A trip within a trip!

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Geo: 12.8654, -85.2072

Status Report: 1625

Location: Our Eco Bungalow is perched high in verdant jungle some half way up a Volcano (non active) overlooking guess what.....another Volcano (active...last eruption 2010) some 10km distant. The sun is setting to our left and banana leaves wave in the strong evening breeze. Ahead of us, the sky is turning golden and finally a rich pink hue fills the sky.......a pair of bright green parrots swoop past making for their roost.

The coarse and slightly scary rasping bark of a troop of howler monkeys can be heard echoing over the valley below....night is beginning to envelope us and it will not be long before it's long fingers have covered us in impenetrable darkness.

Today has been truly amazing! We were picked up by Elvis at 0830hrs and driven some 40due South to catch a ferry across the second largest freshwater lake in South America....(the largest being lake Titicaca) ....and itself the size if Puerto Rico!

I have to admit the prospect of a windy crossing on a dodgy Latin American ferry did not fill me with confidence, especially after yesterday's sad news that some 13 Tourists had perished on another boat in this country.....

We had to run to catch the 0945 boat that was full of locals and Western Tourists. Puffing and blowing with several suitcases and the "supplies truck" clattering behind us we clambered through the car and lorry deck into the passenger section that reeked of fried chicken and BO....... We were immediately "donned" with flimsy buoyancy aids each the size of a small fluorescent orange quaver by a stocky little deck hand . These were good for keeping you momentarily afloat on The Serpentine in Hyde Park but pretty useless in a vast inland sea where the nearest rescue boat was conveniently moored up in Miami some 1500 miles to the North! Well........two ferry disasters in 24 hours would be very bad luck so we cheerfully settled into the journey thankful that we had knocked back two Sturgeron tables earlier!

We were heading toward the twin volcano peaked island of Ometepe some 20km away. The journey would take just over 1 hour....the scenary was truly amazing as not only could one see the Jurassic Park style islands ahead but also the ring of other volcanoes on the distant horizon. The weather was yet again perfect as our sturdy Panamanian ferry made steady progress against a strong headwind whipping up the surface of water to produce little white crests. Slowly but surely the twin peaks of Ometepe Island grew larger and larger in our sights and it was not long before we could make out little dwellings, fisherman and lush jungle. Finally, we turned shorewards and made for a tiny jetty with the vast Volcano towering above it..........

TIME CHECK: 0710 hours Monday 25th. By complete fluke I have just me an old acquaintance from my school days!! How does that happen......!

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Comments

[Viv]

Sounds like an amazing trip. Keep the blog and fabulous photos coming guys. As always, wish I was there.