Ok, So I'm no longer on the the Isla de Ometepe and back on the mainland of Nicaragua in Granada..
The rest of the time on the Island was pretty relaxing... we stayed a couple of days in Moyogalpa and just explored around town and out into the tiny villages and farms that surround it... We met a woman by the name of Sue who is from Washington State and actually just moved to the island.. She said she had visited Nicaragua two years ago and absolutely fell in love with the Island and with Moyogalpa.. and she moved there without knowing much Spanish at all.. which gives me a lil hope from improving my speaking ability a little more while I'm here.
After we got a little restless in Moyogalpa (you can only watch soo many horse drawn carts make there way down main street) we caught a few of the ancient buses that cross the island and with a little town hoping we managed to make it down to the town of Merida, which is on the south end of the island on the other volcano. I use the term "town" very loosely here since there wasn't much of a town at all. We stayed at the Monkey Island hostel that is run by an amazingly nice and hospitable family. Believe it or not it is located across from Monkey Island which has a troop of extremely violent monkeys on it... people are afraid to go to it since everyone who has in the recent years has been attacked by this group of monkeys that are stranded on this island an unable to find enough food for them selves...The first day we were there we were the only ones staying in the whole place so we just lounged around and read books and tried our best to talk with the family who were hard at work cleaning/painting/cooking/etc... The eldest son actually spoke a bit of English so we were able to talk with him later that night over dinner for a bit. It turns out he works at the hostel 6 days a week and has a 5 hour commute to go to University in Rivas 1 day a week...
While we were staying in Merida we also hiked a couple of hours up into the Jungle to what was supposed to be an amazing waterfall but turned out to be just so-so since the country is experiencing a drought right now... never the less swimming under the water fall brought some much needed relief from the heat...
Today we walked North out of Merida and caught a bus headed back to the North Island... we were planning on staying another day in Moyogalpa but once we made it into town we figured we would have enough time to finish the last leg of the journey up to Granada where we are now... The bus ride from Merida to Moyogalpa was probably one of the worst ones I've been on... We were in an old U.S. School bus (which is the standard mode of transportation down here... after they're deemed unsafe for school kids they go to the raft companies... once they are deemed unsafe for the raft companies they come to Central America...) anyways... the bus was probably designed to fit 40 passengers... so naturally we had about 70 people on board... and just when I thought it wasn't possible to cram any more people aboard... sure enough the bus stopped and let some more on... Not to mention the fact that it is still well over 90 degrees here with a 200% humidity... So about after 2 hours on the bus and a few more stops the girl who was squeezed into the small seat with both Paul and I leans over and pukes everywhere... and we still had about an hour left on the bus... full of people.. smelling like puke... gotta love traveling...
So, after that wonderful bus ride we hopped on a ferry to make the hour long crossing of Lago De Nicaragua... in a rickety old ship that had a permanent lean to the right... and probably travels at 2 knots... at least the sun was out and we had amazing views of the volcanos....
Then we hopped into a taxi and were dropped off in the middle of the market in Rivas and had to find the Bus Station on our own. I actually enjoyed Rivas, or atleast the little bit of it I saw. It was fun to be in such a lively atmosphere again... with people yelling out the items that they are trying to sell.. people chasing you down trying to get you in there taxi... trying to sell you shoes... or drugs... just the whole deal was pretty fun.. and then we found the bus station which was its own mini-market...Tons and tons of vendors were circling around hawking anything from sodas to little bags of chicken and rice to underwear and shoes... and the parade didn't just stick to the bus station.. they were constantly climbing onto and off of buses ... even as they were pulling out of the station people were hopping on and off... and there method does work. After sitting there for about 45 minutes.. in that stagnant, too hot to handle bus, even I was willing to shell out a couple of Cordoba just to buy a drink or an ice cream... anything to bring a bit of relief from the heat... no wonder beards aren't in style in Central America...
After wandering around Granada for a bit we found the Bearded Monkey Hostel which has a pretty sweet deal on Dorms right now and it even includes free internet and coffee... so if you want me to reply to an email send it to me soon!
Tomorrow we are going to wander around this beautiful city and hopefully get a little bit lost...
Monday, October 19, 2009
Friday, October 16, 2009
San Jose - Punta Arenas - Penas Blancas - San Jorge - Moyogalpa
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...
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...
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
San Jose - Turrialba - Siquirres -Puerto Limon - Puerto Veijo
I figure I better do a lil update since I have been down here for almost a week and haven't posted anything yet...
So I met Paul in Atlanta where we boarded our flight to San Jose. It was an easy 3 hour flight that was only slightly terrifying when we hit a bit of turbulence and the plane felt like it was falling out of the sky a couple of times. When we landed in San Jose we had the hostel we were staying at pick us up, as did about 12 other people who were staying at the same place.
Things seemed to be going pretty smoothly till I woke up the next morning and was unable to find my debit card and about $40.00 that I had in my wallet.. I only had the wallet out a couple of times the night before but I couldn't figure out when or where someone may have been able to get a-hold of it... Needless to say I spent the majority of my first day trying to cancel my card and figure out how I was going to gain access to my money while I'm down here... Thanks to email and Pay Pal I think I have the whole thing sorted out for now...
