Nicaragua

My most recent adventure was to Nicaragua. The purpose, to renew visas. Mission accomplished, and then some. The original plan was to head to Panama, but there just wasn't enough time. You should never be rushed on vacation, even if vacation is only a weekend long.

To summarize, it took, a bus, a hostel, a taxi, a bus, several taxes, numerous border checkpoints, another bus, another taxi and a ferry to get to our final destination, the beautiful island (really, two volcanos) of Ometepe in Mar Dulce (Lake Nicaragua). The hot, blistering and yet humid climate of Nicaragua is very different from the cool, wet Monteverde I've grown accustomed to. That being said, the heat was by no means unwelcome. As you may know, as much as I complain while in it, I dig the heat.

So, back to the adventure. We finally arrived by ferry and wearily staggered up the last few blocks to our hostel, Indio Viejo. We mumbled our way through check-in and plodded down the hall to our room. Once we claimed our beds, we stepped outside to check out the hammocks. I doused myself with bug-spray and settled in for a much needed nap. 4 hours later, I awoke. I was still tired but after conferring with my comrades, we all agreed that food trumped all and we went out in search of sustenance. But first, ice cream. I really like eating ice cream before my meals. I also like eating it after. Actually, I just love eating ice cream. It's delicious. Always.

After ice cream came food. My salad was the best part. Soooooo yummy Fresh veggies, and normal cheese. None of this smelly crumbly stuff. We spent a ridiculous amount of time at the restaurant. We played high-jack (world's best card game, I'll explain sometime) and listened to amazing music. Seriously. It was Coldplay, Norah Jones, etc. all put to Salsa music. If I ever find it again, I will be sure to let you know. It changed my life.

Sunday was the real adventure. After breakfast, we rented a motorcyle and a scooter and headed to Ojo de Agua (eye of water). We got caught in a huge rainstorm but eventually made it. It was beautiful!!! The water was clear and cool and it was surrounded by so much lush vegetation! The pictures don't do it justice. At all. Despues (after), we decided to take an alternate route back to the hostel. We knew the road would be rough, but we had no idea just how bad it would really be. Good story now, but soooooo bad at the time. As you already know, we're on an island volcano so naturally, the rock is volcanic. This makes for very tough going on a scooter. Not too bad for a moto, but on the scooter, it was bad news. It took nearly 3 hours getting back to our hostel when it had only taken 1 hour going. We got stuck a couple times and local kids laughed at us. But you know, I was laughing too. Then we took a wrong turn and stopped to ask for directions. An older drunk man came and told us where to go and then he tried to kiss me. Luckily, my reflexes were in working order and I shoved him away. Crisis and violation averted.

After returning our rentals, we grabbed a bite to eat and hit the hay. Another early morning and a full day of various kinds of transportation landed us safely back in Monteverde, all before dinner time. A weekend, chalk full of memories, never to be forgotten.