Ometepe to San Juan Del Sur

I woke up in the morning and settled my bill, NOT paying the ten dollars for the horseback riding but getting guilted into paying them a TIP, mainly because she actually circled the ¨voluntary tip¨portion of the bill, and of course there was a written sign explaining that tips were split between the 18 employees, so they each got less than a dollar each from me. But I still wasn´t pleased and if they hadn´t been in the middle of preparing my breakfast I may not have tipped at all.

I arranged with Jane, the woman from the state department, to catch a ride in a taxi she had scheduled over to the ferry. Her plan was to take the taxi to the base of Volcan Concepcion and go horseback riding for a couple of hours and I was going to go to the ferry and hang out until the ferry left. The taxi driver explained that either way I was only going to make it to the 1 30 ferry so I´d be sitting there for a looong time. Jane invited me to go horseback riding with her, and I couldn´t resist, so off we went across the island. I can´t tell you how good it felt to eventually make it back onto paved roads. We showed up at the rental place and there were of course, only two horses ready because they had only expected one person. I said I wouldn´t mind just going back to the ferry because that had been my original plan, but they insisted to Jane that it would take only 15 minutes to get another horse ready. We assumed they were lying but they were very persuasive and so we chatted with the taxi driver for a while, then eventually mounted up on the horses (mine was this sweet little bay, who by his teeth was just a baaaby) and our taxi driver had us follow him to into the small village looking for the guide and his horse...which he couldn´t find. On to plan B. The taxi driver then has us ride up the road to Chaco Verde which is a haceindo that is built on a very nice pond, which is called Verde because the algae makes it green. As interesting as this was Jane was getting more and more annoyed because she really just wanted to spend the whole time riding. We get back to the horses and lo and behold there is the guide´s horse tied up next to ours! But there is no guide. So we get back on our horses and the taxi driver says we should go up to the road the guide will meet us there, which he doesn´t so we ride BACK to chaco verde and the taxi driver tells me that the guide has gone to walk around the ENTIRE pond to look for us. Also he tells me that its ok because Jane can´t actually ride up to the volcano because its going to rain. I mention that if he tells her that she´s going to FLIP OUT, because she was already furious that he lied and said 15 minutes and at that point it had been over an hour that we were waiting for the guide. I said I didn´t mind just going back, I would go to the ferry and she could grab another guide and still get her two hours. Of course as soon as we get to the rental place we see the guide riding up the street after us, breaking into a canter as soon as he sees US (but after we see him) as though he had been rushing the whole time.

Either way, we still have exactly two hours that we can ride up to the base of concepcion so we head off. It turns out to be a really nice trail, for the first half an hour we are following a herd of cattle as they are driven up to the pastures for the day, and we are mostly walking through a pretty quiet forest, which although it has some volcanic rocks scattered through it is still pretty gentle on the horse´s feet. We got to see some really amazing vistas of Concepcion as we got close, which was the Volcano that I had really really really wanted to climb, and being this close to it only made me want to climb it more. It´s a significantly more difficult and longer hike from Maderas, and also much different. Because it´s still active it doesn´t have a cloud forest, at a certain point you are just climbing up the volcanic scree fields. I think I would very much like to come back and try my luck with it, but it seems the best idea would be to rent a horse for the day, ride it up as much as you can up the base of concepcion, then tie it up with some food and water and hike the mountain and then when you come back down you don´t have to hike another couple of miles back to the village.

We made it up quite close to the volcano and then ran out of time and had to come back, trotting most of the way, I cantered around wildly once we got much closer to the original village and my horse was pretty darling about the whole thing. We ended up actually riding straight to the ferry dock and meeting the taxi driver there to settle the bill. Jane offered to pay for the taxi in its entirety so I just paid for the two hours of riding, which was awesome. The guide also confirmed that my horse was only three years old and said it was clear that I had ridden before which was nice to hear because the way they ride here is really foreign to the way they ride in the US. Even the saddle was just a piece of leather shaped to fit over the horses back *just one flat panel* and then with stirrups tied on, but not adjustable. We got on the lancha just as it began to rain and rode the tiny little boat, which was about 2/3 smaller than the normal ferry, for about an hour and a half to San Jorge on the mainland. Luckily I don't get sea sick because this boat was rocking and rolling the entire way across the lake.

