Return of Sunday Funday & ticking off #2 on the Thrill Seekers Bucket List

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After a few days on the volcano island of Ometepe we were due to head to Granada and managed to get as far as half the way to the jetty for the ferry back over the lake before we were peer group pressured into returning to San Jaun del Sur for another Sunday Funday (a pool crawl run by The Naked Tiger).



With 8 of us in total we managed to get quite the discounted taxi ride back to the town which actually turned out to be cheaper than catching the chicken busses. Unfortunately Casa del Olas where we'd stayed last night and next door at the Naked Tiger they only had three beds and two couches available so after a whole lot of banter. Ended up checked into a bed with a girl that I'd only known for a couple of hours (luckily though an extra bed opened up later and I no longer had to spoon with a stranger).



Central America seems to have a much stronger gringo trail than South America did and by the time that I had returned to SJdS it meant that not only were people I'd met the previous weekend still there, but also those that I'd met previously were in for the weekend too. After another two nights in the place I felt like I literally knew half the town. Needless to say Funday involves a lot of drinking and when I woke up Monday I promised my liver that I would get out of San Jaun del Sur and never return again.



After almost six weeks in Central America we decided that we needed to man up and take on a local chicken bus. These busses are American school buses that have been brought down to be used as local buses. Some of them are still bright yellow, but others have been painted in, at times, absurd colour schemes. They pack you into them like chickens and if you're lucky you'll even get to ride up on the roof racks along with the actual chickens. It turned out to be a lot less painful than I had originally anticipated and oh so cheap with the two busses of about three hours costing less than two dollars.



When we arrived in Granada Oskar and I met back up with Matt and Kip who were also on our boat from Colombia to Panamá. It was a good thing that they were there as although we stayed in Granada for three nights the colonial town was actually very dull and our day that was dedicated to exploring the town lasted a whole hour and a half as we ran out of things to see. We did however take a transfer out to lagoon apolo one day which was a massive crater lake that reminded me very much of the American summer camps. It was a stunning lake and good to get out for the day and swim in water that was actually refreshingly cold.



Next we all headed off to our final destination of Nicaragua - Leon which is where #2 on the CNNs thrill seekers bucket list is located - volcano boarding. When we arrived to Leon it temporarily closed as a result of an earthquake the week prior, luckily however we only had to wait a couple of days until it was back on again. The day of the volcano boarding there was actually a massive earthquake (well massive for me the Australian who is not used to feeling these things 6.6M and we were 81 kms from the epicentre. The ground shook for a good minute) and we were convinced that it would be closed again, however the tour guide managed to convince the park owners to let us in and we set up the active volcano with our sleds and orange jail jumpsuits in hand.



While I truly believe that whoever voted this as number two on the thrill seekers bucket list was on crack (skydiving Mount Everest is number 8!), it was really fun sledding down the volcano and, due to my jumpsuit missing its buttons, getting absolutely covered in volcano.



The only other main highlight - or rookie error on my behalf - was my fake birthday. Matt wanted retribution for the rules that I set for the night of his 30th so we'd agreed at the time (almost a month ago) that if he was still around for my mid year mark to my birthday that we'd celebrate mine and he could stipulate the rules. While my fake birthday did not involve getting dinner bought for me and getting given a cake like his real one did, it did involve some tacky jewellery, three chilli rum shots and every drink that I had for the night including rum. So all round a very, er, entertaining night.



Although my liver is probably over the moon, I am a little bit sad to be leaving Nicaragua. It has been such a stunning country full of some amazing people and some of the best times of my trip. My only regret is not managing to track down a truckers cap that says "Nicca Please" on it - or having a T-shirt printed that says "Nicca Belly" on it with a picture of a man standing there with his singlet pulled up and resting on the top of his belly - which is what a large majority of the local men who refer to themselves as "Niccas" do when they're hot - so non stop because this country is steaming.

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