Border crossing solo from Costa Rica was sketchy. No directional assistance provided by any signs, 50 dudes asking you to change your money with them, 1km walk, midday 5 min thunderstorm, mud, people telling you you have to pay them $5 to buy a piece of paper for official documents and entry fees but are fake. Im so glad i know enough spanish and street smarts to get through these things without major issues. Once I entered Nicaragua, I went to the bus station where every taxi driver offers you 'the best price!' and a fat Nica woman shouted at me to buy her food. Im not patronizing anyone, especially you, if you scream at me. Ever. So i shouted back at her 'dont yell at me!' and walked away. she looked mad. Took a Bus to Rivas, taxi to the bank to change my american dollars, taxi to the ferry port for Ometepe.
1. Ometepe - ojo de agua, motorcycles, and horseback riding
On the ferry, I met two Brits, Tom and Hannah. we chatted briefly and together we went to Hospidaje Soma bc Tom had researched hostels on tripadvisor prior to arriving. It was a really sweet place run by a German guy named Zkini, pronounced Skinny. That afternoon I headed to an internet cafe and catch up with Grants plans to arrive the following day. He and Hannah #2, were coming the following day. In the morning tom hannah #1 and i went to Ojo de agua, the natural spring pool. It was a beautiful chickenbus ride there and the water was super crystal clear. Pretty cool. They had a rope swing and good food, and met some canadians that had rented motorcycles that day. That planted the seed in my brain. We hitchhiked in the back of a pickup to Moyogalpa, the town in Ometepe where we were staying. Ran into Grant and Hannah #2 as they were snacking and we discussed renting motorcycles, horseback riding, and looking at petroglyphs on the island.
The next day, we went over to swiss family robinsons, the motorcylce rental store. not actually the name but thats what we decided upon. They gave us bikes for $25 for the day plus gas and gave us a little 20 minute lesson on driving motorcycles and stick shift vehicles. Short and sweet. We all did a little trial run into town and then we were good to go. Luckily for us the road was paved for the next 45 min and without traffic except for the occasional, pig, chicken, cow, horse, dog, or cat. It was a crazy day. Getting some confidence up, we went faster and faster on the paved section and then headed south toward the other volcano on the island. the road deteriorates quickly and we are bouncing along on a rocky and muddy road, which is really scary for just learning how to ride motorcycles. I was very uneasy, nervous, and uncomfortable with the whole thing. On the dirt and rocks I never felt great about it, but its probably a transfer of the same issues from mountain biking. Anyway, grant had a more powerful bike and was super confident in his skills so was often very far ahead of hannah #2 and I. plus, my bike had some issues starting once it was off and i learned 4 or 5 different tricks to start it without the normal electric start button. frustrating and stressful for the time. we went to San Ramon to hike up to a sweet waterfall, which took an hour each way. We rode our bikes a little up the hill but I crashed and tipped over at one point, burning my calf on the engine and spilling gas on the ground. luckily hannah and grant were 15 feet in front of me and had issues going up a steep part so we all parked our bikes and walked the rest of the way. The waterfall was great, not very much volume of water but it was an extremely long drop for the water, at the top of a volcanic mountain. spectacular. we got in the water which was not very deep and gross on the bottom full of dead leaves and mud. we hiked back down and rode the motorcycles back in a massive hurry as we didnt want to be late and owe more money for the rentals. because of this emphasis on hurrying, grant and hannah were flying over the bumps and for fear of getting left behind i followed suit. bumping and bouncing over all kinds of rocks and hills at a quick rate, scary but maybe a little smoother than the way there because of the speed. we got back with no problems with the exception of grant forgetting how to break and crashing his bike pretty badly. he had to pay $125 or $150 to get it repaired once we returned it.
