Bus-Ferry-Bus-Taxi-Bus-Hotel-Boat-Boat-Boat and I'm here on Corn Island.
The internet is slow here so I can't post photos from any of the last 2 weeks. Buutttt that right now I'm on a little slice of paradise! Holy its beautiful here. Do yourself a favor and search Corn Island on the Caribbean side of Nicaragua.
Headed by another little boat today to Little Corn to try some snorkeling. Was thinking about diving but its a bit out of my price range so waiting til Honduras.
The stories that I have from my trip here are priceless but will have to wait until next time. Just happy to be here on land and alive after the long boat ride on a little boat with engine problems. At one point in the middle of he 8 hour 19 minute trip the engine quit and we were spinning in the oceans swells. All we could do is hold on and not puke!
Like I said, its over, we're here and alive. Traveling with two new friends from Canada and Aus.
Everyone here speaks English with a dialect of Jamaican Spanish. So funny and entertaining.
Ok, off to catch my next boat. Going to try to buy a lobster from the fisherman today, they sell them for $1.50 fresh off the boats!
Monday, November 30, 2009
Ometepe!
Ometepe, the island on Lake Nicaragua made up of 2 volcanoes, a waterfall, beaches and great people!
Wanted to see the waterfall, a 40m biggen that was 12k's from my hotel. So did what I thought was smart at the time and rented a bike. But not thinking about the roads being crazy rock paths. It worked my legs like none other, then when I finally got to the waterfall gates (after a random fishing trip with my restaurant owner) I had to hike up the volcano 2 hours. This waterfall isn't like those in Costa where you can dive into. This was, in total, 2.5ft deep. And the water wasn't powering down, it was trickling, so I took my daily shower in there instead of the luxurious showers every hotel offers!
A 4 hour hike up and down made me hungry again, went back to the one and only restaurant where I bought bananas off a guys tree and ran into Alex and Nikki, two peeps staying at the same hotel. Luckily. Because after we watched the sunset we made the 8k trek back on bikes in the dark. DO NOT TRY THIS EVER. With 2k's to go we started walking, the risk of riding into rocks and sliding down the hill was too great for all of us. Something we all laugh about now, but will never do again.....I think!
Spent 5 days total on Ometepe, here roaming around and killing my legs. Hiked Volcano Maderas the third day I was there, its a slippery mud hike up and practically an adventure slide down as we all tried catching ourselves before falling forever in mud. Made it to the top to the crater lake in just over 4 hours. In all a 8 hour hike up and down. You can't really see anything from the top because its surrounded in clouds, but I guess I did it to say I've summited a Volcano on Ometepe!
Thinking, "yeah, did one, why not the other" headed over to Volcano Conception to try my luck. As this is a VERY steep rocky hike without forest, many say its heat and always up trail is a killer. And advice from an experienced hiker said that the top part was only ash and you have to slide down from the summit on your butt, I opted not to summit this but hike up 7.5k's, a 15k total hike from Altogracia. My legs were shaking soooooo much by the time we made it back to the hotel. I was very thankful,......worked out perfectly as it was Thanksgiving.
Great island for hitching a ride, meeting friendly peeps and hiking. Also very random......fishing trip with the locals, bike rides at night and the never ending search for fruit. Still wondering what the people eat here other than rice,beans and platinos.
Wanted to see the waterfall, a 40m biggen that was 12k's from my hotel. So did what I thought was smart at the time and rented a bike. But not thinking about the roads being crazy rock paths. It worked my legs like none other, then when I finally got to the waterfall gates (after a random fishing trip with my restaurant owner) I had to hike up the volcano 2 hours. This waterfall isn't like those in Costa where you can dive into. This was, in total, 2.5ft deep. And the water wasn't powering down, it was trickling, so I took my daily shower in there instead of the luxurious showers every hotel offers!
A 4 hour hike up and down made me hungry again, went back to the one and only restaurant where I bought bananas off a guys tree and ran into Alex and Nikki, two peeps staying at the same hotel. Luckily. Because after we watched the sunset we made the 8k trek back on bikes in the dark. DO NOT TRY THIS EVER. With 2k's to go we started walking, the risk of riding into rocks and sliding down the hill was too great for all of us. Something we all laugh about now, but will never do again.....I think!
Spent 5 days total on Ometepe, here roaming around and killing my legs. Hiked Volcano Maderas the third day I was there, its a slippery mud hike up and practically an adventure slide down as we all tried catching ourselves before falling forever in mud. Made it to the top to the crater lake in just over 4 hours. In all a 8 hour hike up and down. You can't really see anything from the top because its surrounded in clouds, but I guess I did it to say I've summited a Volcano on Ometepe!
Thinking, "yeah, did one, why not the other" headed over to Volcano Conception to try my luck. As this is a VERY steep rocky hike without forest, many say its heat and always up trail is a killer. And advice from an experienced hiker said that the top part was only ash and you have to slide down from the summit on your butt, I opted not to summit this but hike up 7.5k's, a 15k total hike from Altogracia. My legs were shaking soooooo much by the time we made it back to the hotel. I was very thankful,......worked out perfectly as it was Thanksgiving.
Great island for hitching a ride, meeting friendly peeps and hiking. Also very random......fishing trip with the locals, bike rides at night and the never ending search for fruit. Still wondering what the people eat here other than rice,beans and platinos.
Granada, Volcano Mombacho, Masaya
Granada is a place you must visit. After living in Matagalpa for 3 weeks my visit here was like a breath of fresh air.
