaxaca starting next week. I am sharing updates on Instagram and Facebook as I move about, but likely won’t do the typical travelogue for this adventure. So, if you’d like to follow along, be sure to give a follow over on my social channels. They are @nomapsamber on Instagram and No Maps or Foot Tracks on Facebook, and as always, you’re welcome to subscribe to my Substack to never miss an update.