Surf's Up

After over a month of delays......finally the pictures from Nicaragua!   I was patiently waiting for photos of my horseback riding adventure to be posted - and as they were coming from a 3rd world county, you can imagine it wasn't necessary a speedy process.   But voila!  They are all here now! Come with me on my photo adventure!


I took a week long trip to San Juan Del Sur, Nicaragua specifically to go learn how to surf.  I found this fantastic all girls surf camp called Chicabrava and decided 'why the hell not!'  Learning to surf was frustrating, painful, exhausting, and incredibly rewarding all at the same time.   This was not your mama's "learn to surf in an hour cruise boat excursion."  We were out in the (wonderfully warm!) water everyday for hours at a time the whole week repeatedly getting pummeled by waves as we attempted to balance and ride what we could.  It took a few days and thousands of wipe-outs, but I finally got it!

My humble home for the week. 

The line up of boards - and also the line to dry all of our clothes!

Loading up to head out.

How we got around.

Other Chicas I met from Milwaukee!

Waiting for some waves (I'm on the right)

Yeah - I rocked the leggings while surfing.  This fair ginger skin can't handle being that close to the equator.

But lets be honest.....most of the time I was wiping out.....

What enough wipe-outs will do to your knees.

Getting some tips and feedback

Our whole group

I did plenty of other things in Nicaragua when I was out of the water, as well.  Explored some shops - ate (a lot!) - danced - visited the local giant Jesus statue (which is number 2!  If you look back at Portugal, I saw Jesus there too!) - and even went on a booze cruise!

Getting our groove on at a local eatery

The steep hike to see Jesus.

Visiting Jesus

I'm on a boat!

Taking a break from the boat to go for a dip.

Sure doesn't look like Wisconsin to me.

One of my favorite things outside of surfing was horseback riding.  It was such a blast and so different from any riding experience I've had in the states (God Bless third world countries and their lack of safety regulations!)   I got decked out in the finest cowgirl gear, put on a horse names Tequila, and was warned he was feisty.  They weren't lying!  While I was riding, he bucked up and kicked another gal's horse!  We rode through some barrios and to an empty beach where we got to run our horses as full gallop.  Tequila was by no means pokey!

In the back of a truck riding to the horse ranch.

At the beautiful Rancho Chilamate.

Me and my dorky self

Run, Tequila, Run!

Weeee!

Why not pound a beer before running full speed on a horse?

Tequila refued to listen and line up with the others..... As another girl put it "this photo is an accurate representation of the ride as a whole"

How beautiful is this beach!?

Here we are looking all thoughtful in paradise. 

Here's some pics just from around town where I stayed!

It's a third world country....it's not all resorts and roses. It's humbling to see how other people live in the world.

Colorful streets of San Juan del Sur

Bike repair shop

View of the bay from Jesus

A local church

One of the girls on the trip brought her Go-Pro camera and put together a video montage of our week (Thank you, Alicia!).  Check it out below or at this link if it's not playing :   http://vimeo.com/109319734

Nicagnar 2014 from Alicia Bigley on Vimeo.

I hope you enjoyed my pictures as much as I enjoyed having this amazing experience!