This city is one of the oldest and you can tell by its old colonial architecture. Spent most of my time roaming around the streets and asking questions to the locals. Found myself up in one of the many beautiful churches, in the bell tower to be exact taking in a sunset overlooking the city.
Stayed in Hotel Esfinge, and for all you local travelers headed to Granada, its a bit more expensive but you get your own room and there's a kitchen for $7. I did find another couple hotels for 6 or so, that's in a dorm.
Volcano Mombacho was amazing. The adventure just getting there was just as good. Chicken bus at 5:45am, 1.5k hike up to gates, huge cargo truck ride for 45 minutes up and then you get to start walking finally! The ElSendero Pumo hike is a 4 hours up and down hike that takes you around the 4 craters. With many look out points, its one hike to hit up for sure. For awhile I thought I was going to lose my legs.
The mirador in Catarina was stunning. It overlooks lake Apoyo, which is a crater lake that is relatively clean, compared to Lake Nicaragua (largest lake in Central America, which is a border to Granada) the lake is a crystal gem! Was a great trip up there as well, until I used the bathroom that didn't have toilet paper, water on toilet, no running water or towels and they charged me to use it....if it would have been nice I would not have complained!
Masaya....a town of great market shopping. So big I got lost inside the HUGE shed that was tunnels of stuff. People would pull me into their cubes asking what I was looking for and saying,Pase adelante (pass forward!) Didn't buy anything, no room in the heavy backpack, but so entertaining for a few hours. And don't worry as I was getting there my bus started smoking heavily and people piled out, running away fast, so needless to say I walked and opted not to take another bus there.
And my favorite story from these few days is when I was on the bus, its hot, leather seats, I'm sweating profusely and the bus money man comes along collecting. As I was near the back sitting surrounded by people standing as well, the money man decides that he should stand near me while getting money from everyone behind. So I was blessed with his armpit covering my head for at least a minute as we bounced along this road while my head was cushioned by his very large belly. I couldn't move and couldn't stop laughing. WHY ME!!!!
This city is one of the oldest and you can tell by its old colonial architecture. Spent most of my time roaming around the streets and asking questions to the locals. Found myself up in one of the many beautiful churches, in the bell tower to be exact taking in a sunset overlooking the city.
Stayed in Hotel Esfinge, and for all you local travelers headed to Granada, its a bit more expensive but you get your own room and there's a kitchen for $7. I did find another couple hotels for 6 or so, that's in a dorm.
Volcano Mombacho was amazing. The adventure just getting there was just as good. Chicken bus at 5:45am, 1.5k hike up to gates, huge cargo truck ride for 45 minutes up and then you get to start walking finally! The ElSendero Pumo hike is a 4 hours up and down hike that takes you around the 4 craters. With many look out points, its one hike to hit up for sure. For awhile I thought I was going to lose my legs.
The mirador in Catarina was stunning. It overlooks lake Apoyo, which is a crater lake that is relatively clean, compared to Lake Nicaragua (largest lake in Central America, which is a border to Granada) the lake is a crystal gem! Was a great trip up there as well, until I used the bathroom that didn't have toilet paper, water on toilet, no running water or towels and they charged me to use it....if it would have been nice I would not have complained!
Masaya....a town of great market shopping. So big I got lost inside the HUGE shed that was tunnels of stuff. People would pull me into their cubes asking what I was looking for and saying,Pase adelante (pass forward!) Didn't buy anything, no room in the heavy backpack, but so entertaining for a few hours. And don't worry as I was getting there my bus started smoking heavily and people piled out, running away fast, so needless to say I walked and opted not to take another bus there.
And my favorite story from these few days is when I was on the bus, its hot, leather seats, I'm sweating profusely and the bus money man comes along collecting. As I was near the back sitting surrounded by people standing as well, the money man decides that he should stand near me while getting money from everyone behind. So I was blessed with his armpit covering my head for at least a minute as we bounced along this road while my head was cushioned by his very large belly. I couldn't move and couldn't stop laughing. WHY ME!!!!
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Happy rice and beans!
Alive and well on the Island of OmeTepe!
Been seeing and doing some incredible things lately, more blogs to come but limited time on internet in Altagracia.
Climbed two volcanoes in the last week.
Volcan Mombocho
Volcan Maderas, holy mud and my legs are so sore....today I can barely walk!
Spent time in Granada and Masaya. Check out the mirador in Catarina. Now resting so I can climb the other volcano here. Don't worry mom, I hire guides. Yesterday my guide didn't know a thing. So not sure why!
The waterfall here is great. 40 meters high. Yes, pictures are coming.
Happy Thanksgiving to you all and I'll update more when I leave the island. That'll be on Friday.
Been seeing and doing some incredible things lately, more blogs to come but limited time on internet in Altagracia.
Climbed two volcanoes in the last week.
Volcan Mombocho
Volcan Maderas, holy mud and my legs are so sore....today I can barely walk!
Spent time in Granada and Masaya. Check out the mirador in Catarina. Now resting so I can climb the other volcano here. Don't worry mom, I hire guides. Yesterday my guide didn't know a thing. So not sure why!
The waterfall here is great. 40 meters high. Yes, pictures are coming.
Happy Thanksgiving to you all and I'll update more when I leave the island. That'll be on Friday.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Time for more adventure....
Leaving Matagalpa tomorrow and heading off to Granda, the island of Ome Tepe and the Masaya. After hiking up and around those volcanos, I plan to hit the Carribean for my first time in Central America. Going to spend a week or two on Corn Island!
Paz.
Paz.
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