Other then that Paul and I roamed around San Jose which is a pretty modern and clean city...to a degree.. (If you ignore all the drug dealers and prostitutes ..and the fact that most of the buildings are built like fortresses complete with iron cages and razor wire strung everywhere). There are dozens of parks scattered throughout and it's pretty easy to find your way around...Even though most of the streets aren't labeled and everything that is is in Spanish.. I´m enjoying being back in a country full of speeding diesel buses, turcks, and cars and all the raging horns.
Turns out not knowing Spanish and traveling out of the touristy areas is a bit trickier then I had thought it would be... So far we have managed to get by on our brief knowledge of a few key phrases and a lot of hand gestures.
We booked a bus from San Jose to Turrialba, which is supposedly the epicenter for the rafting industry down here... but it doesn't seem like a lot of people are traveling down there right now since I'm pretty sure we were the only two English speaking people in Turrialba and the rafting companies we could find were all closed...
We found ourselves a cheap hotel... which was more like a room located above a bar... and a very rowdy bar at that. There was a big soccer game on tv that night and everyone partied late into the early hours of the morning after Costa Rica's team was victorious...
The next morning... with the music and the yelling of the prior evening still ringing in our ears we packed up and originally were just going to find some coffee... but we ended up boarding a bus to Siquirres and towards the coast..
From there we also found a bus to Puerto Limon with the help from two girls who are down here working for Peace Corps.. and then caught another bus down to Puerto Veijo where we are now.
Puerto Veijo is more of a surfer/party town, especailly on the weekends. Right now it's pretty quiet around here since most people have gone back to the cities for the work week. We are staying in a hamock hotel... basically a paviallion with dozens of hamocks strung up (not a lot of privacy) and cold water showers which is located right on the beach just outside of town. Turns out the walk into town isn´t exactly safe at night, or I guess anytime for that matter, and muggings happen pretty regularly.. one of the girls we have been hanging out with had a knife to her throat just the other night...That and there may be even more drugs offered to us on a Daily basis then even in the city of San Jose.. but that may have to do with the large amount of drugs that are trafficked along the carribean coast.. Other then that it´s a pretty nice place where people just lounge around all day and read in between surf sessions.
We have been here for a couple of days now and are planing to stay atleast another night until we figure out which way we are headed next... I really haven't been taking a ton of photos but I'll try to get some posted up here soon...
So I met Paul in Atlanta where we boarded our flight to San Jose. It was an easy 3 hour flight that was only slightly terrifying when we hit a bit of turbulence and the plane felt like it was falling out of the sky a couple of times. When we landed in San Jose we had the hostel we were staying at pick us up, as did about 12 other people who were staying at the same place.
Things seemed to be going pretty smoothly till I woke up the next morning and was unable to find my debit card and about $40.00 that I had in my wallet.. I only had the wallet out a couple of times the night before but I couldn't figure out when or where someone may have been able to get a-hold of it... Needless to say I spent the majority of my first day trying to cancel my card and figure out how I was going to gain access to my money while I'm down here... Thanks to email and Pay Pal I think I have the whole thing sorted out for now...
Other then that Paul and I roamed around San Jose which is a pretty modern and clean city...to a degree.. (If you ignore all the drug dealers and prostitutes ..and the fact that most of the buildings are built like fortresses complete with iron cages and razor wire strung everywhere). There are dozens of parks scattered throughout and it's pretty easy to find your way around...Even though most of the streets aren't labeled and everything that is is in Spanish.. I´m enjoying being back in a country full of speeding diesel buses, turcks, and cars and all the raging horns.
Turns out not knowing Spanish and traveling out of the touristy areas is a bit trickier then I had thought it would be... So far we have managed to get by on our brief knowledge of a few key phrases and a lot of hand gestures.
We booked a bus from San Jose to Turrialba, which is supposedly the epicenter for the rafting industry down here... but it doesn't seem like a lot of people are traveling down there right now since I'm pretty sure we were the only two English speaking people in Turrialba and the rafting companies we could find were all closed...
We found ourselves a cheap hotel... which was more like a room located above a bar... and a very rowdy bar at that. There was a big soccer game on tv that night and everyone partied late into the early hours of the morning after Costa Rica's team was victorious...
The next morning... with the music and the yelling of the prior evening still ringing in our ears we packed up and originally were just going to find some coffee... but we ended up boarding a bus to Siquirres and towards the coast..
From there we also found a bus to Puerto Limon with the help from two girls who are down here working for Peace Corps.. and then caught another bus down to Puerto Veijo where we are now.
Puerto Veijo is more of a surfer/party town, especailly on the weekends. Right now it's pretty quiet around here since most people have gone back to the cities for the work week. We are staying in a hamock hotel... basically a paviallion with dozens of hamocks strung up (not a lot of privacy) and cold water showers which is located right on the beach just outside of town. Turns out the walk into town isn´t exactly safe at night, or I guess anytime for that matter, and muggings happen pretty regularly.. one of the girls we have been hanging out with had a knife to her throat just the other night...That and there may be even more drugs offered to us on a Daily basis then even in the city of San Jose.. but that may have to do with the large amount of drugs that are trafficked along the carribean coast.. Other then that it´s a pretty nice place where people just lounge around all day and read in between surf sessions.
We have been here for a couple of days now and are planing to stay atleast another night until we figure out which way we are headed next... I really haven't been taking a ton of photos but I'll try to get some posted up here soon...
Friday, September 25, 2009
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
