Backfill - Ometepe (volcano island)

Boat ride to the island.

Don't know the people in the photo.

The ferry was super rickity. Check out the smoke stack.

My new crew for about a week or so.

Guy from Isreal, Doro from Germany and Jass from Quebec.

We stayed at this place called Finca Magdalina. Basically a big sprawling whitewashed farm house. This is the dorm room, really the beds were cotts.

More of the cool farm house.

We climbed the smaller Volcano and it almost killed us. Here is some mud.

Backfill - Ruby's Birthday

Ruby's Birthday...good times. This is us ready to go out. Yes, that is a rum bottle pinata.

Rad photo of Ruby and a random dude.

Backfill - Little Corn Island again

This is the crew (that's rockin Ruby from Chicago) eating lobster tail at the Cuban place.
It's goood.


And then we part ways for a while, I stay, David and Ruby go onwards.

Me, chillin in a hamock, sustaining insect bites.

Backfill - Corn Islands, more than a month ago

This was ages ago, but wow! Little Corn Island is off the hook.

The photographs almost capture how sweet the beach is.

The island has this cool rustic, real thing going on.

The Ceramic Bar (as named by me). Several good nights eating and / or drinking here.

These girls were fans of David.

NOW

In Cartagena Colombia. Got here on a sail boat from Panama. There were 7 people on board for the 7 day trip including the captain. Only up chucked once on the first day. It was a great regurgitation. Other people on board were English, Irish and Scottish. Was a very good crew.

If possible, it is even hotter here. The hostel is barely tollerable - stuffy and shower floods the floor. Someone should set a weather widget to Cartagena and see what it says. I am guessing 35c.

My passport got sent to the wrong boat, so had to go to marina yesterday and pick it up. Had a beer with Captain Fabian and all is well.

Just dropped off a bag of mildewing laundry from the boat trip. My flip flops ripped getting out of a taxi, which truely sucks.

The fruit juice is excellent here and the street food is working. Going for breakfast now. Going to have eggs with a cheese like substance, and guanabana (soursop) juice.

