Blogs from Isla de Ometepe, Southern Pacific Coast, Nicaragua, Central America Caribbean - page 14

I woke up a little late today, I blame the beer hockey, and met Susan and Meg for breakfast. They had decided to head to San Juan del Sur today, and I was going to try to make it to the waterfall. After yesterday my legs are a little tired but supposably the hike is only 3 km so I should be able to make it. I had probably missed the 8:00 bus since it was almost 9:00, and the next one wouldn´t come until 11:00. The other option was to rent a bike from the hotel and ride there, hike the waterfall, and ride back. The attendant told me it was about 6 km to San Ramon, and would take me about 1.5 hours each way to ride. I remember thinking that I could ride ... read more

I´ve realized that the only reason I ever know the day of the week is because I have a job. Remove the job, and I have know idea. I like having know idea. I woke up today and decided to move on to Isla de Ometepe. It´s a quick 45 minute bus ride to Rivas, 10 minute collectivo cab to San Jorge, 60 minute boat ride to the island, and 2 hour bus ride to the hotel. Ok, so maybe not very quick, but the trip was made interesting since the majority was on this little wooden boat or on dirt roads around an island. I got to my hotel in the afternoon and decided to walk the 40 minutes or so to check out the swimming hole at Ojo de Agua. This is basically a ... read more

got woken up by the locals at 530. and so i got up and got fed and ready for the hike. our guide, guille en espanol, was named freddy and a couple from holland were w us named fonz and margarite. fonz was slow and he turned around w his wife just after mid point. freddy spoke no english, but it was good practice for my spanish. freddy said it would take an hour and half from where we were from, but when they left we made it up in 40 minutes. there was no view because of the clouds and rain. also tjhe trail was very treachurous, but i had my hiking poles, bastones en espanol, to help me down the trail. we actually caught up w fonz and margarite after luch and saw lots ... read more

Happy (belated) Halloween! Feliz dia de brujas! Happy Day of the Dead! (today, November 2) Happy almost election day! If you missed it, here is my most recent column article in the Bainbridge Review: For my english conversation group this week I bought I pumpkin and we carved it together (well, i mostly carved it, struggling, as they watched - the pumpkin skin is thicker down here!) I have lit it nightly since Wednesday and it is so entertaining to watch all the people come by, some brave enough to come up close and touch it to see if it truly is what they think it is. Dora said that during the high school assembly this week the principal warned all the students to not partake in anything related to Halloween because it is a holiday ... read more

Isla de Ometepe is a beautiful, tranquil island. We stayed in Hospedaje Buena Vista in the tiny village of Santo Domingo. The guesthouse sat right on the waters edge, where weeks could be passed swaying in hammocks watching the sun go down. The village of Santo Domingo consisted of one dirt road upon which sat about 4 guesthouses, a school, a tiny tienda (shop) and one restaurant. Either side of the village lay miles and miles of green fields full of horses, cattle, pigs and poultry. Needless to say our 5 days on the island were 5 of the most peaceful days we´ve had in our lives. One beautiful morning we made our way along the dirt road to a natural swimming spot that the locals had been frequenting for decades. As we were walking along ... read more