I caught a taxi to Rivas and then got straight on a bus to San Juan del Sur, only having to wait about 10 minutes before it left. The countryside between Rivas and SJDS is very green and with these rolling hills in the distance that make me think very strongly of the Hobbit and where-ever it is that they are supposed to live...the shire maybe? Anyways it looks just like that. The ride took about an hour and a half and I found myself a nice hostel right on the beach, with dorm rooms for $8. I settled in and took some allergy medication, and then eventually the only other girl in the dorm room and I went out for dinner. We got fresh fish on the beach, and happy hour prices on our drinks! The only problem is that at that point I was starting to feel drowsy from the meds and the alcohol wasn't helping. We relocated to another bar and I was literally falling asleep at the table as we talked so we walked around for a bit and I got my second wind. We continued the night at the only happening bar in town, Iguana something and were at one point accosted by a veeeeery drunk nicaraguan man who could barely hold himself up. After the bar closed we somehow ended up on the beach for the next couple of hours, with some Irish guys, a couple of nicaraguans, and some english/irish girls singing at the top of our lungs and drinking a lot of rum and coke.

Which is why instead of surfing my first day in SJDS, I spent the day lounging instead. Also we woke up and found a dead crab in our bathroom, unknown how it got in there, definitely not sure how it died, luckily Ashley had the balls to throw it away because my plan was to leave it there. I got breakfast on the beach, talked to a couple of surf shops about lessons and then napped in a hammock and read for the entire morning. In the afternoon I just walked through the town, which during the day is very quiet because literally everyone has gone to one of the surfing beaches, and then I spent the afternoon reading more on the beach and doing some swimming in the bay. That night we got dinner and hung out at a bonfire on the beach, spectating as a group of thoroughly wasted nicaraguans danced on tables, took off their pants, and played truth or dare. At one point one of the boys had to literally be carried back to the beach from the water by two of the girls, completely unable to hold himself up, five minutes later we look up and he is SPRINTING back into the water and the two girls are chasing after him. It was one of the funniest things I've ever seen. I also made friends with a little kitten named william who I would catch running past me, pet into submission and then he would climb up onto my shoulder and go to sleep. Sooo cute.

My last full day in Nica, I woke up bright and early and walked down to the most popular surf shop here, Casa el oro but they weren't leaving for the beach until 11 30. So I found San Juan Del Sur surf and sport and arranged an hour lesson, plus board rental, rash guard rental and transport leaving at 10am instead to Ramonsa Beach. In the car I met a boy and a girl from the UK who are actually heading to LA for four days in a week or so, and who had just rented the boards for the day. We got to the beach and it was beautiful, a really picturesque little bay. The beach is known for being the beginners beach which was perfect for me since I really just wanted a refresher course, and it was less crowded because everyone wants to try their hand at Madera instead. I took my hour lesson which was really great for helping solidify my position and then I spent the rest of the day alternating between surfing and hanging out on the beach. It was WONDERFUL, I caught some really amazing waves that I was sooo proud of and I wiped out countless other times. The waves were the perfect size in the four to six foot range maybe? And exactly what I needed to practice on. We stayed from around 10 30 to 4pm and it was just a fantastic time. The people there were really nice and supportive, it wasn't crowded, the waves were good, everything I could have asked for and a great way to end my time in Nica.

Tonight I'm packing up and spending one last night out on the town and then tomorrow I'll be taking the five AM bus from SJDS to Managua, catching another bus to Masaya to go shopping and then catching a bus and a taxi to the airport for my 3 41 flight to Panama and then LAX.

I'll do my best to send out a final post tomorrow while I'm waiting for my flight in the airport.

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