WEEK 8

WEEK 8 - Isla de Ometepe and San Juan del Sur
- Ruby and I catch the 7am boat from Little Corn to Big Corn
- at the airport, we luck out and get in on standby for the morning flight
- an hour later, we´re landing in Bluefields (as I see a guy actually filling up a barf-bag as we land ... guess the puddle-jumper doesn´t agree with some people ... maybe he had a hangover)
- we stay on the plane as a couple more people board, then we´re off again to Managua
- from the captial, we immediately grab a taxi to Granada (costly, but we were trying to get a LOT of travel in on this day)
- people joke about how many times they tend to stop and stay in Granada ... this was only my second time stopping there, and I spent maybe half a day total there ... still, it´s a nice town ... similar colonial feel as Leon, but somehow "nicer"
- we had a really cheap and yummy (and huge) lunch at the restaurant across from Amigos hostel (where we knew Laura was staying, but go figure, she´d gone to Crater´s Edge for a day trip ... we left her a note)
- we then headed to the dock at the edge of town, where we caught a ferry for Ometepe (an island in the middle of Lake Nicaragua, with a volcano at each end, with towns scattered along the lakeshore between the volcanoes) ... it was a pretty big coincidence that we were even able to do this ... the fairy runs at 2pm every Monday and Wednesday ... that´s it!
- the four (or more) hour ride across Lake Nicaragua was fairly peaceful and relaxing ... even though there wasn´t much in the way of actually chairs
- we got a spectacular sunset towards the end of the trip - the sun turned a crazy shade of blood red ... and it was next having the sun behind us, with a huge volcano in front of us
- then things got a little hairy ... we actually hit land after the sun had gone down, so it was completely dark
- we were in one of the main towns in Ometepe, Altagracia ... we started asking if we could get to Playa Santo Domingo ... a 30 minute drive, but the mini-bus people were saying $25!!! We refused that absurdity, and we moved on to find a taxi
- as the last bus left, little did we know there were NO taxis!! Suddenly, we found ourselves stuck at a boat dock (at least 20 minutes walk from town, down a very dark and ominous looking gravel road), without any clue what we were going to do
- luckily, the last vehicle there (a truck with sacks of rice in it) offered us a bumpy ride into town, for $1 each
- we got dropped off at a hotel on the main road, and it turned out to be pretty nice for pretty cheap ... so we called it night
- next day, we took a bus to Santo Domingo for all of $2.50!
- we checked into a hostel, and it all seemed pretty nice ... a gazillion hammocks, a decent looking beach ... BUT there were these aphid-esque bugs EVERYWHERE ... the hotel manager said, dont´worry, they don´t bite ... but there were so many by the door to our room, that it was impossible not to be covered in them any time we went in or out ... and there were a bunch of them on our beds, etc. ... it got WAY worse towards dusk ... thousands and thousands of them ... in your eyes, up your nose, in your mouth ... it seriously make staying there a pain in the butt
- at the same time, Ruby managed to forget her PASSPORT(!!! ... sin of all sins!) ... luckily, she left it in Altagracia, so she was able to bus there and back in just a couple of hours
- in the meantime, I walked around and discovered there really wasn´t much of a town, no real store, and only a couple (expensive) restaurants
- I also went for a dip in the lake ... it wasn´t cold, but it didn´t come close to competing with Laguna de Apoyo and Little Corn
- we stayed for the night, and then headed to the south side of the island the next morning, to check out Charco Verde
- we caught a bus right in front of the hostel in Santo Domingo, so that was nice ... but the bus dropped us off nowhere near anything other than a sign for Charco Verde ... so we had a long walk, hauling our bags (did I ever mention that Ruby was hauling the biggest/heaviest backpack anyone has ever seen!?) along this winding dirt road ... and we eventually wound up at the Charco Verde Nature Reserve (and Hotel)
- the place was pretty huge, and I guess it seemed a bit swanky ... when we asked for a room, the price was astronomical (especially when we looked at the room, and there was nothing at all appealing about it)
- at the same time, the weather turned sour ... wind and rain and dark cloudy gloom
- we ate and the restaurant there ... overpriced mediocre food ... and right there and then, we need it was time to say goodbye and good riddance to Ometepe (granted, a LOT of people we met had similarly unenjoyable experiences at Ometepe, but many people also love the place ... I think we may have been hit with bad timing in general - bugs, weather, etc. ... when Isaac and Doro went later, they loved it ... but yeah, I´m not eager to ever go back ... so many great places in Nicaragua, but I can´t say I´d put Ometepe on that list)
- we overheard some older people had booked the hotel van to get to Moyogalpa (the other (and bigger) main town on the island, and the way to/from San Jorge and the mainland to the south), so we piggybacked off them, and got dropped off at the docks for about $1 each
- the ferry ride to San Jorge is much shorter than the one from Granada ... you can see the mainland from Moyogalpa ... and from San Jorge, you can see pretty much the entire south side of Isla de Ometepe
- from San Jorge, it´s about 30 minutes to bypass Rivas and get into San Juan del Sur (by taxi)
- we got dropped off in front of the hostel Casa Oro, and things were suddenly looking much better (very similar to arriving at Crater´s Edge from Leon)
- overall, the hostel isn´t amazing, but it is pretty nice, and it´s only a block away from the beach (and just a few blocks away from most of the night action) ... we checked out a private room, but it wasn´t going to work for us ... but staying in the upstairs dorms was pretty decent ... the hostel also ran a bunch of the tours and shuttles in the area (zip-line, surfing, other beaches, etc.), and it had six computers with FAST internet (fastest we´d seen in Central America), free to use
