Como Se Dice?

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Well we made it...just barely. Our trip´s first problem arised within 5 minutes of reaching the airport. The lady at the counter who punches all the keys, seems to know what shes doing, but truly doesnt told us that without proof of our leaving Costa Rica, she could not let us on the flight. Natalie and I only had one way tickets, but we have return flights from Mexico City a few months into the future. Apperently a flight from another country is not sufficient for the lady as proof that we will be leaving Costa Rica. They dont want us flying down there and overstaying our VISAs. So she had us freaking out trying to buy international bus tickets online out of Costa Rica. Well that is really difficult to do especially when you are under time constraints to board a plane. We even contemplated buying another plane ticket from Costa Rica back to the US simply so they would allow us to get into the country. That would have been a good waste of $180 because we would just throw the ticket away once in the country. We were rushing from terminal to terminal to find internet access, wasting good time and then we gave up and just went back to our terminal to talk to the lady again. This time she used whatever brains she had to make a phone call to someone who actually knew the rules. After a 15 second phone call she found out that our return Mexico flight was in fact sufficient to let us fly to Costa Rica . She gave us our boarding passes and we were on our way. Think if we had actually purchased new plane tickets before going back to talk to her? That would have sucked. 2 flights 15 hours later, we arrived in the dirty city of San Jose, Costa Rica. Since both Natalie and I have been to Costa Rica before we had no intentions of staying here for long. Within 24 hours we were on a bus to the border to Nicaragua. We were in search of a more relaxed custom of living, less hastling from locals, and cheaper living. Yes, when we got to Nicaragua all of this came true. We moved quickly and jumped from bus to bus making our way to the small town of Granada. Our hostel was $10 per night, clean, with friendly owners, and close proximity to the markets.
Since Natalie spent some time here a few years ago she took me on the tour. Our first stop was The Monkey Hut located 50 kilometers from town in a national reserve on the edge of Laguna de Apoyo. The lake is formed from one of Nicaraguas many volcanic craters. Bright blue waters, with temperatures higher than those in hawaii. It was paradise....almost. There was a bunch of unwelcoming hippie loafers hanging around. Did they work there? Volunteer? Paying guests? Or pure loafers? They pretended to do work, but really they somehow got to live there for free and take away from the tranquility of the otherwise gorgeous place. We only spent a day here, but it was filled with relaxation, swimming, kyaking, and more relaxation. We were hit by one of Nicaraguas many storms. They seem to happen everyday, but it gave us a cool view of the furious waves the lake could unleash. It was cool.

Our next stop was a day hike around the volcanic craters of Mombachu in one of Nicaragua´s rain/ cloud forests. It turned out to be cloudy...surprise surprise so a lot of the views were non existant, but we just about had the place to ourselves due to the tourist low season. Our private guide gave a great tour and seemed to be as interested in us as we were him and his country. His great question of the day was ¨why do foreigners wear shorts?¨ Only tourists wear shorts for the most part down here. Everyone else wears pants of some sort. When you see someone in shorts and sandals its a clear cut sign that they are just visiting. For the beggars, they see easing picking. Because of our willingness to not be lazy and find a way to be smart with our money we did the logistics on our own and hired our guide when we got to the park. Most people book tours for $35 /person in granada. Natalie and I paid $20 total. It was great. The things you can do if you just put your mind to it!

That concluded out time in Granada and the surrounding areas. Now we are in Leon. A bustling city that will provide us a jumping point to the beaches on the Pacific side.

More to come in the coming weeks!

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Photos

Look what happens when you wake up early
Sunrise from the plane before landing in Costa Rica

Granada
Walking around town

Laguna de Apoyo
From the balcony of The Monkey Hut (aka dirty hippie hang out)

New Plant Species
This is the Fern de Zapato...only in the rainforest

Tengo hambre!
tyical food. This was one of the better plates because the fish was meaty and full of flavor.