Adventure - Part Time Pilot

Drive from Maciza de Penas Blancas to San Isidro – 20220810

I started the morning eating breakfast with the group I met yesterday. The coffee is so good. They make it themselves here. Straight from the backyard to your cup.

Last moments in my cozy cabin. All my stuff still wet days later

I said goodbye to the others and packed my things. It was raining a bit and I waited a tiny bit. I decided to just go in the rain as there is just no end to the rain here. I don’t understand how it’s possible.

It quickly got nicer though and pretty much the whole day was sunny and I really enjoyed the ride.

I stopped at Cascada Blanca on the way to San Isidro. I was honestly just exhausted, semi-sick, and wanted to grab a coke at the restaurant on the side of the road, but it ended up being an amazing place to walk down, see a gorgeous waterfall, and go for a quick swim.

Im not angry, its just chaos under the waterfall

The road was great and especially the last stretch to San Isidro is just a perfectly straight and fast road next to gorgeously green rice paddies.

Another Day at Finca Don Chico in Penas Blancas – 20220809

I decided to stay an extra night here in Penas Blancas because it was just too nice to pass up.

I got up and ate breakfast with the family I met the night before. My plan was to do a long hike and after much confusion I finally went on my own with some oral instructions from Don Chico. I hiked down the cow pasture to the edge of the woods where I found the path that would start climbing up.

I was so sure I was going to get soaked the whole hike

It very well may have been my favorite hike I’ve ever been on. The greenery was unbelievable. There were some majorly sketchy parts of the hike. One where I basically had to shimmy next to a tree while holding onto branches to not fall hundreds of feet below.

Somehow for most of the hike it didn’t rain much. The entire rest of the day it would pour every 10 minutes. It’s really unreal how much it rains here.

The hike went up to a waterfall and then I followed the ridge along to try to get to the top of a mountain. I had some amazing views on the way of just sheer dropoffs.

I couldn’t quite make it to what I assumed was the end but it was probably for the best as I kept getting lost. I tracked the hike on my phone though so kept walking back to intercept the drawn line on my map. I headed back down where I would rest a little bit at the cabin unable to think as the rain pummeled the roof every 10 minutes.

Tomorrow I will start the journey towards Managua. I’m not sure where I will go yet tomorrow but I’ll stop somewhere on the way.

Matagalpa to Penas Blancas, Finca Don Chico – 20220808

I got up in the hostel dorm, played a quick game of mancala with one of the Dutch guys and then we all went to eat. Got the desayunos típico and then said goodbye to my new friends as they were taking the bus towards Managua and I was planning to go deep in some jungle.

I packed and shot off for Penas Blancas, the last spot I plan on visiting in the north. The ride was pretty dry which I was happy about but 10 minutes out it was like someone turned on the rain all at once. Huge drops of rain smacked and froze my chest and since I was so close I just pushed my sunglasses down, tilted my head down and squinted through the rain. There wasn’t much I could do but hope that my phone would survive. Any attempt at stopping would have meant more rain in my phone. I arrived at Finca Don Chico and was immediately amazed by the place. The whole place is ridiculously gorgeous. I left a drippy trail as I walked through the dirt floors and the kids balked at the motorcycle asking me how big it was.

I met the owner of the place, Don Chicho who I find impossible to understand. But I ate some lunch while soaked and listened to Don Chico talk as I came across my 1,000,000th Eureka moment realizing Don was not a name here but basically the equivalent of Sir or Mr. So Sir Chico walked me out to the the little cabin and advertised his price of a whopping $6. I hung my stuff up to try to dry and then passed out into a classic deathnap. I woke up wet as its so humid everything just collects water. All my things were pretty wet too.

I threw on my sandals and walked towards the sound of water. There was a little trail out there through a little coffee farm. My mind was boggled by the life teeming everywhere. Green grows on absolutely everything. When you put your hand in the dirt and look at it you can see everything moving. The stream I found had some cool series of waterfalls that I scrambled up for a bit sloshing in and out of little pools.

I then walked down the road for a while and then back to the Finca. They were making dinner and I met some gringos there surprisingly. A guy from Arizona who had married a Nicaraguan girl and a girl from Canada who was one of 12 kids and was traveling with them. I ate and chatted with them and then I retired to my little cabana. I’m planning on doing a 3 hour hike tomorrow

Tag: Adventure

Drive from Maciza de Penas Blancas to San Isidro – 20220810

Last moments in my cozy cabin. All my stuff still wet days later

Donkey rearing to go

Weather clearing up

Riding

Cascada Blanca

Im not angry, its just chaos under the waterfall

Yummy soup for a bad stomach

Another Day at Finca Don Chico in Penas Blancas – 20220809

I was so sure I was going to get soaked the whole hike

Incredible view of the houses below

Sketchy climb

Gorgeous waterfall

My cozy little cabin

Looking out at the coffee fields

Matagalpa to Penas Blancas, Finca Don Chico – 20220808

Typical good road in Nicaragua

Soaking wet

Little waterfall

Dinner cooking