Rufus and I recently took a 10-day trip north to Costa Rica and Nicaragua. We left Melody on anchor off Isla Bastimentos and travelled overland by bus and motorcycle. Our first stop in Nicaragua was the surf town of San Juan del Sur where we spent two nights and then rented our motorcycle from Chris at El Gringos.

We spent a day riding through the surrounds of San Juan and exploring the beaches. The next day we rode to the beautiful historical town of Grenada where we spent one night at Oasis hostel and walked the colourful city streets. The last 24hrs we spent on Ometepe which is a volcanic island in the middle of Lake Nicaragua. We took the motorbike with us on the ferry and stayed a night on the far end of the island on the permaculture farm El Zopilote.

Nicaragua is one of the cleanest Central American countries we have visited and the roads are in excellent condition, especially for travelling by motorbike. The people are friendly and if you avoid the obviously touristy areas, especially San Juan del Sur, it's not crazy expensive. We never felt unsafe and the weather was great.

I will start including summaries of our travel costs and how we travelled between countries (buses, water taxis, hostels etc) as well as a map for each destination, with our route, to give you a better idea of our trip.

one of the more secluded surf spots just north of San Juan del Sur

sunset over Morgan's Rock, north of San Juan del Sur

happy beer tasting face at San Juan del Sur Cerveceria

gypsies on the road between Grenada and Rivas

Grenada: Hawaiian shirt and potty helmet: the ultimate biker fashion combo

Grenada: colour coordinating my potty helmet with the pink blooms

Grenada: popular spot for locals and budget tourists to have beer and food in the evenings

early morning, outside Oasis hostel, ready to ride to Ometepe

waiting to be loaded onto the Ometepe ferry

two trucks, three cars and a motorbike all fit on this tiny ferry...

view of Volcán Concepción as we approached Ometepe Island on the ferry

"pedestrians" on the "highway" around the island of Ometepe