Blogs from Isla de Ometepe, Southern Pacific Coast, Nicaragua, Central America Caribbean - page 5

Six hours later and covered in salt, we arrived in Puerto Cortez, Hunduros. I decided not to spend much time in this country and pass through it as quickly as possible. In Central American time, it translates to two days. From the port, Georg and I took a minibus to San Pedro Sulu, a major bus terminal, to catch a bus to Nicaragua. This was no ordinary minibus, from what I understood it is part of an underground street racing team. It consists of two crew members, the driver and the co-pilot. The driver manages to navigate this 2 ton machine through traffic and dirt roads near super sonic speeds and the co-pilot somehow pushes passangers in and out without the viehcle ever stopping. Surprisingly, I've only witnessed minor injuries. Once we got to San Pedro ... read more

Dear Blog Readers, We left Liberia and Costa Rica behind with a spring in our step fueled on a good smoothie and the most charismatic salesman on our bus to Penas Blancas, the border with Nicaragua. The border crossing was without doubt the worst so far. Dodgy money was changing hands, the bloke giving us entry stamps genuinely didn´t believe Laura´s passport was hers until she got her bank card out. Ridiculous. The only thing that gave me any pleasure was the thought of anybody actually buying the ceviche that a man was trying to sell from a cool box in 35 degree heat. The bus ride to Rivas was decidedly dodgy and we pretty much kept hold of our bags the entire journey. Once at Rivas we got a taxi to the port and a ... read more

Hola amigos! La Isla de Ometepe, an island born from two volcanoes that rose from a lake and merged together. Despite what the brochures say, Ometepe Island is not the world´s largest island in a lake, but nevertheless it is an impressive chunk of land. We spent some quality time in the Charco Verde area enveloped by nature. There are a lot of great hikes in the area and we spent many hours marching through the lush forests that wrapped around the lakeshore. Watching the howler monkeys swinging in the trees was quite mesmerizing, as was searching for the Arraca, a beautiful Magpie that is fairly abundant on the island. On our days in the Reserve we were being watched by countless lizards and even a snake or two, a truly amazing place! On the North ... read more

The trip to Isla de Ometepe was enjoyable. We took an early am chicken bus into Rivas to catch a cab to the ferry terminal. Instead of the typical cab, we opted for something less conventional- travelling via a cart being pushed by a local kid on a bike. He pushed, huffed and puffed the whole way until he dropped us 6 km away from Rivas at the Port of San Jorge. The port had many old, clunky, rickety boats and offered two choices for our ride across Lake Nicaragua to Ometepe, a large ferry or a lancha - smaller boat. It's very windy here and the lake turns high waves so much so it seems like an ocean. The lanchas appeared to get beaten and soaked so we choose comfort instead. We took the big ... read more

Hospedaje Soma has a little more capacity than El Encanto -- 26 vs. 20 -- and is near Moyogalpa. Otherwise their visions are similar, and we were happy with both in different ways. I slept very well having upgraded from two in a single bed to two in a double bed. Sr. Szkini knows Sr. Carlos, he appreciates German beer and stops by sometimes to have one; I told him he really should go out to see El Encanto one of these days. I think maybe last night the fans actually stayed on all night. Adios Ometepe! We hope getting a landing strip doesn't change you too much! A pleasant surprise - waiting at the dock in Moyogalpa for the ferry to San Jorge, we bumped into Sr. Carlos, on his way to El Salvador for ... read more