Blogs from Isla de Ometepe, Southern Pacific Coast, Nicaragua, Central America Caribbean - page 11

I woke up in the morning and settled my bill, NOT paying the ten dollars for the horseback riding but getting guilted into paying them a TIP, mainly because she actually circled the ¨voluntary tip¨portion of the bill, and of course there was a written sign explaining that tips were split between the 18 employees, so they each got less than a dollar each from me. But I still wasn´t pleased and if they hadn´t been in the middle of preparing my breakfast I may not have tipped at all. I arranged with Jane, the woman from the state department, to catch a ride in a taxi she had scheduled over to the ferry. Her plan was to take the taxi to the base of Volcan Concepcion and go horseback riding for a couple of hours ... read more

Volcano Trail, Day 11: Aug 4, 2009 Ometepe Island, Nicaragua We left Granada around 9 to catch the "chicken bus" to Rivas, Nicaragua. Chicken buses usually do not have chickens on them (except maybe in Guatemala) but are the main form of transport for the locals of Central America. They are almost always old American school buses. They are decked out with spoilers, funky rims, stainless steel exhausts and pipes, racing stripes you name it. It seems to be a competition between chicken bus drivers to see who has the "coolest" bus. Inside there are endless pictures of Jesus and other religious stuff. They are crammed packed also. Luckily I got a seat! After buying a "pen light" (which is exactly as it sounds a pen with a light on it) which broke after 2 mins ... read more

A giant frog looking up from the toilet bowl, several frogs on the ledge overhead watching you pee, the other stall full of moths and when you flush the toilet a mass swarm of 20 moths quickly flutter from under their hiding spots of the toilet bowl and scatter to the walls. That was our bathroom in La Cruz, Costa Rica where we met our other traveling companions. In the morning, we took a bus to Nicaragua where we are pretty sure we got conned out of money where we didn’t have to pay. The man working stamped half of us as leaving Nicaragua, when we told him we were entering, then he got so flustered at his mistakes, he just walked away from us. Nicaragua is much more different than Costa Rica, you can tell ... read more

Hola! Taalla ollaan edelleen. Siirryimme lautalla Isla de Ometepelle eli saarelle, jossa on kaksi isoa tulivuorta(Concepcion ja Maderas). Majoituimme pimean jo saavuttua keskelle viidakkoa hostelliin, jossa ei ollut ketaan muuta. Seuranamme oli tosin Granadassa tapaamamme pari, Antti ja Maria. Aamulla huomasimme tulleemme upean puutarhan keskelle. Taalta oli kiva aloittaa tutustuminen saareen. Vuokrasimme maastopyorat ja poljimme uimaan virkistaville lahdealtaille. Seuraavana paivana lahdimme aamun koitteessa valloittamaan saaren toista tulivuorta eli Maderasia. Nousu oli kuuma, mutainen, kivinen, jyrkka eli toisin sanoen pirun raskas. Huippuunsa trimmatut lihaksemme huutivat jo puolessa valissa hoosiannaa, mutta sisulla jatkoimme kipuamista. Neljan tunnin uurastuksen jalkeen olimme huipulla ja laskeuduimme lounastamaan kraaterin jarven rannalle. Siistia! Sitten toiset nelja tuntia l... read more

Wyspa Ometepe, to kawalek ziemi powstaly w wyniku erupcji dwoch sasiadujacych wulkanow: Concepcion i Ometepe. Oprocz wspinania sie na wulkany (na co kompletnie nie mielismy ochoty) mozna tam tylko lezec w hamaku i rozkoszowac sie swieza bryza znad jeziora. Ewentualnie, mozna tez szalec na motorku...... read more