Playa Maderas

After our 4 noisy nights in San Juan, we jumped on another bus  to a beach a few kilometres away called Playa Maderas. This beach was very remote, so we armed with enough food and drink for our stay, and  OMG we looked ridiculous carrying our backpacks and shopping bags up to our accommodation, that just happened to be at the top of the steepest hill in Nicaragua! But was it worth it….YES! When we made it to the top, the accommodation was a massive beautiful thatched house with a yoga deck overlooking the bay 😁. Paradise! 

Next stop the beach and thank goodness, no loud music, just an absolutely spectacular little bay, such a relief after our Blackpool experience. The beach had pink ‘tinged’ sand and it literally felt like silk, with the finest sand I’ve ever felt. What more can I say about our few days chilling out here……. we had some surfing lessons; mucked around in the water; watched beautiful sunsets with the sun setting through the rocks; drank beer and coffee in chilled out bars; watched hermit crabs scurry along the beach making tire tracks in the sand; watched the bright green ‘stars’ of the bioluminescent waves crashing over the rocks at night (and when you wash in the shower, it sparkles on your body); saw more beautiful birds (mot-mots, pelicans,woodpeckers); collected stunning shells and met the friendliest of Nicaraguan people that work so hard for so little. 

Of course the boys would like me to mention the surfing… well I was awful, Johnny was an old timer surfer reminiscing  the days when he would have got that one, and of course both boys were awesome, surfing in waves that I could barely look at! 

Playa Maderas, you have been a very special place in our Nicaraguan adventures and we are leaving Nicaragua with a very positive vibe about us. Nicaragua has been an incredible place to visit, with many fantastic hidden gems along the way. It is a total combination of rich and poor, and if anyone ever plans to visit  Costa Rica, they should try and squeeze in a little Nicaraguan adventure-in beforehand to get a ‘real’ glimpse of Central America. I feel that this little place will only survive like this for a little longer, and thankfully we got to experience this treasure of a place while it’s still mostly undeveloped ❤️. 

Gracias and adios 🇳🇮