Preparing To Leave For Nicaragua

In the early hours of the morning, or late hours of the evening for those college students out there, we are going to be setting out from Livingston, NJ with the end destination of Playa Ocatal in San Juan Del Sur, Nicaragua.  For those who need a brushing up on their geography, Nicaragua is in Central America located in between Costa Rica and Honduras.   As you can see from the map below, our destination will be located on the west side of the country on the Pacific Ocean. 

Yes, that's right, we are heading to the beach where the average temperature is 85 degrees and the term Polar Vortex is the name of some tropical tiki bar drink.  Given the past six weeks of winter, especially for us Chicagoans, it will be exactly what we need.  Our resort is located on 4,000 acres of jungles, a farm and of course pristine beaches.  Over the course of the next five days, there might be some activities sprinkled in, but there will be without question a whole lot of sun bathing. 

The marker is the location of our resort.  You can make out the circle of Managua which is where we fly into. 

To get to Nicaragua, we are departing from Newark airport at 6AM (which means getting up at 3:30) and flying to Miami.  From there, we are taking the only flight of the day to Managua airport.  The total flying time should be about 6 - 7 hours and once we land in Managua it will be about another 2 - 3 hour drive.  I know it sounds like a lot of traveling but it is nothing compared to the 48 hour trek home from the Orringer vacation in Myanmar.  

Usually I would not mind a full day of traveling as it would include some napping, maybe a movie and some book reading. Yet it is mid-January which means I am back at it again, studying for the CFA exam in June, and hopefully for the last time.  The worst part about this exam (other than having no life for five months) is it prohibits me from traveling come March.  Other than Nicaragua, I have a trip to San Diego planned for a long weekend in February and that is pretty much it till the test is over.  That being said, I am going to throughly enjoy the next five days once I get off that plane.  

Stay tuned for updates from Central America and my first time testing out my GoPro.