nicara-fun

Hey everyone,

Lessee... After our last update, we went out for dinner at an Argentinian steakhouse.. I was in meaty heaven and Kyla enjoyed some steamed veggies, and didnt seemed to mind so much because i was so happy! We've been eating mostly veggie stuff. Not only was I in heaven because of the fat juicy steak, but also because there was a big screen TV playing a Beegees dvd in surround sound. It gave me night-fevah.

We caught the 9am bus the next morning from Liberia to the border, which was interesting, because we were the last 2 people they let on, and we were packed in to the point that we were basically hovering over the driver. Hanging on to whatever we could. It was an interesting hour long ride, memorable for sure. At one point, pretty close to the Nicaraguan border, the bus braked really hard and swerved left- Kyla and I looked out to see this frightening old witch-like woman on the road.. babbling loudly and reaching for the bus, wearing strange robes. It scared us a little bit, and the bus driver as well. 'aaiieee, abuela loca*...' I thought to myself. *crazy granny.

Got to the border, and went through a half a dozen short lines getting out stamps, and in stamps, and walking a kilometer or so in between. Nicaragua immediately felt a lot less organized, and a lot more poor. Immediately you get an idea how much more developed Costa Rica is in comparison to its neighbour. Although at first unsettling, the people seemed a lot more helpful, and this has held true thus far, nicaragua has an amazing people.

We shared a taxi with a couple German girls to San Juan del Sur. A beach town around a beautiful bay that seems to constantly be filled with stinky fishing boats. We arrived and spent a few days there hiking around, checking out the beaches, atmosphere and town.. We were amazed by the huge mansions sharing the same hilltops as steel roofed shanty towns. Lots of huge barbwired fences in between, of course. On the second day we started Spanish lessons, which we took for a few days. It was very helpful and we're looking forward to taking more time for Spanish school in Estelli, before heading into Honduras later next week.

From San Juan, we took a chicken bus to Rivas and then onward to San Jorge where we sailed on a tugboat to Isla Ometepe. At the docks on both ends, the boat is immediately engulfed with young Nicaraguan men, Nicas, jumping onto the boat from the dock, hoping to help you with your bags and convince you to come to their hotel, or take a ride in their taxi. Watching them clamour on the docks in an unbeleivable sight. We landed at Moyogalpa.

Ometepe, which basically means two Islands connected, truly is, each with its own massive volcano. We took the advice of a random dude we met and took another bus to Charco Verde, on the southern coast of Isla Concepcion, which is bascially not a town but an eco-resort. Got a great room and took a nice little hike to check out the volcano and the lagoon. Came back and noticed a huge increase in the number of mosquitos. We got dressed and came out for dinner (in the open air restaurant) and the air was thick with mosquitos.. it was hilarious, because they werent bitey, but they were everywhere. The staff kept them hovering around the lights and we ate in the dark, with another couple. It was fun.

After a couple nights, we went on to Merida. The bus wasnt going all the way there that day, so we decided to take it to Santa Cruz and hike in.. 6km was a tough hike with our bags, but once we got there, we found an awesome little family run place with cabinas for 8.00 a night. The father Jacinto runs the show at Monkey's Island Hotel, but all his kids and wife are helping out too.. really amazing atmosphere- as they are built on the former General Somoza's hacienda stables. *the Hacienda itself is an American run hostel next door for twice as much dough. Relaxed the rest of the day, went down and peered over to the actual monkey island- where there lives a family of biting monkeys. We considered swimming over to it, but turned back halfway. Later, we found out that it was Merida's anniversary, and therefore a 2 day party weekend. The next day we went to the rodeo to watch the bullfights. We went down with a couple from Scotland, drank some Nicaraguan Ron (which is unbelievable) and watched some young macho men nearly get impaled. It was pretty awesome actually, especially the town nutbar in the middle of the ring trying to direct traffic... We returned the next day, as it was the 'real bullriders' who challenged the bigger bulls on Sunday.. the whole town was there dressed up with shiny shoes. Everything seemed a lot more serious, so we didnt stay for the whole thing.. but what we saw was intense.

We traveled the next day by bus from Merida to Moyogalpa... Took the ferry back to San Jorge, and shared a taxi with our Scottish friends to Granada, from where we write you now. Its an amazing colonial town, with dozens of crazy old cathedrals, and lots of character and history. we spent 5 hours walking around today in the 35 degree heat, and Ive got a serious red glow happening.. Apparently Daniel Ortega of the Sandanistas- who are predicted to win the election- was here Sunday speaking at the Parque Centrale- that wouldve been a neat thing to see. We're sticking around here until Friday... Then to the birth place of Ruben Dario- Leon.

Thanks for checking in. A big Thanks to those who leave the comments!! Its nice to know people are checkin in.

Jay and Kyla

ps- Kyla was going to write this one, as we try to take turns, but we traded.. she is busy in a hammock reading '1984'. She'll do the next one.

pps- Pictures seem to work sometimes on blogger, but not others for some reason. I have been trying to upload a few, but its not working.. hopefully soon.