A Day in the Life of a Castaway in Nicaragua

All good things must come to an end, and, unfortunately, after three amazing weeks at Castaway it was time to move on. As a tribute to this fantastic experience I thought I’d paint a picture of a day in the life at Castaway…

San Juan del Sur

As you may have gathered from the previous blog post, Castaway was fairly secluded. About once a week we’d make the trek to San Juan del Sur to stock-up on supplies, get some internet access and re-join civilization. After one night in town, however, we’d be itching to get back to the paradise that is Castaway.

Over the course of the three weeks I had developed a daily routine: surf, fish, cook and, of course, save sea-turtles. The breaks around Castaway were very tide-dependent, with high tide bringing the best waves. Spoiled by the private break just steps from our front-door, the idea of a fifteen-minute hike along the beach to Playa Maderas just to fight the crowds over a wave was ludicrous. Accordingly, I tended to surf the former. When a big swell rolled in, however, the trek to Maderas was worth it. The crowds would thin-out as the waves grew well overhead, people would be getting barreled left, right and centre and you would surely catch the ride of your life.

The private, front-door break

Tom paddling out to our front-door break

Surfing another nice left outside my front-door

The size of the swell on my final surf session at Playa Maderas

As the tide receded and the surf got worse, it was time to try to catch some supper. We’d equip ourselves with fishing rods, spears, snorkeling gear and a mesh-bag tied to a plastic bottle in which we could store our fish while continuing to hunt. Playa Majagual was our favourite spot to fish. It was sheltered within a bay preventing large swells from kicking-up sand from the ocean floor and reducing visibility. It also had large rock outcroppings around the side of the bay providing both places to stand when using a fishing rod, and a habitat for the fish to hide in. Underwater currents, coupled with the poor visibility of the Pacific Ocean, sometimes made the rocks difficult to negotiate; while diving between the rocks I would have to constantly fight the various currents from pushing me into the sea-urchin-coated rocks, which was made even more challenging the days visibility was no more than three feet. However, the jelly-fish, eels, and various types of colourful fish I would see and try to catch made it worth it.

Tom at work

Sea urchins

Guineafowl pufferfish

More ocean life

Stoked to have finally got some pescado

Catch-of-the-day

In times we lacked fresh pescado for dinner, which, unfortunately, was more often than not, we’d be able to rely on the food truck that came twice a week. I would wake in the early morning to the sound of ‘papaya-piña-papas-pollo-banana…’ blaring from the speakers mounted on the pick-up truck. Everybody would crowd around the truck and purchase whatever fruits, vegetables and chicken they desired. No matter how many pineapples, papayas, bananas, chickens and vegetables I bought, it was difficult to get the cost over 100 córdobas ($4 US).

In the evenings we would start a bonfire on which we cooked our dinners. We’d put on some tunes, have some drinks that we purchased from Juanita’s Kitchen next door and start grilling. We had it down to a science – when to put in the potatoes, how to grill the chicken to perfection and even how to make a strong cup of coffee out of the top of a plastic coca-cola bottle. It was always a blast having everyone come over to cook and enjoy the beach bonfire.

Another night at Castaway

Beach bonfire grilling

Finished product

Coca-cola bottle -filtered coffee

Every once in a while I would wake late in the night or early in the morning to help Douglas with the sea-turtles. Over the three weeks I got to see everything from fully-grown turtles climbing onto shore to the baby turtles making their way to the ocean.

Olive Ridley Sea Turtle

More baby Olive Ridley sea turtles

It was a blast, but it was also time to see what else Nicaragua has to offer. For the first time in two months I'll be leaving the beach and heading inland for some much needed rest from surfing.