Nicaragua - Granada and Isle de Ometepe

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David here...

We left Costa Rica on the Ticabus, that turned up about an hour after we were told to be at the stop, though we weren´t too worried. Normally we would worry about such things, but not this time. Maybe we are getting a bit more laid back. It did also mean we could have a McDonalds breakfast as that was essentially the bus stop. We got to the border and got off the bus to get our departure stamps. We queued with everyone else however when we got to the front, we didn´t have the form required to go with your passport. We should´ve been given it on the bus however as we got on at a late stop, not San Jose, we were missed. So we had to go and fill out the departure form before queuing again. We got our stamp and then jumped back onto the bus. As we drove the short distance to the Nicaragua border the Ticabus staff collected up everyones passports and the monies required ($13 each) and then got off again. No one was directing us at all so we just followed the example of the masses and stood around the bus. It was quite chaotic with lots of lorries and other buses around and people everywhere. There were sellers of everything from belts to food wandering among the crowds and also beggers whose chosen method of getting your attention was to hit you and thrust there hands at you, not the best technique we´ve come across. We then had to get our bags off of the bus and then hand-over our customs decleration form, which again we were not given. Once we´d filled one out and handed it in we put the bags back onto the bus and then waited for our passports. An official stood at the entrance of the bus and you could get on and get your passport back as your name was called. Overall this process from arriving at the Costa Rica border to getting into Nica took about an hour.

We jumped off of the bus in Granada and manged to find our way to the centre of town and our chosen hotel, Terrasol, easily enough, however the lack of road signage when you arrive somewhere really doesn´t help you get your bearings at all. Anyway we showered and headed out to look round the place. The town itself is beautiful, especially round the centre, with lots of colonial architecture to look at. We popped into Euro cafe for a coffee and a sandwich, which was very nice before deciding to go down to the lake, about 1km from town as you cannot go out there at night as it is not safe. The further away from the centre we got, the more litter and general untidiness we saw. When we got to the lake, we found it to be dirty and depressing, so we walked back into the centre along a different route. We decided that now was the time for a beer so we popped into Kellys bar for one...which turned into 4 in the end. Nica beer is quite light and refreshing but doesn´t have much taste to it, but in the heat it is just what you need. We got chatting to 2 brothers from New York over beers and we ended up bumping into them round town a few times ovet the next few days. We finally went for some food and decided on going to a place that advertised Super Burritos, however they were a bit bland and well, just not super. We should´ve been warned by the pile of vomit in one of the toilet cubicles, but it was too late by then really. We then called it a night and headed back to the hotel.

The next day we decided to wander round town, take some pictures and visit the museum, which is supposed to be a must see. The building itself is an old convent and is impressive to look at, however most of the exhibits had been taken away and the museum was disappointing. We went to the recommended Garden cafe for something to eat and both had a sandwich, though getting the order across was a challenge as the menu was in English but the staff were all Nica. A Spanish menu would´ve been easier to cope with, but we did finally get the order to them. The sandwiches came out toasted to death and covered in mustard, I imagine to cover up how bland they were. Another disappointing meal in Nica. We ended up walking to the big supermarket to get some supplies, ended up staying in there for a while as it was so cool and walking out with a bottle of rum.

That evening we went back to Kelly´s bar for a beer and then decided to go to O´Sheas where they advertise the best fish and chips in Nica. We got there and the place was full of American expats and just didn´t have a nice vibe so decided to cut our losses on this day and went to bed early. The final day we got up and went to Euro cafe for a bagel breakfast and coffee, which was delicious. We then decided to go to the Central Turistico area, which the Lonely Planet stated as a 2km stretch of the lake with bars, parks, restaurants and play areas. We paid the 10p to get in and found a depressing, rotting, litter strewn wasteland, that did have bars and restaurants that were all either shut or blasting out really loud music. We walked through the area for a while before deciding to leave and go back to the centre of town. We relaxed at the hotel for a while and then went out for a nice drink at Nectar before going to Tequilla Vallarta, a recommended Mexican restaurant. We ordered and then waited for our food...and waited...and waited. We went through various stages of mood, and when the food finally arrived after about 1 hour we were at the hysterical stage and just found the whole thing funny. The staff just didn´t know what was going on in the kitchen and were having to run from the back of the restaurant to get food out as fast as possible as people were leaving after having enough of the wait. The food wasn´t even worth waiting for either. We decided to round off the night with a drink in Kellys again. We bumped into Matt and Rob again (the NY brothers) and they joined us for 1...and then 2 and you know how it goes. We finally left the bar at around 01:20, after we had got the staff to play Kiss, Iron Maiden, Lordi and Rammstein.

The next morning we woke up early and got to the bus station for the 08:05 bus to Rivas. We were both still tired and not feeling quite right after the night before, but we made it fine. We got to Rivas and shared a Taxi to the ferry to Isle de Ometepe at San Jorge with a western couple. We were guided through the ticket buying process and found ourselves on the ferry with no problems. We hopped off that after an hour in Moyagulpa and from there, jumped into a shared van with 4 other people and went to San Domingo. Isle de Ometepe is a small island in Lake Nicaragua, the 10th biggest lake in the world. We found a nice hotel in Santa Domingo (Villa Paraiso) and negotiated the price down from $30 to $20 a night and settled in. We had met a Canadian guy called Sid who joined us at the same hotel so we went to lunch with him at Comidar Gloriana before relaxing at the hotel. To be honest, there isn´t much to really do in Santa Domingo so we made plans for the next few days.

The following day we walked to the Ojo de Agua, a freshwater swimming hole in a forest area, which was nice and cooling and very relaxing. We spent a good few hours there just reading and swimming. The following day was Suzanne´s mums birthday and she tried in vain to find a phone to give her a call. She couldn´t even send her an email as the power was out. Being on an island is relaxing, but can make you feel a bit cut off. The next day we walked to Balgues, one of the other towns on the island to find the petroglyphs that the island is famous for. We stopped off at Cafe Campestre for some lunch, and found it was run by an English woman from Sheffield. We chatted to her for ages and she gave us directions to the petroglyphs at Finca Magdalena, which were alright, but not great. Maybe we´ve been spoiled by places like Angkor. We did see our first Monkeys though in Latin America, which was nice. We stopped off at the cafe again on the way back for coffee and cake before walking back to the hotel. Overall the walk had taken us over 7 hours and we felt that we had spent the day wisely.

The following day we just relaxed at the hotel as it was Sunday and the buses hardly run, so we updated the written journal and read a lot. We went back to Glorianna for dinner with Sid, as it was the best option in the area. Throughout our time on the island the power had kept going off, which meant the rooms were stuffy as the fans were not working for a lot of the time and each evening there were amazing tropical storms right above us, with tons of lightening and the loudest thunder we have ever heard. Quite an experience, especially sat outside by the side of the lake, watching the bats skimming across the waters surface while drinking rum and coke and listening to our MP3 player. We enjoyed our time on the island, but 4 nights was more than enough so we were more than ready to move on back to the mainland.

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