- pretty much the only real complaint anyone has about Casa Oro is that they make you wear these stupid wrist straps (that can´t be removed), to prove you´re staying there
- so we walk around, and there are decent stores a block or so away for snack and drinks, there is decent shopping (Ruby needed an outfit for her birthday), yummy food all over the place, and some pretty cool bars on the beach
- as evening approached, we decided to head up the hill to this big resort hotel, called Pelican Eyes (Piedras y Olas) ... thanks to Laura, we learned that they have this amazing happy hour on Wednesdays (and by complete coincidence, we happened to arrive on a Wednesday) ... the 2for1 drinks were spectacular, and the view of the city and the ocean was amazing, especially at sunset ... the bar is by a gorgeous swimming pool, and the hotel gives off a distinct high-end resort feel (even the urinals were filled with ice cubes and slices of lime) ... and it turns out they have the same happy hour on Fridays, so we already knew we´d be returning
- then we heard a rumour that people who aren´t staying at the resort can still use the pool during the day ... so we wound up spending a couple of glorious days there, laying in the sun, cooling off in the pool, and enjoying the view and the tranquility of it all ... that is until they finally informed us we were supposed to pay to use the pool (more than we were paying for an entire night at the hostel!) ... we never paid, but that was the end of our daytime fun at the resorty ... so then we had to settle for heading to the ocean, where the sand was decent and the water was so-so
- along with getting sun, the daily tradition was to head over to the restaurant Big Wave Dave´s, for super yummy and super cheap food (be it breakfast or brunch) ... we also had dinner there a couple of times, because the food there was simply that good
- another dinner hit was sitting at a restaurant patio, overlooking the ocean ... and eating delicious fish and shrimp
- Ruby and I also discovered an evening basketball league, played on an outdoor court near the beach (under the bright lights) ... we watched a game, and Ruby picked one of the local guys to be her "boo" - turns out he runs one of the bars in town - but Ruby had competition from an older tattoo shop and biker bar owning Canadian chick who had just bought property in San Juan del Sur
- three days flew by in a fun-filled blur, and suddenly it was Saturday - the day before Ruby´s 26th birthday, on the 26th of April (but we´d already decided to celebrate her b´day on Saturday night) ... she was determined to make her "golden birthday" a night no one would forget, and she succeeded
- Isaac and Doro showed up in the early afternoon, and we recruited the others in our dorm room to join the celebrations, including a German girl named Sinikka - who hit it over with Doro immediately
- earlier in the week, we´d found a woman who does customized piñatas (for cheap), and we got her to make a pretty huge replica of a Flor de Caña bottle ... the Nicaraguan rum that we´d all become *very* familiar with in the past couple of weeks
- we filled the piñata with cheap candies, and Ruby carried it around with her and we hopped from bar to bar ... first Iguana; then Tsunami; and finally (in the wee morning hours) we ended up at the dance club called the Crazy Crab ... there, they strung up the Piñata from the high rafters, and Ruby went to town trying to bash the living daylights out of it
- when the piñata finally broke, it was unreal how quickly the local people moved ... within about 30 seconds, ALL the candy was nowhere to be found ... absolutely crazy
- we drank and danced the night away, and got home at some ridiculous hour in the morning
- everything in San Juan del Sur seemed very easy going and relaxed ... and we thought it was safe ... a bit of a wake-up call occurred the very next night, when three girls (who were at the same bar as us, and left maybe 30 minutes after we did) got mugged on the way back to Casa Oro ... apparently, one girl had a knife held to her neck!! Sickening to the stomach, especially when you consider we´d been walking those same streets every night (not to mention just a few minutes before they got mugged) ... she only had a bit of money stolen, but she was definitely emotionally traumatized ... the next night, the beach streets were suddenly populated with quite a few police
- the rest of the time in San Juan del Sur was more of the same ... beach, sun, food and drinks
- one day, Isaac, Ruby and myself did a zip-line canopy tour ... 17 zip-lines over the mountain-side to the east of San Juan del Sur ... definitely not as elaborate as many of the canopy tours people talk about in Costa Rica, but it was much cheaper (and because of Ruby´s fast approaching fly-home date out of Panama City, we already knew there wasn´t going to be much time in Costa Rica anyway) ... it was pretty fun - definitely doing once to see what it´s like
- days came and went in San Juan del Sur faster than anywhere else ... suddenly we´d been there for almost a week, and I was in no hurry to leave
- however, after days of trying, Ruby got a hold of her host mom in Costa Rica (she had done a long homestay in Costa Rica about 3 years ago), and it turned out she was about to fly to the States in a couple of days, so we had to leave the very next morning, if Ruby was going to get a chance to see her before she left
- Doro and Isaac had plans to see Ometepe ... and after that, Doro wanted to take Spanish lessons and do a homestay in San Juan del Sur for two weeks ... Isaac indicated he wanted to do something similar ... so the decision was made that I would travel with Ruby up until see left Panama City on May 8th, and then Isaac would head straight there after his week of Spanish lessons and homestay, meaning we would meet up around May 12th
- Ruby and I had a mellow last night in Nicaragua, as we had to get up early for another long day of travel
- EoW

