So I am now in Moyogalpa, Nicaragua, which is on an island in the middle of Lago de Nicaragua... and took quiet a bit of work to get here from San Jose...
We woke up pretty early to try and catch a bus to the border which left from Coca Cola terminal on the west side of San Jose.. not a really nice are to be lost and wandering around for an hour but at least it wasn´t raining. We again ran into the problem of streets not being labeled and to add to the troubles they weren't exactly in a grid pattern on this end of town either.. The better option would have been to opt for a cab set up by the hostel but that would also have cost way too much money so we decided to hoof it.
After wandering for about 45 minutes we tried to ask a guy on the street for directions and he seemed to know what we were talking about but said we had just missed the bus leaving from the terminal and that he could get a cab to the next terminal for us... which in my mind raises and immediate red flag.. you never want to get into a cab that someone else has called for you on his cell phone... after trying to talk with him a little bit more Paul and I decided to duck into a small cafe and get a cup of coffee and decide what to do since the next bus wasn´t supposed to leave for another 2 hours.. (the cafe turned out to actually be more of a bar and had a surprisingly large amount of people drinking and doing shots seeing as it was only 7:30 in the morning...) We had a quick cup of nasty instant coffee and as we were leaving the guy who we had talked to before said that we still hadn´t missed the bus from the next terminal and that we should hop in the cab that was sitting right there... we again turned him down and headed the way he said the station was located in a sort of half running/speed walking fashion trying to make it there in time... Well as it turns out the guy who tried to get us in the cab followed us there in his car making sure we found it ok and kept pointing us the right way... and we think he even had called the bus station to hold the bus for us until we made it there...
The bus ride was a long 5 hour ride out of the city and north towards the border with a short stop in Punta Arenas... Every time the bus would stop someone would hop on and try to sell you something.. anything from fruit to dvds to booklets on how to speak English... It was a pretty drive that ducked in and out of the mountains and among lots of rolling green hills and jungle...
We made it to the border... We made it through the Costa Rican customs just fine but had a little bit more of a difficulty on the Nicaraguan side.. Of course there were tons of touts trying to sell you things or convince you to change your money or hop in there taxis...
After trying to negotiate a far price for a taxi to San Jorge we were on our way and some how also managed to find our way onto a ferry that was headed to Isla De Omtepe and the town of Moyogalpa where we are now...
Isla De Omtepe is a huge island made up of two volcanoes that connect in the middle by a tiny isthmus... It´s a gorgeous place so far and the jungle is full of fascinating animals. The lake that its in is Lago De Nicaragua and is one of the largest lakes in the world... It´s only 20 Km from the Pacific Ocean yet it drains into the Atlantic via a river that goes through Costa Rica making it an important trade route in the past and now.. There are actually sharks in the lake that have adapted to be able to swim in both salt and fresh water and have made there way up from the Atlantic Ocean.
This morning Paul and I were up pretty early and attempted to hike up as far a we could on one of the Volcanoes... knowing that we probably weren´t going to make it all the way to the top since it was already getting waaay to hot out. The trails here are definitely not marked and they braid in and out of each other which makes it pretty difficult to find your way along... we ended up running out of trail and decided to follow what looked to be a lava flow and see how far we could get. Along the way we saw dozens of Green and Blue Parrots and even more different species of butterflies and Lizards... We were eventually blocked by a group of rowdy Howler monkeys who getting pretty aggressive towards us when we tried to pass and even seemed to be charging down the trees at us at one point... so we turned around satisfied with seeing soo much wildlife and not making it very high on the Volcano... although we are going to attempt to climb it again tomorrow via a different route...
That's all for now... Its about 95 degrees and extremely humid down here... Hopefully its a little bit more comfortable where you are...
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We are planning on going from San Jose to Isla de Ometepe in February. I loved what you wrote and am looking forward to the trip!
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