Back on the beach!

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We heard from fellow travellers that the ziplines in Nicaragua are cheaper and just as exciting as the ones in Costa Rica. We took the van part way up the volcano just outside Granada where the canopy tours are located, and experienced them. Big ceiba trees supported the ziplines, and thankfully us. Supposedly a 500 lb person could survive them! Dad and I were latched onto the lines and flung across the jungle of trees and coffee plants. The guides helped us do tricks such as the superman or upside-down sliding. Satisfied from the thrill, we cooled down in a cafe which looked out from the volcano.

The same day, we took a motorboat ride around the Granada islands in Lake Nicaragua. We bargained the boat price from $20 to $10 and received an hour of service. The islands are small and good for building one house on. Many rich Nicas or Americans have an island to themselves. The wildlife was fairly good as we did see birds and an island full of monkeys. At the end of the tour, we were charged for using the parking, and for the bathroom. They wanted to squeeze more money out of us after we had the cheaper boat ride. Tsk, tsk.

To conclude the day we had supper at a fancy restaurant. I had the spaghetti and shrimp. We ate with a couple from Canada, bought some bootlegged DVDs, and headed back to the Oasis hostel for the night.

Our next destination was Laguna de Apoyo, a crater lake located less than an hour from Granada. Some American guys hitched a ride, and stayed at the same guesthouse as us. The guesthouse is called 'The Monkey Hut´and is positioned right on the lake. It has free use of tubes and kayaks and to my delight, the lake was clean! Yes it is possible.

The next day, after a kayak on the lake, we drove to San Juan del Sur. It was beautiful but overrun with tourists. That same day we decided to cross over into Costa Rica. The border we decided to nickname the nightmare border. It took three hours and I think we were ripped off by the 'guides'. They continued to demand money to bribe the border security so our van wouldn't be searched for drugs. That night, we stayed near Liberia, in a cheap cabina.

In the morning, we travelled over the mountains, and around Lake Arenal. The lake is good for windsurfing and has plenty of Swiss architecture. The area looked similar to New Zealand or Switzerland. After some more driving through the jungle, we reached the Caribbean coast in search for a place to camp. This was the southeast corner of Costa Rica in a rasta town called Cahuita. There was no camping, but good Chinese food!

After a night's rest, we went through Puerto Viejo and to Manzanillo for snorkelling. Panama was really close, so we crossed the border, which was a single lane bridge over a river. It was ridiculous for any vehicles, but felt very local as we were not pressured. In Panama, we stopped in Changuinola where a friendly local named Carlos guided us to the boat dock which we would take off from the next morning. We all had Chinese food again for supper. Yes, Dad and I like it very much! Carlos also took us out to the port that ships banana containers on giant ships. It seemed like a wild goose chase, as it took an hour for the trip, but it wore me out for my sleep. Before bed I watched a local show on TV that put midgets in comical situations. Apparently not degrading in Panama!

The next day we took our boat ride. It was through the old canals made by the banana companies years ago. It was amazing and I'd recommend it to anyone. The boat stopped in Bocas del Toro, a Caribbean town with tourists and dirty beaches. We had a nice meal in a pirate restaurant, took the boat back, and continued on our trip. Crossing the mountains to get to the Pacific side again provided us with the best jungle scenery on our trip so far.

We are now staying on Playa las Lajas where we hope to be for the next few days. It is very nice and the camping is $5 a night. I'll tell you more about it on the next blog.

Hasta la vista.
Matt

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