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Published: March 27th 2014
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Granada
After doing absolutely nothing on the Corn Islands for two weeks it was very hard to get back into the swing of travelling. As such we did not see an awful lot of Granada. We didn’t have much luck with hostels there so settled on one with a pool we could hang out by while we did some organising for the next part of our trip. As it was a bit of a party hostel we did not get much sleep so did the only sensible thing and joined in. Granada, like the rest of Nicaragua is crazy hot so you get a two for the price of one hangover from half the amount of drinks.
We did manage to make it to the market in Masaya which is well worth a visit. It has some really nice locally made handicrafts, rather than the usual tourist tat, and is housed in an old fort. The ceramics that are made here are gorgeous but far too fragile to post home or carry with us. We tried the local dish of ‘baho’ which is a stew of beef, green plantain and yucca with onions and tomatoes, very tasty but quite
sweet. To get there we took the chicken bus and arrived in an incredibly dusty local market on the outskirts of town, wound our way through a maze of market stalls where Steve saw two men watching a dog fighting dvd, nice. From here we took another bus to the town of Catarina, one of the ‘pueblos blancos’ or white towns where they make the handicrafts sold at the market. Although the buildings weren’t white it was a nice little town with a fantastic view looking out across a laguna, with volcan Masaya to the side, out past Granada and on to Lago Nicaragua. I got to try a choco banano, a frozen banana on a stick covered in chocolate, what’s not to like? We had been told that it was not possible to do all this on public buses, that we should take the $40 tour offered by the hostels. This is not true. It takes longer on the buses but if you have time it is easy enough.
Isla de Ometepe
The first glimpse you get of Ometepe is from the ‘ferry’ that takes you across the lake. The island is formed of two volcanoes rising
out of the water and looks like something out of a childrens adventure story. This is emphasised by the terrifying boat trip across the rough waters. Lago de Nicaragua is huge, more like an inland sea but with fresh water. The boat we took was packed and as we were the last people to board there was no space to sit inside. We had to sit on the side of the boat on top of our bags. As the water was so rough we were bouncing up and down with the waves crashing over us. We got so wet that we had to push our way inside and just sit on our bags in between the seats.
It was totally worth the trip though as Ometepe is stunning. One of the volcanoes is active and is a perfect conical shape which can be seen from anywhere on the island. We rented some bikes and took a very sweaty bike ride in the unrelenting sun and every time I saw the volcano it took my breath away. From every angle you can see a canopy of trees in front of it with huge vultures circling overhead, colourful birds in the
branches and the occasional roar of howler monkeys.
Charco Verde
We took our bikes to Charco Verde which is a lagoon with loads of wildlife. As we walked round it there were hundreds of lizards basking on the path which scattered as soon as we approached. Steve was in his element. All I could think of was how nice it was going to be jumping in the lake for a swim at the end of our walk when I stopped under a canopy of leaves for some shade and heard a strange noise overhead. I looked up to see a little monkey face peering down at me. I then noticed a troop of about fifteen plus howler monkeys with two babies in the trees surrounding us.
Puesta Del Sol
We had arranged to stay with a family at a homestay in Puesta del Sol. This is a community project for sustainable tourism run mostly by women on Ometepe. I was fully prepared to stay somewhere quite rustic so was pleasantly surprised when we arrived at a lovely house with a huge, clean room with en-suite bathroom. It was nice to be able to practice our Spanish
and learn more about the island. There is a community centre which is a great place to hang out as it is on the shore of the lake so you can swim, play volley ball, hang out in hammocks, use the wifi and rent bikes and kayaks. All of the food we ate came from nearby farms and we had gorgeous fresh fruit and fresh bread for breakfast. I had to try their homemade wine made from hibiscus. It tasted a bit like squash but was worth a try.
We took one of the kayaks out in the morning which was pretty hard as the water was quite choppy. We went out to a spit of land called Punta de Jesus Maria. The water converges here and the sediment forms a stretch of land that looks like a runway. It is very strange to walk down it with the waves coming in from both sides. In the right light it can make for great photos that make it look like you are walking on water.
On our last day we hired a moto-taxi (tuk-tuk) and driver to take us to the further to reach parts of the island.
We had attempted the public bus which took us three hours to go 24km. Our driver was a good tour guide and took us to the beach that runs along the isthmus between the two volcanoes, Finca Magdalena which is a coffee plantation, and Ojos de Agua which is a man-made swimming pool that uses natural spring mineral water. This last stop was very welcome as the water was refreshingly cold after trekking through the woods looking for petroglyphs, rock carvings by the pre-colombian residents of Ometepe who moved here from Mexico, getting covered in bugs and me getting stung by a wasp.
We now have a long wait for our overnight boat to San Carlos at the start of the Rio San Juan. I am armed with prescription only seasickness tablets, gotta love Nicarguan pharmacies, so hopefully I will survive the ten hour journey. See you on the other side. Helen
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