Sting Ray at Hermosa Beach

San Juan del Sur beach

We went to beautiful Hermosa beach the other day, just south of San Juan del Sur and where survivor was filmed. There were a bunch of people there, but the beach was so expansive that it wasn't crowded at all. We got a ride there with Tao, an acquaintance of Nate, who sold everything he owned and moved to San Juan del Sur to open up a burger joint, Nacho Libre. We played in the water for a bit and Nate rented a surf board. I didn't stand up, but I had fun riding the waves to shore a couple times, just lying on my belly. I decided to get out of the water for a bit, and that's when the day took a turn for the worse. I stepped on something sharp, which made me yelp and run out of the water. At first I thought maybe a crab had pinched the bottom of my foot, since I felt a scraping/pinching sensation. There was a small cut on my foot that was bleeding quite a bit. Nate carried me to where our friends were sitting, and Tao quickly realized I had stepped on a sting ray. A local guy working at a bar filled up a tub with hot water for me to soak my foot in. He also warmed up some sap to put over the cut, a local remedy. My left foot got really swollen, I couldn't even bend my toes. The pain was really intense, coming in waves and causing me to grimace. It even crept up my leg, so that part of my calf and hamstring hurt. I was lucky in the fact that the sting ray probably did not inject too much venom, as most people cry from the pain or find it really debilitating. I heard some horror stories from other people who had been stung before. It hurt a lot, but it could have been a lot worse.

The cut on my foot and some sap

Apparently, someone gets stung at least once a day at this beach, and when the water is clear you can see them swimming around! We had no idea. Also, you're supposed to shuffle your feet when walking in the ocean. I guess we learned this the hard way.

Beautiful sunset!

When we got to our hostel, the owners encouraged me to go to the hospital and called a cab over for us. At the hospital I got a couple of really painful shots of lidocaine into the bottom of my foot. The shots really hurt, and usually I can stand pain better. I was very grateful for them though because it made my foot feel a million times better! My foot was still really swollen. The doctor was really nice, and I think my Spanish has improved because I was able to understand most of what she was saying. I was seen immediately and the whole doctor visit was free! Gotta love fee health care. After this there was no taxi in sight, so Nate carried me to a delicious pizza dinner. Onward my trusty steed! Between the adrenaline, a shot of lidocaine, and a rum and coke I had at the bar to help deal with the pain, I felt a little loopy. I was so grateful not to be in pain any more! I still couldn't really walk though since my whole foot was completely numb. Luckily the venom leaves your system in a couple hours, so I was fine the next day. I just have a cut on the bottom of my foot that makes me hobble a little.