Nicaragua

This week has been a whirlwind of traveling and adventuring in Nicaragua. Cristina and I started in Granada- a close competitor with Antigua for my favorite Central American city. It was gorgeous. We climbed the town bell tower early in the morning and were the only two up there. Their were views of all the churches in town and lake Nicaragua.

We went to the insane market, which we later had to run through with our packs in order to catch a bus that wasn't actually running. I am positive that we must have been a hilarious sight for the locals. We meet some people to share a cab with us, and then headed to the ferry for Isla de Ometepe, the largest lake island in the world. It is formed by two volcanoes connected by an isthmus. Absolutely gorgeous.


We stayed at Finca Magdalena, a rustic farm in the boonies. It was a 2 1/2 hour bus ride down a bumpy dirt road to the town, which consisted of two living room style stores, and then a 2 km walk uphill to the farm. But it was awesome once we got there. The first day we climbed the volcano. Instead of having switchback trails like in the states, here the path just goes straight up the mountain. It was a cloud forest, so the trail was ridiculously muddy. We were up to our ankles most of the hike. We got to the top 4 hours later, which is just a peak in the trail, no viewpoint, and not even a sign! So we climbed a tree for a spectacular view of the lake, and the climbed down and even steeper trail into the crater. We had lunch by the lake before beginning the trek down which proved to be quite entertaining. It was just as difficult as going up, due to all the mud, and a girl in our group fell a good 5 times.

The next day we went the beach and rode horses to the local watering hole, constructed out of a natural spring enclosed with cement and surrounded by hammocks, a rope swing, and a snack bar. Two friends, Ben and Tara, from our Team Costa Rica Part 1 travels met us at the finca that night, which turned into quite the party scene due to Semana Santa (Holy Week). The locals go to church all day and then drink all night for the whole week. We mastered the drinking part, but spent the days at the beach. We also spent lots of time hitchhiking and in the back of sketchy trucks due to lack of transport on the island. Hold on for dear life! Also of note, I met a guy from Sandpoint!

So once again, I am back in Ciudad Colon uploading photos and recovering from traveling. School starts again on Monday so perhaps I will have some more intellectual posts...