Advertisement
Published: November 19th 2014
Edit Blog Post
We left Monteverde on the 6am bus heading for Puntarenas. This bus dropped us off at the intersection with the Pan American highway. We waited here with several other people until a bus stopped. We wanted to go all the way to the border but this bus was only going part way to Liberia, we decided it was better than nothing. When the bus finally arrived at Liberia we were able to easily change onto another bus heading to the border. All three buses were slow as we were constantly stopping to either pick up or drop off passengers - this is pretty normal on local buses in Latin America.
The border was pretty easy but was the first border we had to pay to leave one country and enter another. Our first interaction with local Nicaraguans gave us a negative impression. The locals we met were working for the local taxi drivers and were really annoying as they kept telling us the buses were really expensive or they were not running. When we were walking from the Costa Rican border post to the Nicaraguan one we had seen the local buses so we knew they were running and the
guys were completely lying to us.
A couple of young Germans asked us if the taxi drivers were telling the truth and decided to wait for us. As we went through the gate to the buses they finally dropped their taxi price to a reasonable amount and we ended up sharing a taxi with the Germans to the port in Rivas.
We took a local ferry to Ometepe island in the middle of Lake Nicaragua. The ferry was very basic and before we left there were locals selling food and drinks. Gary bought us some fried chicken in a plastic bag with plantains as we hadn't had lunch.
Ometepe island was created by two volcanoes, ConcepciĆ³n and Maderas. The island was much larger than I expected and unfortunately the lake and beach weren't particularly clean.
We got up the next morning with the plan to hire bikes and cycle around some of the island but unfortunately mother nature wasn't on our side and it started raining while we were eating breakfast. We decided to check out and head for Granada as we didn't want to spend the day in the rain and we were not sure
what transport would be like the next day as it was Sunday and we had heard it was much more sporadic.
While waiting for the bus a local offered us and some others a ride to the port which we decided to take as it would be quicker and more comfortable. We arrived just as one of the boats was preparing to leave so quickly jumped on and headed for the mainland. We took a share taxi to the local bus station in Rivas as we had decided to save some money and take a local chicken bus from Rivas to Granada. We had heard about the chicken buses which are old American school buses that have been shipped down the Central America for use as public buses. They are rather uncomfortable and often very crowded.
When the bus arrived at the station we climbed on and waited for it to leave. During our wait we were offered a huge number of different products to buy. To pass the time I made a list: fried chicken with rice, coleslaw & plantains; ice cream; drinks - softdrinks and juices in cans, bottles and bags; flavoured milk; plantains; tacos; plastic
cups; shampoo; hair clips, ties and headbands; belts; watches; wallets; sunglasses; jewellery; pineapple or cheese pasties; popcorn; nuts; fruit and vegetables; jelly; nut bars and sweets. As we waited the vendors got in the hope of a sale and the bus continued to fill up with more and more people until it eventually left.
We eventually arrived in the colonial town of Granada which was hot and humid. Granada is a pretty little town and easy to get around on foot.
We hired bikes to cycle around the waterfront to the peninsula but the guy at the bike shop recommended avoiding the peninsula for safety reasons so we just cycled along the waterfront and around town.
We climbed the church tower of La Merced church for some fantastic views over Granada. I always enjoy climbing church towers and to other vantage points in towns and cities as it gives another perspective of the place and often you can see into courtyards and gardens that are otherwise private.
On our last morning we went for a boat ride around las Isletas. There are approximately 365 islands mostly created by a volcanic eruption 2,000 years ago. As there
was only the two of us we did a shorter two hour private tour rather than pay extra for the full three hour tour. Two hours was definitely enough time to see some of the different islands which range in value from $5,000 to $10 million (USD) and vary from being a tiny island with a solitary tree to large islands with complete mansions with tennis courts, swimming pools and helicopter pads. We also saw lots of different sea birds and stopped by monkey island to see the resident monkeys.
Just before leaving Granada we did a short city tour by Horse and Carriage. We stopped briefly at the chocolate museum and saw a living cacoa tree and tasted some chocolate in various stages of production. We also saw many churches, the old train station, parks and the old hospital that has a beautiful facade and is going to be turned into a five star hotel.
Next stop Laguna Apoyo
Advertisement
Tot: 0.099s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 21; qc: 83; dbt: 0.0608s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb