Arriving in Managua we were immediately accosted by a taxi guy who was clearly hanging around just for the tourists. We ignored him and another taxi who asked US$5. The next asked N$50 (US$2.80) and we took him. We had a little chat in Spanish and he suggested Santos Guest House as the cheapest place to stay. We were dropped there and thanked him for the information. We compared Carlos with the place across the road and talked to some girls that were just leaving there. For N$200 (US$11) at Carlos we got en-suite and cable TV. It was clean but [View Full Entry]

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We took a day trip to Masaya from Granada. The bus terminal at Masaya was the muddiest we had seen so far and the market the most disgusting. But we were here for the Old Market - Mercado Viejo. This one was very civilised with lots of stalls full of tourist tat. We couldn't help it, we had to buy a little painted box with Nicaragua written on it. We walked, pausing to see the churches on the way, down the waterfront where we had a lovely view of the volcano and lake. On the way we saw lots of hammock [View Full Entry]

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Taking a taxi from the port at San Jorge to the bus terminal at Rivas the driver tried to convince us to take his taxi all the way to Granada. It was too expensive at US$25 so we said no. But he didn't give up, he went as far as telling us that there was no bus for 2 hours going to Granada. Maybe he was right but we found one for Managua that was leaving straight away. The bus helpers nodded enthusiastically when we asked if it was going to Granada but we soon found out we would be dropped [View Full Entry]

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We took a Tica Bus to Nicaragua. At the station in San Jose we met Sarah from England and Franchesca from Miami. Franschesca was travelling with her toddler and baby to a beach resort for a holiday from her teaching job in Costa Rica. And Sarah was going to Bluefields to do some volunteer work with renewable energy. At the border we all banded together and refused to add our passports to the plastic bag held by the Tica employee. He was really rude and said the bus would leave without us. Franschesca spoke perfect Spanish and complained to the bus [View Full Entry]

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Kathryn, who we had met on the bus from Panama, had invited us to stay with her so we went up to Turrialba to stay a few nights. It was a 2 hour drive passing plantations and rural settlements. Some of the housing was small and uniform and we found out later it was for the Nicaraguan workers on the coffee and sugar plantations. We found Turrialba to be a small town with a main square, lovely church, a disused railway and lots of people. We brought a couple of bottles of wine from the supermarket and took a taxi to [View Full Entry]

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It was US$12.50 each for a bus ticket to San Jose with Tracopa. It is not easy to find their office. We had to ask someone. We sat behind Kathryn who we had met at The Purple House. She was living in Costa Rica. Of the 10 people on the bus, 6 were foreigners. That was unusual for us. We were used to being the only foreigners on the bus. Leaving at 8:30 am it took about an hour to get to the border. We hopped off and had our luggage inspected by Panama customs then we stood in a long [View Full Entry]

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We travelled from Panama City to David on the 7:30am bus. It was a slightly old single decker bus but quite comfy. The driver and his helper were friendly as were the other people on the bus. We definitely got more smiles here than in Venezuela. The scenery was fantastic, so lush and green with patches of forest interrupting the paddocks of cattle and the crops. We had two movies during the trip, 'I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry' and 'Evan Almighty'. Both were in English because they were made by filming a movie screen. It was really funny watching [View Full Entry]

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We arrived in Panama City on our 10th wedding anniversary and it was time for a bit of a splash. We had reserved two nights at the InterContinental Miramar and it was posh! It was well worth making a note when we reserved that it would be our 10th anniversary. Firstly we got a 'Happy Anniversary' from the lady when we checked in. Then she told us, a little puzzled, that we had executive access to a pool and executive lounge on the 21st floor. For the special rate that we got I don't think executive access is normally granted. We [View Full Entry]

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Intercity buses in Venezuela: not particularly punctual, unfriendly staff, and a stupid obsession with having to keep the curtains closed. I thought we had scored with our seats at the front on top of a double decker. But when the lady wouldn't let me open the curtains we were horrified. Maybe it would get too hot or maybe it would make watching the tele difficult. Whatever the reason, we were not amused. I popped a Dramamine and we had a marathon game of Monopoly on Pieter's phone. And the lunch stops are generally at disgusting dirty restaurants where you have to [View Full Entry]

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We arranged our trip to Angel Falls at Cuidad Bolivar airport. Walter Bernal (junior) at Sapito Tours was very friendly and we got a much better price than that offered through Dragoman. We arrived at the airport on the morning of departure at 7 am as requested. But we didn't actually leave until 9 am. Ourselves and one other squeezed into a little plane crammed with a cargo of toilet paper and Coca Cola .. only the essentials. It was just over an hour away and we had a wonderful view of table top mountains. Arriving at Canaima we had a [View Full Entry]

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