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Published: December 5th 2007
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We took a Tica Bus to Nicaragua. At the station in San Jose we met Sarah from England and Franchesca from Miami. Franschesca was travelling with her toddler and baby to a beach resort for a holiday from her teaching job in Costa Rica. And Sarah was going to Bluefields to do some volunteer work with renewable energy. At the border we all banded together and refused to add our passports to the plastic bag held by the Tica employee. He was really rude and said the bus would leave without us. Franschesca spoke perfect Spanish and complained to the bus driver. We escorted our passports to the office and had them returned with the rest. We had to pay US$8 each for this little process. After standing around in the heat for ages we then had to take our bags off the bus, stand in the customs queue, and take our bags back to the bus without having them inspected. Actually, since Pieter was holding Franchesca's toddler, Nicolas, we had a luggage helper do all the carrying and paid him US$2 for the exercise.
We arrived at Rivas about 3 pm and took a way too expensive taxi (N$50
or US$2.70) to Hospedaje Hilman. No one else appeared to be staying there and we paid N$250 (US$13.80) for a fairly shabby room with lumpy rickety beds. But there was a cable TV. Go figure. Walking through the town we could see that Nicaragua was much poorer than Costa Rica but it was interesting with a lively market and happy people. There were some tuk tuks and lots of horse drawn carts. All very rustic. The only attraction in town is the beautiful domed blue church, but while enjoying a drink at a bar the bar own came over with tourist pamphlets and a map of Nicaragua. That was really nice.
In the morning we took a N$50 taxi to the port at San Jorge. We had just missed the ferry and rather than wait until 10:30 for the next we got on a boat leaving at 9 am. It wasn't a passenger boat but we sat on one of the few benches and enjoyed the fresh air. It was a one hour chug across the lake to the island of Ometepe. It cost N$30 each. The island is made of two volcanoes but they were hiding behind the
clouds. One of the boat guys offered to ring ahead to the island for a taxi for US$25 but we said no, it was a bit steep. Getting off at Moyogalpa we were offered a similar priced taxi and a stupid man tried to tell us the buses weren't running. Another taxi driver said he could drop us at Santa Domingo for US$10 so off we went. He spoke some English and was very friendly, pointing out some of the different crops - tobacco and yucca. We rounded the volcano Concepción to get to the beach at Santa Domingo. We were dropped off at the bus stop and the taxi guy went across the road to pick up his booking for the return trip. We got a cheap ride because he was going there anyway and it saved us having to change buses and wait a long time. The bus for Merida came within minutes and we continued our bumpy ride in a little less comfort. The yellow American school bus negotiated huge potholes and fords of water. It was only N$10 each to get to Merida and we were dropped off at the turnoff to the Hacienda Merida.
Moyogalpa
You can just see the church with its missing front Hacienda Merida was a farm of the Somoza family, the ruling family of Nicaragua for many years who needed a revolution to remove them from power. The hacienda had supported a coffee processing plant complete with railway tracks. We were offered a private room for US$15 a night. It was nice but the bathroom was open to the outside and we had some creepy crawly visitors in the night. We had a short walk up the road, a bit further around the volcano Madera enjoying our green lush surroundings. Stopping at an old pier we could hear a nearby troop of howling monkeys. Back at the hacienda we found quite a few people staying and after a poor buffet dinner that didn't allow for seconds we spent the evening being social. Pieter talked to a couple of Dutch girls, Babbe and Selvia, and I played Hearts with Lucy, Jan and Michael. It was really fun. Michael told us to turn an old railway station into a B&B and then contact him about his 'rail bikes'. Pretty funny looking things but a unique idea.
At 7 am in the morning the breakfast bell was rung. Talk about a Hi-De-Hi moment.
And the food was meagre and whipped away pretty quickly again. The owner spent the morning shouting down the phone and at his staff so we decided to leave with Babbe and Selvia and Jan rather than stay another day.
We went to Charco Verde. We left our bags at the restaurant and paid a N$10 entrance to the trail around the lagoon. The walk took us up onto a headland. There were lots of butterflies and spiders. Jan used a stick to remove the webs of the latter from our path. We had some nice views and on the way to the beach a small green snake was spotted. Pieter saw it but I didn't. I was much happier to see a squirrel. The beach did not look at first very inviting, a small patch of black sand and dark, still water. But us girls followed Jan into the water and it was quite refreshing. Back at the restaurant we sat down and enjoyed a lovely lunch with a fantastic breeze keeping us happy.
We took a taxi for US$2 each to Moyogalpa where we checked into Hospedaje Central. En-suite double for US$10. It was clean but
a little rough around the edges. The hostel was nicely painted, had hammocks and chairs and a fawn. The bar was beautiful with murals on the walls. There were brightly coloured fishes and tadpoles and some surreal stuff. I thought this little town was very charming but Pieter still preferred Rivas. The church had a service going on but something was missing ... the front wall. Perhaps weakened by earthquakes, the body of the church was being replaced. The new roof was in place but the front wall had not yet been built. The old towers were preserved on either side.
We had a lovely evening playing with a cat in the bar and playing cards. With beer upsetting my stomach a bit I didn't know what to order. The girls recommended rum and coke. I usually don't like rum but the Flores de Caña 7 year Gran Reserva was quite good. And it was less than a dollar. We topped off the evening with pizza around the corner.
As we left the next day, we still couldn't see the volcanoes. Never mind.
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