Sunday, Jan. 13

             Today was one of the freer days of the trip, with the opportunity for us to paint, visit beaches, visit luxurious resorts, or a combination of all three. In the morning, we split into two groups, one that decided to help a nearby spa repaint their fence, and another who went straight to the surrounding beaches for a day of relaxation. I was one of at least eight who decided to first help paint the fence before heading to the beach in the afternoon. While I don’t think anyone would argue our painting task was difficult, I do think that getting the oil-based paint off of our skin afterward was quite the challenge. We’re normally used to water-based paints, which tend to rinse right off, but the oil-based paints we used for the spa’s fence seemed to stick to our skin like syrup that wouldn’t come off. Nonetheless, the fence looked great after a few hours of work and the Spanish music blaring from our friend Dennis’s nearby car surely helped too.

            After the painting was complete, we decided it was time for the beach. We quickly took showers to try to get the paint off as best we could, threw together some peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and were off to Playa Hermosa (Hermosa Beach). Interestingly, the TV show “Survivor: Nicaragua” was filmed in San Juan del Sur and as we drove along the dirt roads leading to Playa Hermosa, finally arriving at the beach, we could see how it would make a perfect location for obstacle and team challenges. The beach was wide open, with nothing more than a bar and restaurant shack; nothing like the boardwalk scenes and lifeguard chairs characteristic of the states. Another group visited another local beach, but also paid a visit to the Pelican Eyes Resort. Sporting a hotel overlooking San Juan del Sur an infinity pool, and a restaurant, it was likely a great backdrop for the ones who had the chance to explore what luxuries the city had to offer. The afternoon hours seemed to fly by as we sunbathed, played soccer, boogie-boarded, and met other travelers (namely a female Norwegian surfer) in the perfect sun-drenched atmosphere.

            Before leaving the beach, we stumbled upon a rectangular-shaped stone basin where scores of baby turtles were swimming. The turtles are raised to a certain age in these basins before being released into the ocean. Normally, many do not survive very long, so having them grow up at least a little in a protected environment gives them an extra chance of surviving when released into the wild. On another animal-related note, the truck ride back to the hotel featured a glimpse of the howler monkeys we missed out on the day before at Volcan Mombacho. While they did not howl or make any noise for that matter, we were excited to see some form of a monkey before we left Nicaragua.

            When we returned to the hotel, it was time for another round of showers for some to get ready for dinner. The rather upscale restaurant we had the pleasure of dining in served everything from fillet mignon in a vodka cream sauce to Spanish meatballs, as we fully enjoyed having a delicious meal after a long and relaxing day around San Juan del Sur. Tomorrow we will get back to work in consulting with some of our entrepreneurs, but today’s activities were surely what some of us needed to recharge our batteries before the last week of our time here in Nicaragua.