Where's Andrew

OMETEPE & SAN JUAN DEL SUR, NICARAGUA - MAY 31 - JUN 4

Oasis Hostel in Granada

I spent a quiet night in Granada finishing blogs and posting blogs & photos which actually got me right up to date on my travels. I was up early to catch the 8:00AM chicken bus to Rivas which is where the ferry leaves for Isla de Ometepe. Travelling by chicken bus is always stressful. First, you don't know where your luggage is going to go; sometimes it is on top, sometimes they have a lower storage space, sometimes the back row of seating has been taken off of the bus for storage or sometimes there is no space so you just put your backpack on the seat beside you. I prefer the seat beside you option because you can totally keep track of your stuff although you usually get charged for an additional seat on the bus because of the space you are taking up but most tickets are under $2.00US. My next choice is the storage under the bus, I always get a seat on the passenger side of the bus to keep an eye on what comes out of the storage every time we stop. I used to like the storage on top but know that rainy season is starting you are always worried that it will start raining. And my least favourite is the back of the bus because you often can't get a seat right at the back which means you can't keep on eye on your stuff. I keep all my important stuff either in my cargo short pockets or in my day pack that is always with me but I can't help but wonder how easy it would be to replace my clothes if my bags were stolen because it is hard enough to find large sizes in stores let alone XL or XXL. Of course on the way to Rivas my pack and duffle bag were on top of the bus and it was pretty overcast so I had my fingers crossed that it would not rain.

The other thing about chicken buses is they are never as straight forward as you think they are going to be. When we left Granada, I was expecting the bus to take me to Rivas and then I would take a short taxi to the ferry so I paid the full fare to Rivas (about $1.70). About 3/4 of the way there, the bus driver and his assistant suddenly tells everyone going to Ometepe to get off the bus and transfer to another bus that is right behind us. We quickly switch buses and again my pack and duffle bag end up on top. This bus takes us straight to the ferry instead of stopping at Rivas which is great. The fare is $50Cordobas ($2.35US) which is probably the "Gringo" price because we only have 20 minutes to go and that distance would normally cost no more than $20Cords. I give the bus assistant a $100Cord bill and spend the next 20 minutes trying to get my change. He keeps giving me back only $10Cords and I have to keep reminding him what I'm owed. When we get to the ferry terminal, he still owes me $20Cords. I was planning to let him keep the extra $20Cords but now he wants an additional $100Cords to give me my pack and duffle bag from the top of the bus. He is also trying to charge 3 other travellers the same. Luckily he is at ground level and another guys on top of the bus and I remind him that he already owes me $20Cords and he can keep it but I want my bags and none of us are paying $100Cords to get our bags back. We argue for a couple of minutes and I keep saying "My luggage" in Spanish louder and louder until he finally relents and gives us all our luggage at no extra charge. I'm sure it helped that I was at least twice his size. These extra charges occaissionally happen on the chicken buses but usually only for an extra buck or less. At least it did not rain.

The Volcanos of Ometepe

Isla de Ometepe is the largest island in Lake Nicaragua which is the largest lake in Central America. The boat to Ometepe is very slow but it allows me the opportunity to view the island and take lots of pictures as we slowly approach. Ometepe has 2 large volcanos, the northern one is Volcan Concepcion and is the tallest at just over 5200 feet. It is supposed to be the most perfect cone shaped volcano in Central America. The southern volcano is Volcan Maderas and is just over 4500 feet. These 2 volcanos were on 2 separate islands until about 10,000 years ago and then the southern volcano erupted and made a causeway that joined the 2 islands. Although it is a bit hazy, the views of the 2 volcanos as we approach the island do not disappoint.

Volcan Concepcion

I get a room at Little Morgan's Hotel in the village of Santa Cruz at the base of the southern volcano. My room is a detached cabana in the jungle and is beautiful but my experience at Little Morgan's is kind of weird. There is a nice little bar and restaurant at the hotel. When I get there, it's about 5:00PM so I decide to stay for dinner and I head for the bar. There's about a dozen people there and I'm thinking great, I can meet some fellow travellers. But half the people work at the hotel including Morgan the owner and another couple at the bar live nearby and are there to party with the hotel staff. So there is only 4 other guests at the bar, 2 women doctor's from Vancouver, a girl from Australia and a girl from Victoria. Most of the staff are drinking like crazy and encouraging the guests to try and keep up. The 2 doctor's had just signed up for a tour to hike the big volcano which is a minimum 10 hour gruelling hike and they need to leave the hotel at 5:00AM the next morning. I notice the staff pour one of the doctor's 5 rum drinks in a span of just over an hour while one other staff sits and drinks with her. The rum drinks they pour are very heavy on a cheap white rum that you can buy for just over $2US for a 26oz bottle. Needless to say she was soon falling down drunk and was not able to hike the volcano the next morning.

Playa Domingo

The staff continued to push the booze all night long and I found it very strange and uncomfortable. I finally went to my cabana around 9:00PM after only 3 beers plus dinner. I'm not sure if this is how the hotel tries to make money by pushing booze but only 2 staff would be required at any one time not 5 or 6. One cool thing as I walked the 75 metre to my room were the fireflies, there were hundreds maybe thousands and they were everywhere.

Oyo de Agua

The next day I hiked down to a Playa Domingo along the causeway for a swim. then I hiked about 10km north to the Oyo de Agua (Eye of Water) which was a natural mineral water spring of cool crystal clear water and went for another swim and relaxed there for the rest of the day. I was planning on hiking the smaller volcano the next day but I had tweaked my knee while in Little Corn and it was sore after my walk that day. The same escapades were going on at the bar again without the doctors participation so it was mostly the staff drinking like crazy so I called it an early night after dinner and decided to head to San Juan del Sur on the Pacific coast the next morning.

Hills Above San Juan del Sur

I got to San Juan del Sur around 3:00PM after an uneventful 1.5 hour chicken bus ride from Rivas. It was Saturday and the town was very busy as it is a popular destination for people from Managua on weekends. The first couple of hotels were completely full but I finally found a room at the Surfing Donkey which had a nice pool. One of my credit cards accounts had been put on hold because of fraudulent transaction which was just me withdrawing money in El Salvador. I spent most of the afternoon on a skype call trying to sort things out but the best I could arrange was to have a new card sent to my sister's house and then she will have to courier it to me.

Surfing Beach North of San Juan del Sur

 The next day I catch a shuttle to one of the local beaches. There are a dozen beaches within 40 minutes of San Juan and they are all surfing beaches with large waves. I venture out swimming for a short time but the large surf soon chases me back to shore. The break is quite close to shore and I spend a few hours sipping on some beers and watching the surfers. There's not really anything else to do in San Juan other than surf so I catch a bus to Costa Rica the next morning.

San Juan del Sur Harbour

So far, Nicaragua has been my favourite country. There are great places to go with lots of things to see and do and the people of Nicaragua are so friendly. It also feels like the safest country I've been to with the exception of Managua which has the same problems as all the other big capital cities in Central America. One thing I noticed was the lack of military throughout the cities, town and highways. There were no soldiers walking around with machine guns or shotguns or driving around in trucks with machine guns mounted in back. It is also very cheap as Nicaragua is the poorest country in Central America and 2nd poorest in all the Americas next to Haiti. Tourism is really starting to take off though and I've heard a few people compare Nicaragua today to Costa Rica of 25 years ago. There are not a lot of luxury resorts for the 2 week vacationer but it sure is a great place for the budget traveller who enjoys the outdoors. See you later.