The next day Grant didnt want to horseback ride so he went to bus it around the island in search of petroglyphs while hannah #2 and I went for the afternoon horseback ride. Tom and Hannah #1 joined us and it was great. Tom had never ridden before and Hannah #1 said she was good, and Hannah #2 rode english as a kid. turns out, hannah #1 was really tentative and nervous the whole time and tom did pretty well for his first time. The guide spent most of the time helping them at the beginning while hannah #2 and i galloped back and forth between the group a few kms ahead so we could still have our fun while being part of the group. our guide, Javier, was great. he grew up in Moyogalpa herding cattle and various stuff with his family and learned this path up Volcan Concepcion from that. we went from walking on a pretty wide path to a single track walking trail for about an hour and it got steeper and steeper, next to a cattle fence and ducking trees. it was great. we got to near the top and left our horses tied up as we hiked up higher to get a sweet viewpoint into the volcanic lava flow area where it all goes when it erupts. looks like a faultline in the earth. we had an awesome time and it was getting dark on our way back down, with hannah #1 going reaaaally slow so hannah #2 and i pretty much sprinted back down the volcano in a continuous gallop. it was so much fun just flying on my trusty steed, Domino. Horses and motorcycles are so similar. Pretty much the same feeling except the horse gives you more attitude. I need to either have a horse, a motorcycle, or both when i finally get my life together. we met up with grant and ate dinner, relaxed, and left the next morning for Granada. It was on this bus ride from Rivas to Granada where i first conciously witnessed people litering out the windows of the bus. disgusting.
2. Granada- old city, clean shave at a barber shop, eating every meal at one restaurant, seeing vail people, Laguna de Apoyo
From now on, hannah #2 is the only hannah. Grant hannah and i got to Granada midafternoon and it was incredibly hot. Almost unbearable for me. I still am not fond of hot places. We found a hostel, hospidaje libertad, the worst hostel ive ever been to. we got a room with 3 beds and a bathroom inside, but it was terrible and the kitchen was pretty much nonexistent there. we walked around granada, looked at the architecture, took some pictures, and went to the 007 barberia to get a shave. i had a kid who looked 15 and grant had some old dude. we both came to the consensus that it hurts a lot and didnt need to be done again, but it was worthwhile. it cost us about $2.50USD which was super cheap in our minds. the architecture was pretty amazing there, bright colors and old buildings and wrought iron.
the next day we went to Laguna de Apoyo which is a crater lake heated by the volcanic earth. its nearly uncomfortable to swim in because the water is so warm. we found a hot spring bubbling out of the earth and made a little retaining wall with rocks in the water to try to make a little pool or hottub with the hot water. kind of successful, not that deep but fun. we also found pumice stone which was very lightweight and floated in the water. I think i still have mine as a souvenir in my bag, if i can find it. we left the following morning for Leon.
3. Leon - old city, street food, volcano boarding at Cerro Negro - very dirty
After a quick bus to Managua from Granada, and a bus transfer there to Leon, Grant and I arrived around 1pm. Hannah left us to go back south. Leon is another old colonial city like Granada, similar architecture style just less refurbished. The buildings are dirtier and have more character. we checked into la tortuga booluda, the lazy turtle, a very nice hostel after leaving the dump in granada. We walked around the town the day we arrived, checked out the buildings and ate some street food for dinner that gave me digestion issues as expected. we signed up for volcano boarding through a different hostel, Bigfoot, for the next day with our newly made friend Ida from Sweden i think. maybe holland, i cant remember. we got some sleep and left early to get in the big orange truck in the photos, heading toward Volcan Cerro Negro. Its an interesting volcano considering that almost every volcano weve seen is covered in vegetation, not just black rock. Volcano boarding is similar to sledding. On a wooden contraption you slide down the rock face of the volcano at speeds up to 80 or 90 kph, if you know what you are doing. My speed was 43kph, the fastest of the day. and it makes you filthy. i had dirt and rocks in my scalp, nose, eyes, ears, and shirt even though we were wearing goggles and the one piece jumpsuit to protect us. I brought my go pro and got a great video. we finished at the hostel, hung out with more people we met like Frank and his girlfriend from virginia, went to lunch and then relaxed at the hostel for the night planning our next moves. grant headed toward honduras and i was going towards el salvador and guatemala first.
interesting thoughts about the trip.:
-oversaturating of all service and product industrys. one taxi leads to 100 taxis, 1 person selling bananas or random food on the bus means 100 will be doing it, street food vendors as well. same with beggers. which leads to nobody making any money.
-little kids dont have babydolls bc they have baby brothers and sisters. young girls pretty much raise their siblings while mom cooks and does the rest of the housework
didnt really notice people throwing trash on the ground til nicaragua/honduras/el salvador. super common and gross, right out the window of the bus.
traveled through southwest honduras in one afternoon. beautiful countryside but just dirty. now in san miguel, el salvador and its supposedly extremely dangerous so Im going to bed soon to leave early in the morning for surfing
things i miss about the US:
-cold milk. i want a gallon, right now.
-driving
-air conditioning, hot water, and feeling clean for more than 25 minutes directly after showering
-getting places quickly
-free drinking water
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