WEEK 7

WEEK 7 - Little Corn Island
- Ruby, Isaac and I get up in time for a 4am taxi
- hugs and goodbyes with Lisa, Ann and Dorothy, and we´re off to the airport in Managua
- by 6am, we´ve checked in and paid, had our bags weighed, had ourselved weighed (!), and we were boarding an old school puddle-jumper (there were two sliding doors to the cockpit).
- a couple of hours later, we´re back in the Caribbean, on Big Corn Island - an island off the eastern edge of mainland Nicaragua ... pretty much all the locals are black and speak Spanish, English, and their own creole ... there´s a similar feel to most of our Belize experience.
- it would appear that the landing strip for the airport takes up pretty much the entire length of the island ... as soon as we´ve gathered our bags, we´re shuttled by a taxi to the other end of the island, where the boat docks are
- we pay the (quite likely a scam, but a cheap one) 15 cent entry fee to the dock area, and we try to get on a boat to Little Corn ... turns out no boat is leaving for another hour and a half! ... so we head over to a neighbouring restaurant (where we see everyone else from our flight, and possibly other tourists), and we contemplate breakfast ... we settle on each of us having a drink
- when it gets close to time to board the boat, we try to jockey for ideal position ... I can´t remember if we tried for the front on purpose (we did get the front), but if we did, that was a mistake
- not sure when last I mentioned my tailbone, but it has been bruised since like the 3rd day of the trip (every single bus/boat ride reminds me how it is NOT healing) ... well this hour long boat ride from Big Corn to Little Corn either partially fractured my tailbone, or came close
- aside from the plethora of small (but hard) bounces that were continually shooting pain into the tailbone, there were five or six times when the boat seemed to take flight in the air, only to land with a mind (and butt) crushing thud into the water ... it took two or three days before I can sit on anything without feeling immediate pain
- but butt woes aside, we dock on Little Corn, and soon find we´ve landed on a bit of an island paradise ... it´s small enough to walk, but big enough to avoid people and noise ... about 30 minutes north of the main area are quiet and more secluded beaches ... about 15 minutes walk east cuts through the island and gets you to more populated beaches ... and staying on the west side offers most of the shops and restaurants, along with the dock and the boats, and a bit of west side beach (should you feel too lazy to walk anywhere) ... there´s also less wind on the west side, making it ideal for throwing around a frisbee
- from the boat, we walk for about two minutes, and we hit Sun Shine Hotel ... recommended by Jasmine and Eric, and we were informed that Lindsay and crew had booked for there for at least the first night of their stay
- we immediately meet Dustin, from Texas ... he looks like a young party type, who is probably working at the hotel to help pay for his party habits ... turns out he owns the place (although, his personality does match his initial appearance)!
- we haggled a pretty good deal for two rooms between the three of us (I think the fact that semana santa just ended helped us to get the prices dropped a bit) ... the rooms all came with air conditioning and private bathrooms ... the only "catch" being that the entire island doesn´t have electricity between about 4am and 3pm every day! Still, the a/c was heavenly in the evenings
- the upstairs to the hotel had a nice patio, as well as a huge indoor area that used to be a restaurant, but was being coverted into more of a fun-bar for guests ... ping pong table, wii set up on a projector screen, and pool tables had been ordered (but never arrived while we were there)
- we asked if he knew Lindsay and the other girls from Canada ... he informed us that they were staying on the opposite side of the hotel (in the room next to Ruby´s, as it turns out)!
- so we headed over to see if they were around ... their bags were all open and outside their room ... apparently Lindsay got bed bugs (in Granada), so they were still airing out their bags ... it would also appear that crime on the island isn´t an issue
