San Juan del Sur

We arrive in San Juan Del Sur on Saturday afternoon, around two o´clock. Immediately we are convinced it is paradise. Brightly colored shacks line the roads, its hot, with an ocean breeze, and the beach is a long, curved stretch of sand lined with open air, thatched-roof restaurants serving seafood and beer. In what the guidebook says is the most touristy part of Nicaragua, there are few Americans to be seen. If this is considered touristy in Nicaragua, no hay problemma. We´re staying upe street from a charming, bright yellow church, a woman barbequeing chicken and plantains just across the street

We had lunch in one of the shacks along the beach - about five dollars for a whole grilled fish, and it was good - and headed out for a swim. The beach was mostly empty, save for a few local boys playing futbol and a few other Nica groups hanging out on the beach. The wind was brutal, however, if you tried to sun yourself the sand blowing into your skin would quickly change your mind.

Once we´d showered, and went out again at night, there were Americans EVERYWHERE. All the surfers had come back from their beaches, and there´s a huge expat community. We had ice cream for dinner, went for a walk, and ran into the expats´ Valentines day party. They kept inviting us to join them ($10 donation and you get a T-shirt!) at their party - full of old drunk white people dancing up a storm - no thanks, we´d prefer to sample the local culture. The money goes, apparently, to some monkeys near an expensive hotel in town. I kept thinking, you want me to donate money to help you fund your zoo? And then they told us they had hired a vet now full time, and it would help pay for him too. I was like, ok, you want me to "donate" to the healthcare for your monkey collection? Seriously? But finally, I figured out that no, the monkeys are on a nature reserve, and the vet was hired to nueter all the stray cats and dogs in town, among other things. Regardless, they were annoying, and braggarts, and we left as soon as we could.