Blogs from Southern Pacific Coast, Nicaragua, Central America Caribbean - page 2

A new day dawned, and I woke up feeling refreshed. From the house, you can hear the sound of the surf, so I decided to walk down and take a look at the beach. Sylvia was still in bed. I wandered down, and saw another couple coming out of a house just in front of ours, with their 2 dogs. They were also heading to the beach, and we talked a bit. They told me about the other beaches in close proximity, just a short walk away. I took a walk along the beach, and saw that we weren't as 'in the middle of nowhere' as we thought we were. There were several restaurants, and lots of little houses that looked like vacation homes. When I came back to our place, Sylvia was up. We decided ... read more

It's time to go to the sea!! We left early from Ometepe and with reservation we took the ferry in no time with our car. We headed North on the inter Americana. During the dry season, the landscape is more open with many beige colors grasses in contrast with a few evergreen trees. The terrain is in general flat but things change after Diriamba. We climbed in altitude for many kilometers, changing the landscape completely. It's now more green, and from above, we can see the ocean in the far distance. We left highway at El Crucero, and descend steadily for a few kilometers. The views are splendid here! It seems that this resort is in the middle of nowhere, because we took a shortcut, but that's part of the adventure!! A couple of dirts roads, ... read more

Ometepe island was one of my top 2 places to visit in Nicaragua, and I wasn't deceived!! First thing is to get there. Although there are a few flights a week to get there from Managua, it's more fun and exotic to take the boat to reach it. :-) One important thing about the ferry. If you don't have a car or other transportation, you can take the ferry or smaller boat at any time without any preparation. But if you have a car or a truck, it would be very wise to reserve in advance!!! Reason is that not only tourists go to the island, but also many delivery trucks, and ferries are not that big. To give you an idea, on one ferry you can put: one long 53 feet truck, another truck less ... read more

We started our day early with our driver picking us up at 515. He was 15 minutes late because he had stopped to pick up the others in our group from a different hotel, a couple from Germany and a lady from Chicago. It was about an hour and a half to the border of Nicaragua. We got dropped off there and walked across the border. Getting our exit stamp from Costa Rica and the entrance stamp to Nicaragua. Our guide for the day was very professional and has been doing the tour regularly. Our next van was waiting for us on the Nicaraguan side. We drove into Nicaragua and got a full history lesson about everything from the original people to the revolution from the dictatorship to modern recent issues. We stopped for breakfast on ... read more

To Everyone best wishes for an enjoyable Xmas-New Year's break. I'm back here in Nicaragua at the start of a 7 week sunny escape, beginning with San Juan del Sur, a traditional surfer and retired expat community. San Juan del Sur has turned out to be a great tropical acclimatizing spot....very friendly and helpful Nicas, hot sun and breezes, shuttling around in 4WDs with surfers and boards to picture perfect surfing bays, ceviche salads and beer at some really nice but under-utilized beach bars, the occasional parrot with howler monkeys in the bush, beach and headland hiking and swimming. But I guess if you're not an avid surfer, a week is probably enough. Onto Ometepe island next week. Friendly hospitality here has always been a keynote to a Nicaraguan visit, but now with fewer of us ... read more