- they weren´t in their room, so Ruby and I decided to take a walk to check out the island (while Isaac opted for a nap)
- not three minutes later, I´m getting whistled at by some nutty chica sitting on a restaurant patio ... oh wait, it was Lindsay! Big hugs later, Ruby and I are sitting with Lindsay and Laura, catching each other up on the last few days apart
- turns out the Brits had already left (sucks!), and team she-Canada were planning to take the boat to Big Corn TODAY, as their flight was early tomorrow morning ... luckily, upon seeing us, L&L made an executive decision to stay on Little Corn one more night ... and the flight the next morning had been downgraded to "maybe" ;)
- a little while later, Alyson walks by (she´d been lying out in the sun, on the east side), and she reacts positively to the idea of not going to Big Corn today
- we head back towards the hotel (to wake up Isaac), with Lindsay stopping by to talk to Twila (the woman who runs the Cuban restaurant), making lobster reservations for all six of us for later that night ... Twila replies with, "no problem, Ms. Lindsay Lohan" ... funny stuff
- we grabbed Isaac (Lindsay bounced up and down on his bed until he agreed to get up and join us), and we headed to the east side for lunch, to Casa Iguana ... yummy (but overpriced) wraps, and an amazing view of the ocean ... plus a constant and cooling breeze, which is very welcome and hard to find on the island
- after lunch, we hit the beaches ... Ruby and Isaac followed Alyson to the north part of the island, and went with L&L to see the east side of beaches ... it was the perfect time of day to get a bit of sun, without getting too much ... the water was also very nice and warm
- a combination of sunning and walking later, we returned to the main area and hit the store that sells booze ... we got some wine and some rum, and headed back to the hotel for some pre-dinner libations (reunion celebration) ... by the time we set off for dinner, there was only enough wine left for L&L to smuggle in a small water sized bottle each ... we also managed to bring with us a third small bottle - this one filled with rum (warning, this night is about to get messy)
- first off, the lobster dinner is AMAZING ... two bit tails (cut into 4 halves), a baked potato ... preceded by salad and rice ... everyone is stuffed by the end of the meal, and the lobster is so so delicious ... we already know we´ll be coming back here (and soon)
- as for the beverages, Lindsay has been telling us how fantastic this one drink is ... called the Temptation ... but when we ask for it, Twila simply explains that Lindsay (and company) drank too many of them earlier in the week, and now she didn´t have all the necessary ingredients to make it (and in fact never got the ingredients while we were there)!!
- so, we were stuck with delicious margaritas and piña coladas (which we spiked with our rum)
- by the time dinner was over (and the rum and wine had disappeared), we were all pretty rowdy
- we headed back to the hotel and went upstairs, where a mix of hotel guests, dive shop instructors and locals had gathered (as is the nightly custom) ... we grabbed what was left of the main bottle of rum, and joined the festivities
- before long, we ran out of rum, and others ran out of beers ... people wanted to go out (dancing and/or whatnot), but nothing was open (Monday after semana santa)
- Dustin made a couple of phone calls on his cell, and suddenly we were all walking to Dolphini´s ... there must have been 15 to 20 of us, just hanging out, outside a closed Dolphini´s ... we must have waited at least half an hour ... this would be when Ruby decided to teach Laura how to "pop" her butt (if you don´t know, maybe google can help) - MUCH to the delight of everyone around, especially the guys, especially the LOCAL guys ... Laura´s name for the night could easily have been Ludicrously Loaded Laura, but she was pop-tastic (over and over and over again)
- eventually, someone showed up to open the bar, and music started, drinks were sold, pool was played, and everyone had a genuinely good time
