Home » Mexico » Paradise (?) Revisited, 4 Countries in 1 day, Guatemala Still Gorgeous, Mediocre Moles and More Mexicana Madness in Puerto Escondildo

Sorry, I’ve edited and re-edited but it’s still a long tail!

Starting off…..Back in sweaty, sultry, sloow, San Juan del Sur, if Puerto Viejo was desultory San Juan is sultry…..more gringo developments arising around us and a Japanese funded port facility (many Nicaraguan road bridges are signed “with the love and friendship of the people of Japan”, now I understand!) and the dolphin research centre next maybe?… but it’s still beautiful, maybe No. 2 after Bocas, went for my early morning dip and copped a sea wasp across my arm, blisters and pain, vinegar cure, sunsets at the Iguana Bar, D still hanging in, the usual crowd and some interesting travellers as always.

Paradise (?) Revisited, 4 Countries in 1 day, Guatemala Still Gorgeous, Mediocre Moles and More Mexicana Madness in Puerto Escondildo

Bill Shum
2006-08-21 17:09:01

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Sorry, I’ve edited and re-edited but it’s still a long tail!

Starting off…..Back in sweaty, sultry, sloow, San Juan del Sur, if Puerto Viejo was desultory San Juan is sultry…..more gringo developments arising around us and a Japanese funded port facility (many Nicaraguan road bridges are signed “with the love and friendship of the people of Japan”, now I understand!) and the dolphin research centre next maybe?… but it’s still beautiful, maybe No. 2 after Bocas, went for my early morning dip and copped a sea wasp across my arm, blisters and pain, vinegar cure, sunsets at the Iguana Bar, D still hanging in, the usual crowd and some interesting travellers as always.

The bay is a classic, perfectly round horseshoe with high cliffs on both sides of the entrance. The waves break around the shore in smooth symmetry from one side to the other, at low tide the boys will be playing beach football, the game just flows on for an hour or two, any number of kids, goals are scored but nobody is counting, skill levels astounding.

In the middle of town the market is hidden away, a couple of narrow lanes lead back into the
San Juan del Sur, NNicaraguadarkness, takes a few minutes to get used to the dark then you see the little shops lining the pathway, cheap clothes, gaudy fabrics, all weird manners of underwear, lingerie, buttons, baubles and bows, down the back the fruit stalls stand out in a shaft of light from a hole in the roof, piles of mangoes, bananas, oranges, papayas, spuds, cabbages, a pretty sorry selection all up.
The whole market is covered in a low fibro cement roof, painted black to add to the gloominess, 5 concrete bunkers, one is the meat shop, don’t ask!, the other 4, identical little comedors, food places, each with a whiteboard on the wall, a jarbled, crowded menu on each, similar, foods in spanglish and espanol, inside each one are 3 or 4 women like a generational thing, the older woman, ...