Blogs from Isla de Ometepe, Southern Pacific Coast, Nicaragua, Central America Caribbean - page 12

The entries seem to keep pouring out like hot cakes! I guess that with my new responsibilities, I have more free time to write. Funny that this weekend is Earth Day. I think people in this country celebrate it, but you would never know for the piles of trash present along any road. Something really needs to be done to preserve the beautiful land here before the trash ruins it, creating a distasteful view and stench. So much could be done to improve the garbage system if only the people cared to get some initiatives going. This week has been a very long week. We just got done with Semana Santa, or holy week. This means lots of masses and Stations of the Cross. They were very deep and meaningful, but also very long! The Easter ... read more

I write to you from a rainy Ometepe. The second of April brought rain, a little earlier than expected. It was almost like a little April Fools joke. However, the rain is cleansing to the soul and to the spirit. And, it helps cool things off in this ridiculous heat. Fitting in work, leisure time, and especially time with the kids is going to make my last 2 months go by very fast. The kids have started going to school all day, until 4pm. This gives me time to spend time at the computer, which I need to do a lot for my job. There are only 2 places in this property that have working Internet since there are problems, as usual. It has almost been 3 weeks with no working Internet at the home. In ... read more

An island getaway Which island you ask? Isla de Ometepe is an island formed by twin volcanoes rising out of a lake. The lava flows from the two volcanoes Concepción & Maderas created an isthmus between them, forming the island. It lies on Lake Nicaragua south of Granada. I got a shuttle from Granada to the port in San Jorge and from there caught one of ferries to the town of Moyogalpa (1 1/2 hr), one of the two main port towns on the island. In Granada I found an ad for a hostel in the town of Merida - as far away from the port as I could get without getting off the island and that was where I was headed. I wasn't the only one who had the same idea because as I got ... read more

Hello all! I have not fallen of the face of the planet - don't worry! We were without internet for two months here so that definitely dissuaded me from spending hours at the internet cafe uploading photos. Right before Christmas I travelled to the Solentiname Islands (southeast Lake Nicaragua) with a group of Peace Corps volunteers to teach an intensive English camp for locals on the various islands. It was really amazing to see another group of islands, and the people were SO kind! The people of Solentiname are known for their vivid primitivist paintings and carved handicrafts, so it was really fun to stay with two different host families that were artists. My camera died right before that trip, so you'll have to check out the photos on my friend Joanna's website: Look for "Solentiname ... read more

In Rivas we arrived before the rains came and managed to get a taxi for $1 per person to take us to San Jorge a town where the ferry to Ometepe docks. We had a good lunch first of a fish called Mojarra, very delicious and its from the lake. We bought our ferry ticket for 230pm, the Danish girls we met travelling took the lancha at 130pm, we heard it was supposed to be really rough in the afternoon so we skipped it plus a lancha is much smaller. Arriving in Mayogalpa we took a local bus to drop us off to Playa Venecia, from the road we walked about 10 minutes to the hostel and we took a cabin as no dorms are available, the rooms are nice with toilt and shower, Joey needed ... read more

So the computers here in the ¨big city¨of Moyogalpa are actually sorta decent. Slow, but everything is in working order. We left San Carlos for a ten hour boat ride to Isla de Ometepe. We splurged for first class (an extra fifty cents per hour) and got to see some slasher movies and bad 80's videos for the ride. We arrived in Altagracia at 12:30am Tuesday night/Wednesday morning and walked a few kilometers to a three dollar a night hotel which is really more of a hostel. Our first real destination the next morning was a placed called Finca Magdalina just outside the town of Belgue. A very sweet place with ultra cheap lodging. Climbed volcano Maderas one of the days there, but the weather wasn´t the best for the hike. Tons of slippery mud and ... read more