- the next day, the aftermath of the previous night became apparent ... aside from the numerous hangovers (shared by pretty much the entire island), team she-Canada had experienced some life changing (okay, well island changing) events ... Lindsay had somewhat "fallen" for a YOUNG South African dive instructor; Laura found herself with an "island boyfriend" ... a nice enough (read "not enough in common") American boy, who shall forever be referred to as "ostrich boy" (thank Ruby for that one); and Alyson discovered a second bed for herself - an outdoor hammock! Needless(?) to say, the girls did not leave on Tuesday ... Alyson did leave Wednesday morning, but L&L wound up staying as late as the possibly could, which was Friday morning
- once Alyson had left, we took the first initial of the remaining five (David, Ruby, Isaac, Lindsay, Laura) and we immediately declared ourselves as the DRILL SQUAD
- the rest of the week followed a fairly predictable routine ... beach during the day (or possibly sleep all day long, especially if your name begins with an "L"), and party during the night (which often included a reggae bar - if it was open - usually with good music and dancing at the back)
- Wednesday was a "Clean the Beach Day" ... it was fairly depressing, as the island felt pretty CLEAN (compared to the other parts of Central America we´d seen), but the amount of trash we accumulated was staggering, especially as it felt we barely made a dent ... it was also fairly disconcerting that only about 5% of the people participating in the cleaning effort were locals (not to mention the staggering number of used syringes we found)
- Wednesday was also the day we ran into Doro again (she had arrived the night before) ... she and a couple of other Germans were staying at cabanas on the east side, which means we didn´t see them very often (especially at night, when the walk from east to west side is dark and a bit treacherous) ... that also meant we saw a lot less of Isaac too
- Wednesday was also the day I sliced the bottom of my foot open, playing frisbee with L&L ... even though the cut was pretty deep, it didn´t seem to break the surface (i.e. draw blood) ... so after Lindsay cleaned and bandaged it for me, it healed rather nicely
- however, the cut definitely prevented me from using my foot much over the next few days, including not being able to climb the lighttower for a cool view of the entire island ... once discovered, this tower became a favourite hangout spot (day and night) for Ruby
- there is a chained monkey on the island (en route to the northern beaches) ... I´m pretty sure he´d get food all day long from tourists that felt sorry for him
- there were these kids that would constantly hang out around the hotel ... a couple of girls and a boy ... some people loved them, but they were basically there to mooch ... the fact that the called the fat boy "Rambo" was funny though
- one of the locals that would often hang out at the hotel thinks he is the next big thing for music (he just needs to be discovered) ... rap and reggae with a Little Corn flare ... if "Darian" ever makes it big, I met him, heard him rap, heard him sing, saw him dance, etc. (I think he was looking for money)
- mid-week, four *crazy* party girls from the state of Washington showed up on Sun Shine (Courtney and Jenny from Spokane, Katie from Olympia and Kit from Seattle) ... we were positive they were 22 at most, but "apparently" there were all significantly older ... they definitely amped the energy level of the island ... one of them wound up shacking up with Dustin for a couple of days ... I´m not sure if he´s ever been so happy in his life! ;)
- we hit the Cuban restaurant like three more times while we were there ... turns out there are different (totally yummy) sauces you can have your lobster cooken in ... plus there were other food options (one night I had some yummy fish and another night Ruby had some delicious shrimp)
- Ruby and I decided after a week that we were ready to move on and see more of Nicaragua (plus the island just wanted nearly as exciting without L&L ... the DRI Squad didn´t have the same appeal to it) ... Isaac and Doro decided they were in paradise and wanted to stay a couple of more days ... so we split ways, with the agreement that we´d meet up in a few days (for Ruby´s birthday)
- next stop ... Isla de Ometepe and then San Juan del Sur
- EoW