Blogs from Isla de Ometepe, Southern Pacific Coast, Nicaragua, Central America Caribbean

We had an 8.15am departure this morning which was a welcome change from some of our previous early morning travel days. We piled onto our mini-bus to take us the 1.5 hour journey down to San Jorge where we waited for a short period until our little ferry arrived. The ferry was more like a mini-barge, space enough for 2 vehicles and we all sat on top to enjoy the views as we sailed across to Ometepe Island. Ometepe Island sits in the middle of Nicaragua's largest lake, aptly named Lake Nicaragua. The meaning of its name literally means two mountains as the island has been formed by these 2 massive volcanos rising up out of the lake. Of the two volcanos, Concepcion is the largest and remains one of the world's most active volcanos, the ... read more

We left Costa Rica with fond memories. It is the most important thing for us when traveling. Nice and pleasurable memories popping into our mind when we think back. We have already learnt that these memories depend on so many factors like weather conditions, people we met, lucky/unlucky events, food, hotel etc. When thinking of the future we only accept the best scenarios and maybe this positive way keeps us safe and happy most of the time. We certainly hoped that our next destination would be equally lucky for us. We have heard so many great things about Isla Ometepe, with its beautiful landscape around not one but two volcanoes; and equally bad things about Nicaragua. It is still considered one of the most dangerous places in Central America and we ... read more

On this morning we packed up and headed out to find the bus area so we could catch a chicken bus to Rivas. A bus was leaving as we approached and they stopped loaded our bags on top of the bus along with a lot of other cargo. The bus was so crowded, we could barely get on and it was so uncomfortable, people touching you in all directions, so hot and it's hard to keep from slamming into people as the bus jerks. Sadly they just kept picking people up, how we fit any more is beyond me but that is how these things go. Eventually the bus shed people and I got a seat for part of the ride. Dan started talking to a girl from Wisconsin named Leana, she was headed to Ometepe ... read more

17.8. Granada – Lagune Apoyo – Managua Nach einem heftigen Tropenregen beogen wir einen wunderschönen Bungalow – eigentlich ist es ein Einfamilienhaus an der Lagune Apoyo. Wir haben drei Schlafzimmer, Küche und Wohnzimmer mit Terrasse, Balkon und Hängematte. Einfach traumhaft! Wir verbrachten eine Nacht dort und haben auch noch den nächsten Tag mit Baden in der Lagune und relaxen genossen. . Um 18:00 Uhr fuhren wir dann mit einem Taxi nach Managua und besuchten unsere Freunde. 18.8. Granada – Ometepe Am nächsten Morgen machten wir uns gemütlich auf den Weg nach Süden zur Schiffsanlegestelle San Jorge. Dort sollte die Fähre auf die Insel Ometepe übersetzen. Dort angekommen, wartete bereits unser Luxusliner und setzte uns über. Die Dauer der Fahrt war allerdings kurz – nur eine Stunde. Danach ging es mit dem Taxi auf die andere Seite ... read more

Six hours later and covered in salt, we arrived in Puerto Cortez, Hunduros. I decided not to spend much time in this country and pass through it as quickly as possible. In Central American time, it translates to two days. From the port, Georg and I took a minibus to San Pedro Sulu, a major bus terminal, to catch a bus to Nicaragua. This was no ordinary minibus, from what I understood it is part of an underground street racing team. It consists of two crew members, the driver and the co-pilot. The driver manages to navigate this 2 ton machine through traffic and dirt roads near super sonic speeds and the co-pilot somehow pushes passangers in and out without the viehcle ever stopping. Surprisingly, I've only witnessed minor injuries. Once we got to San Pedro ... read more

Dear Blog Readers, We left Liberia and Costa Rica behind with a spring in our step fueled on a good smoothie and the most charismatic salesman on our bus to Penas Blancas, the border with Nicaragua. The border crossing was without doubt the worst so far. Dodgy money was changing hands, the bloke giving us entry stamps genuinely didn´t believe Laura´s passport was hers until she got her bank card out. Ridiculous. The only thing that gave me any pleasure was the thought of anybody actually buying the ceviche that a man was trying to sell from a cool box in 35 degree heat. The bus ride to Rivas was decidedly dodgy and we pretty much kept hold of our bags the entire journey. Once at Rivas we got a taxi to the port and a ... read more