Ometepe

I arrived on Ometepe landing in Moyogalpa. I immediately took a taxi and headed for Charco Verde. This place had been recommended by a fellow traveler and I figured what the heck, why not see what it's like. I was also in no mood to deal with trying to figure something else out seeing as how my feeling sick was only getting worse and worse. I had to bargain with the taxi driver.. but it worked out and we headed for La Finca de Venecia.

Ometepe itself was very beautiful. I was in awe at being surrounded by two volcanoes.. one that is still active. I can't recall ever being so close to something that is so powerful. Not to mention the overall beauty. It is very similar to Costa Rica but somehow holds a much more rustic feel. It is a poorer country and that was very obvious while on the island.

Cattle roamed the streets!! I took a picture on my way to the first hotel and was laughing.. it was so incredible to just seen tons of cattle right in the middle of the road. I told my taxi driver this would never happen in the states!

The poorness of the country was visible in the country side... where you saw people washing their clothes in tiny streams... you could really see the working to survive and fend for your family. In a way it was sad and in a way it was honorable. How often do you see people especially family members happily working along side each other doing the daily chores?

Adventure 3 - Chicken Buses

After spending the night in Laguna de Apoyo, I decided it was time to head it on out to Ometepe (the island with two volcano's!). I was still feeling very sick in the morning and was trying to decide between taking the public buses and a taxi. The taxi was looking to be a tad to expensive and so I thought oh screw it.. lets take the buses. I took an 11 o'clock bus into the town and then transferred onto another bus that would take 2 hours to arrive in Rivas. I just listened to music the entire time and tried to not get hungry! A kind man on the bus told me to watch my luggage.. which I realized I had to do.. but it's always makes you panic a little bit more when someone else you don't know reinforces the danger!!

After arriving in Rivas I took a taxi to San Jorge and boarded the ferry to take me to Ometepe. The ferry took 40 minutes and was a beautiful ride there. The lake is incredible scenic with the rest of Nicaragua surrounding it.

That picture is taken from the ferry on the way to the island.

I was very proud of my bus transfers and day of transport all on my own!! WOO HOOO Yeahh!!!

Laguna de Apoyo

Laguna de Apoyo.. from what I understand is a volcano crater that has now turned into well.. a laguna. The water is a beautiful cristal blue and is surrounded by lush green forest. It seems to be a rather isolated area, very remote without many people.

I had decided to go and spend the day and night there. I stayed at the Monkey Hut which used to be related to The Bearded Monkey and had recently gone their separate ways (hmm wonder why!?!). It was a bit more expensive however, the views and tranquil environment were worth it.

After I got there, I changed, grabbed a kayak and headed out into the water. It was so beautiful I just sat out there soaking in the sun and listening to the birds. It was so peaceful. It was a wooden paddle so it ended up hurting my hands and was very heavy but soo worth it. If I could of sat out there all day I would have!! I relaxed the rest of the day, read, took in some sun and talked with some girls that were from the states on a job. That night enjoyed a delicious piece and chatted with some girls from London. I was starting to feel sick and was very under the weather but enjoyed the company.

That night there was a beautiful sunset and extreme oranges and pinks filled the sky. The picture does not due justice to how it actually appeared.. but it never seems to!

Due to the location and the security of the place, I went down to the dock by the water and star gazed for a few hours. I saw the most incredible shooting stars and cloud formations. It was an incredible experience! Star gazing on the water.. what gets better then that??

First Stop Granada

Granada is a beautiful colonial style town with a central plaza that reminded me of my time in Spain. It was a beautiful with carriages all around it, we ran across a dance competition of course to Michael Jackson with everyone in the crowd hooting and hollering. In the center crafts people were waiting to sell their jewelry, shirts, ceramics, etc. It was beautiful in the center, just watching every body with their day to day interactions. They had restaurants that lined the plaza all over for beautiful views and people watching.

After walking around town we headed in the direction of some Thai food.. which we did not end up finding. We ended up eating at a restaurant called VooDoo with the best burger I think I have ever had! We had a few cocktails and headed back to The Bearded Monkey, where we finished conversing in the central area. It started to down pour and this place is open in the center of the building where there is a small garden... I decided that nothing look more like fun then jumping into the rain. It had been a long time since I had last taken that plunge and I thoroughly enjoyed it!

