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For any of you who have been following along on this journey, you’ll know that I’ve been spending a load of time in Nicaragua lately.
I love it here!
Recently, Nicaragua has been going through a season of struggle.
Tourism is down 85%. Many in the tourism industry have lost their jobs and their livelihood.
There are so many reasons why I choose to stay.
My heart, soul and body feel warm here.
But I do realize that not every place is for everybody.
I wanted to share with you some of the more negative side-effects of spending a lot of time in Nicaragua this year.
So to those of you left wondering, I wanted to offer a list of reasons why you SHOULD NOT go to Nicaragua this year.
1. you might get lonely on all the virgin, pristine, unpopulated beaches…
The pacific Nicaraguan coastline has pristine beach after pristine beach. It is obnoxious really, like Mother Nature is really trying to show off or brag or something. Miles and miles and miles of uncrowded, virgin jungle touching the waves. It has beaches and rock formations in shapes out of ideals of chronicles of Narnia.
So don’t go there, you might feel lonely or worse you might feel like you’re not even living your own reality anymore, but rather a fantastical, imaginary parallel reality where everything is even more viviid than you could have dreamt it to be.
I wouldn’t want that to be confusing on your senses…
2. you might develop a sweet tooth from all the papaya and pineapple at peak ripeness when it goes to market
This might be especially dangerous. Consider yourself WARNED!
The fruit at the markets are always SO sweet.
In fact, driving on the main highways here, you’ll see fruit stands selling obscenely cheap fruit from the farmers themselves along the sides of the road!
Be careful.
These fruits are incredibly large and ripe.
You might develop an insatiable sweet tooth!
3. The kindness and generosity of people here might make you wonder if you yourself are being kind and generous enough in your own life.
I’ve received countless invitations to family dinners, birthday parties, weddings, evenings out and surf jams from the locals.
Be careful! Nicaraguans are EXTREMELY hospitable and generous.
My team and I at Yoga Academy International were even invited to the birthday party for the father of one of the cleaning ladies who works at our retreat centre. We joined in for a barbecue lunch with 20 or more of her relatives.
They lived in a house with no running water, a dirt floor and a plethora of animals. They insisted we take heaping plates of food, ride their horse around the yard and make ourselves at home.
We were treated like family and we were offered ginormous amounts of delicious home-grown and home cooked food which we ate until our bellies were so full, we had to nap.
This led me to question my own values surrounding generosity, hospitality, giving and abundance- In one of the poorest countries in Central America, those with so little were sharing so much.
This experience turned me inward and I asked myself how can I be of greater service?
How can I share more of what I have?
How can be more hospitable?
Don’t go to Nicaragua if you’re afraid of asking yourself some big questions.
4. accommodations so beautiful and so reasonably priced, you will wonder if you’re being cheated!
Attention travellers: Nicaraguan accommodations are EXTREMELY reasonable if you’re traveling on Dollars, Pounds or Euros.
The standard of cleanliness is VERY high.
MANY inexpensive places have ocean views.
Many are on private beaches and in secluded jungles.
If you are a conspiracy theorist, DO NOT go to Nicaragua in 2019 because you will totally think something is up. You’ll be sure you’re being cheated in some way or that people are stealing kidneys while you are sleeping. They aren’t. But you may wonder why you are getting so much value for so little…
My favourite spots are (in no particular order)
5. You can get burned from basking in the rays on those uncrowded beaches.
Sunburns are a REAL concern here in Nicaragua, so close to the equator. With beaches so beautiful you might want to spend a lot of time walking the rugged coastlines , looking for tide pools, or maybe reading a book to the sound of the waves getting burned is a real threat.
Almost all the supermarkets, corner stores and pharmacies here DO sell sunscreen.
But you may be so consumed with beach life that you could forget to apply and reapply, which could be a real problem.
6.Exhaustion and intense muscle soreness may set in from surfing uncrowded waves.
Less tourism means less people out in the water. Sure, surfers are still coming to Nicaragua but waves here are mostly consistent. There are SO many beaches for so many different surf styles and levels.
You may find yourself in major need of a massage after a day of chasing your stoke.
Recently my friends and I went to Hermosa beach near San Juan del Sur for the day and we were the ONLY surfers there! It was exhausting.
I ended up feeling inclined to get a $30 beachfront massage in a private cabina overlooking those same waves after my session followed by a 2-hour nap in a hammock under a shade palapa on the same beach. I was wrecked.
7. You might get super sad about going home
Nicaragua is starting to feel like a second home for me. People are nice, scenery is gorgeous, beers are $1 in restaurants, Mojitos cap out around $2-$3 when it’s not happy hour and there are so many surf spots to explore.
My biggest challenge with being here this year is that each time I’m set to leave it gets harder and harder.
Being here brings so much peace and joy to my heart.
The locals are generous, resilient, kind and helpful. Nature is encompassing, expansive and breathtaking.
Each time leaving, a little piece of me stays in this place. It beckons me to return.
I hope this snippet of thoughts offers you some clarification on why going to Nicaragua in 2019 might not be for you.
As for me, I know I am coming back, again and again and again.
Turn your life upside down!
Turn your life upside down!