Blogs from Isla de Ometepe, Southern Pacific Coast, Nicaragua, Central America Caribbean - page 23

As I watched the sun set off the shores of Isla de Ometepe, I thought back over my day of travel and can’t say it was painless. What should have taken 4-5 hours took me eight; but that’s all in the past. I have plenty of time and a whole new place to explore; so all is good. Upon arrival at Hacienda Mérida, which is nestled at the base of Volcán Maderas, I recognized a lot of familiar faces. From hostel Oasis there was Claire (the wacky Brit), Inger (the crass Kiwi), and a group of Israelis; then there was Nick who had worked a short time at Bigfoot in León. There was no need for introductions; we continued on where we had left off, just in a new setting. Isla de Ometepe is a beautiful ... read more

We spent two days on the island of Ometepe, the Island of Peace, in the middle of Lake Nicaragua. We had hoped to take the boat from Granada, but found out we had to wait 4 hours for the next departure..the time we'd been given was the time the ticket office opened, not the time the boat left. So we decided to take buses to the main port that connects to the island..mistake! We took a horse carriage part way to the bus station, dragged our bags through the public market, got to the bus which had standing room only for the hour and half trip to Rivas, where we would change buses for the port. I t was very hot and the bus was even hotter inside. Apparently the bus wasn't full enough, since they ... read more

We managed to get to the Island of Ometepe on the Saturday of easter week end. The prosessions that we had looked so forward to were not that great - damn tourists, never happy. We caught a bus to the port of San Jorge to board the ferry to the island. It was a like new years day on Durban beach front and there were people every where. A quick ferry trip and we were there. The mystical Island of Ometepe, home to two volcanoes, one still active. The finca (farm accomodation) we chose to stay at was on the opposite side of the island so onto the chicken bus we climbed. The bus dropped us half way for some reason , but we had met 2 Mexican guys who were heading the same way and ... read more

Hola amigos, Deze zaterdag is compleet anders verlopen dan gepland. Ik wilde vanochtend met de boot het eiland verlaten, maar kon mijn kluissleutel niet vinden... Hopelijk verloren en niet gestolen.... Mijn kluissleutel lag op een tafel, mijn kluisje was open,... en leeg. Geen paspoort, travelercheckes, cash, credit card of bankpas meer... Niemand in het hotel wist er iets van dus gestolen... wat nu? De eigenaar van het hotel zei dat ik me om de rekening niet druk hoefde te maken en dat ik het beste nog 2 dagen kon blijven, omdat de ambasade in het weekend gesloten zou zijn. Dus: mijn ouders gebeld die mijn credit card, bankpas en travelcheckes hebben geblokkeerd. Gelukkig waren alle andere backpackers super aardig! Heel wat mensen hebben me wat geld gegeven om de komende dagen door te komen (ook mensen ... read more

So... a bus, a bike-taxi thing and another bus later and we were in Nicaragua, a fascinating and lovely country with possibly the most interesting history of any country I've visited so far. A nation of proud, friendly people this place felt undeniably safer than many of its neighbours. This, despite me reading that, after Haiti, here is the poorest country in the western hemisphere. The two main cities founded when the Spaniards came a-rapin' and a-pillagin' were Grenada and León. A number of factors made Grenada a rich colonial city attracting the wealthy elite, who brought their conservative political outlooks and Spanish beliefs in the strength of the monarchy and Catholicism, so it wasn't long before Grenada became the base for the colony's Conservative party. Meanwhile León attracted intellectual types and radical clerics who quickly ... read more