The next day I walked around town, it was their Independence day and they were celebrating with parades all over the streets. The different schools each had on uniforms and were performing dances with drums behind them. The streets were filled.

After watching a bit of the parade, I took off for the lake with a guy I had met at the hostel. I wanted to walk around town and see everything. We went to the lake, a few churches, the market. It was an eventful day. In one of the churches there was the most beautiful view from the top of the tower. It was incredible... with volcanoes in the distance and tiled roof tops.

The next morning I decided to get up and walk around before hitting off for my next destination. One of my friend's who is a guide for a travel company, told me I had to go to Kathy's Waffle's. This place was not in the guide book however. I decided to just start walking and see what happens.. and so be it right as I hit the plaza a man handed me a flier to Kathy's Waffle's that had a map on the back. It was truly meant to be. I took myself to breakfast, had a nice waffle, pineapple juice and coffee. It was the first time I had taken myself to breakfast and I enjoyed every moment of it. It was a perfect morning.

Bearded Monkey Anyone?

After arriving safely in Granada, the girls and I took a taxi to the hostel The Bearded Monkey. According to the guide book this hostel was the place to be! The girls had planned on venturing on to a different hostel but ended up staying. I was not to impressed with the service upon arrival but couldn't be bothered to sort that out.

In the end I would never recommend anyone to stay there... the service was horrible.. and it was a dump... and normally you realize a hostel is not going to be in fabulous condition... but if the staff is rude.. and don't know anything... I would rather take my business else where.

In the middle of The Bearded Monkey the center is open and is filled with some plants and chairs and Christmas lights. It started raining so hard and was so beautiful that I couldn't help but just jump into the rain! It was so refreshing and the perfect way to end a long day of travel! We had fun taking rain shots and listening to the rain fall.

Thankfully, I did meet a lot of cool people there from all over the world!!! I hope they are doing well on their travels and their journey's of learning Spanish! It's amazing the people you run into and it's almost as if it was destined to happen.. how did we all end up at that place at the same time! Craziness!!

Tica Bus

The next morning I took a solo taxi ride to the TicaBus bus terminal. Everything went very smoothly. I checked my luggage and waited to board. I clearly was not dressed appropriately and have never been so cold in my entire life!! The AC was basically like being at home in winter!! I had on shorts and a t-shirt.. it was horrible. I was seated in the front with a cute old lady from Nicaragua.

After about 3 hours we were stopped and told we had to wait an hour which then turned into 2 hours... It was probably not the best day to travel as they were celebrating their independence and we were supposedly waiting for the parade... which we never saw?? Was a little confused about that situation and the little old lady next to me was not pleased. While waiting I talked with two girls from London that were traveling and had a nice time getting to know them.

The rest of the ride to Granada went smoothly and the border crossing went well. At one point they took our passports to get them stamped for us.. that was a little scary handing my passport to someone but everyone else was doing it and I did get it back! Whefta!! Listened to music along the way and watched movies.. it was a little to swervy and bumpy to get any real reading or writing done.

First Solo!

It came time for me to renew my visa again! Instead of returning to Panama, I decided to venture on up to Nicaragua. I was relatively scared and not sure what my plans were. I decided to spend a night in San Jose before taking off at 6 a.m. for my bus to Nica.

I must say for not planning the trip at all... it went extremely well. I bought my ticket that morning to go to San Jose. Had a nice bus ride where I ran into a girl named Katherine I had around 4 months before. She had gone back to England and had just come back to go work on the Pacific side at another turtle conservation.

After arriving in San Jose, I walked with a guy I had just met to the hostel. I realized that maybe hadn't been the best idea.. yet it went smoothly and he was very kind. I then walked around the town a bit with him.. went and bought my bus ticket the same afternoon I had arrived in San Jose.

Went back to the hostel where I ran into a couple I had previously met in Cahuita while working. I sat and had a few drinks with them before retiring to my room since I had to rise at 4:30 the next morning. SOOo early. I stayed at Hostel Pangea and was rooming with 3 other girls who were traveling around Central America and were from Israel.