Sickness in San Juan Del Sur

Arriving in Rivas amongst the many taxi drivers eager to take you wherever you want to go, we found another couple also heading to the beach town of San Juan Del Sur. Jumping in a cab with them, we parted ways with our Swiss friends for a few nights. When we arrived at our little green side street hostel, we were kindly greeted by Mama Sara who offered us some empanadas. Thankful and hungry we downed them in no time. A few hours later at supper, I couldn't eat anything, the smell, taste and thought of food made my stomach turn and head spin. Quickly we left the restaurant and the long, ugly, painful night began. I can't think of the last time I felt so terrible, laying in bed in agony before vomiting in the adjacent bathroom. Once I was finally able to lay down without the fear of vomiting again, Travis was hit with a migraine headache and we both were immobile. Thankfully God gave us strength to continue to care for each other all night through brief moments of clarity. We don't know what we had for sure but we assume innocent food poisoning courtesy of Mama Sara may have been the cause.

The next few days we took it easy as we tried to recover from the worst experience of our trip so far. On our last day we rented a quad and rode up the hill to see the large Christ statue which over looks the town. From there we were also able to soak in the incredible view of the ocean and surrounding country side, it was breathtakingly beautiful. We had hoped to do more in San Juan del Sur, like turtle watching, surfing or simply visiting surrounding beaches. However with our low energy we settled on finding good food and watching the sun set into the ocean each night, still filled with gratitude to be in this beautiful country. 

The following day we took a 45 minute taxi ride back to Rivas and bought a few groceries as our next stop would not contain the oppurtunity to get much in the way of essentials. When exiting the grocery store, we decided to take a ride aboard a manual rickshaw to the bus stop. It was fun, although we felt sorry for the guy peddling both of us, plus our packs and groceries (we gave him a nice tip for Christmas). While on Ometepe we gained a new friend, Fearghal from Ireland, who works in Vancouver. We made plans to meet in Rivas and go spend Christmas on the beach together. As we waited for Fearghal to arrive from Granada, the taxi drivers trying to give us a ride were overwhelming with their persistence and competition with one another. Finally we found one we were comfortable with and headed for Popoyo beach with Fearghal and his friend Morgan, excited to see our Swiss friends again and enjoy some of the things we missed out on in San Juan del Sur.