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A Change of Plans

Saturday, December 6th, 2008

Day 250

The beach at Tofo was great. Soft sand, warm water backed by beautiful dunes. There was lots to like about Tofo. The problem was there was enough that we didn’t like that we have decided to leave after one more night here. Actually we have decided to not travel further north in Mozambique as previously planned. The original plan was to go north up the coast then cut across the country west to Malawi. However after seeing what things cost here in Mozambique we just can’t afford to travel here. We’ve been really surprised at the cost of things here, from hostel rooms to food things are not priced like a budget travel destination. Not only that but the toughest thing is the terrible value here, our $30 grass hut being a perfect example. So the new plan is one more night here in Tofo then back to Maputo for one night and back to big bad Jo’burg. Some backtracking yes, but then its north to Victoria Falls. A sight that we’ve decided we shouldn’t miss.

With our new plan sorted we still had another day on the beautiful beach here in Tofo. Not much to really tell you about it, well if I did it might just make you jealous of the warm blue waters here. So I’ll spare you the details of our lazy day on the beach. We did have a fantastic meal down the beach at Dino’s Restaurant. Jordana had a great fish kebab and I had some fresh and perfectly grilled squid. It was one of the best meals we’ve had in a long time.

We hit the bed early as our bus leaves at the ungodly hour of 4am tomorrow. I wish Mozambique worked out differently but it seems the country just doesn’t have the tourist infrastructure yet. So what is available is quite pricey, unfortunately just a bit too pricey for Jordana and I.

Posted in Mozambique | No Comments »

Las Penitas

Wednesday, January 16th, 2008

Day 72

Only 25km from the city of Leon lies the small beach town of Las Penitas. A scruffy, small village with only a few place (3) to stay and some of the best surfing in Central America.  Jordana and I headed out here to chill out for a few days and enjoy the sun.  It had been awhile since we had been on a beach, way back in Mexico at San Agustinillo.  

For some reason we left Leon thinking we needed some luxury transportation, or at least thought we would get luxury.  Instead of taking the 1 hour bus trip out to Las Penitas we decided to splurge on a taxi.  At $7 it is about 7 times the price it would cost for us to take the bus.  However a taxi was supposed to take 20 minutes, or so we thought.  I flagged down a taxi that looked ok and we climbed in.  Oh man, this was easily the worst car, if you could still call it a car, that we had ever been in.  First off Leon is hot, very hot and the rear windows on this taxi didn´t open, the handles had been broken off.  That was actually the smallest of issues.  Every bump we hit large clouds of dust would rise from the seats.  The rear seat where I sat wasn´t even the original seat from the car, it was more like a futon that had been placed back there.  I was pretty much lying down when I sat back there, Jordana sat in somewhat more comfortable front seat.  About half way to the beach we were going up a small hill, the car maxed out at 20km/h, when we stalled.  For a few minutes our driver babbled some spanish at us that we didn´t understand while he tried to start his taxi again.  I thought of a get away plan, I figured the bus would pass soon since it was hourly.  If we jumped out and flagged it down it be fine, maybe I´d toss the driver 20 Cordobas (about $1) for his troubles.  Just when I was ready to climb out he got the taxi going and we sputtered along the rough road with dust filling the inside of the car.  All I could think was, Oh why didn´t we just stick with the bus?! 

We pulled through the town and I was surprised how small it actually was.  This was still very much a fishing village and tourism was not yet a huge concern.  We checked into a small guesthouse where we found our own bungalow directly on the sand facing out to the crashing Pacific Ocean.  The room was basic but sitting on our front veranda all but sealed the deal for taking this room.

This is probably my shortest entry as everything I just wrote is the only noteworthy things that happened in Las Penitas.  We spent the days relaxing on the beach and when the sun became to hot we wandered into the water.  The surf here is massive, consistently 2 meters.  We had fun in the waves but at that size and with strong rip tides we could only go so deep.  The body surfing was incredible though, I don´t think I have felt such powerful surf anywhere I have been.  Other than lazing on the beach we walked south along the beach where we waded through a river that rushed into the Pacific.  On the other side the beach seemed to stretch for ever with no development in sight as far as we could see.  This was one of the most incredible coasts we had seen.  Our evenings consisted of beers and cheap but tasty fish from the guesthouses restaurant.  Usually we were in bed by 10pm.  It´s a tough life in Las Penitas, but we have to move on.  Next stop is south back to Managua for a night, hopefully a more successful and comfortable stay than the last time we rolled through.   

Posted in Nicaragua | 1 Comment »