Nicaragua

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A bombarded border crossing ended us in Nicaragua, we picked up a bus to Granada a city close to Nicaragua lake. It was very quaint, with tall colonial buildings and old churches. After dumping our bags off at a hostel we headed to the cathedral where you could pay to go up the bell tower. We were told it was the best view of the city and we believed it. The sun set as we were at the top so we saw the beautiful change from day to night and the city lights being switched on.

The following day we hired bikes with the plan to visit a lagoon, recommended for swimming and snorkelling. The rental owner gave us vague directions and a map that stopped at the edge of the city - we were doomed from the start! We rode for 24km up hill and still no sign of the lagoon. Fortunately we saw a sign for the volcano nature reserve and decided to cut our loses on the lagoon and enjoyed a pitstop at the cafe in the reserve. We were told we'd been given a route 4 times longer than necessary and would still be another 30km to reach the lagoon from where we were. So we decided to head back to town; which worked out well as the moment we reached they city edge the heavens opened with thunder & lighting. It was eerie as there was a power cut, leaving us in pitch black taking cover under any roof ledges we could. Once the worse had passed we made a run for it, dropped off the bikes, stopped at a tequila bar for a shot to warm us up again.  

The following day we enjoyed relaxing around town, walking to the lake edge and organising our next stop to Ometepe, the island in Nicaragua Lake.

We arrived on Ometepe during a heavy downpour so our plans changed quickly from waiting in the rain for a bus to staying in the port town for the night. This worked out well for us when we found out the only car hire (with a total of one very run down jeep) was opposite our hostel. It seemed the perfect way to explore the island. So the next day we each took in turns to drive the 4x4. The steering was crazy with a heavy side pull, it worked like the cartoons where you were consistently moving the wheel left to right to keep the car straight.

The island is made of mainly two volcanoes, one active and one dormant. So we tried to head around the bases however while I was driving the road became ridiculously uneven to the point I would be 45' lower tilted to the passenger's seat; after 10 mins we decided to U turn and try the other areas. We went to a natural swamp reserve, a beach and a spring pool. The spring water was crystal clear and we enjoyed having a cold swim after the heat of the jeep. The water is suppose to make your skin 10 years younger and there was a swing to dive in with.

The next day we got up early to catch the ferry to start our long journey, 3 country hop to reach Guatemala.

Sent from my iPod

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