#11 Finding it too hard to leave Nicaragua

Nicaragua, Isla de ometepe and Playa Gigante
The day after Sunday Funday...Monday in San Juan del Sur, I even surprised myself when I got up at a reasonable time and decided to head to Isla de Ometepe. I arranged to meet everyone else the next day on the island.

The route from San Juan was:
- Chicken bus from San Juan del Sur to Rivas. $1. Roughly one hour.
- Taxi from Rivas to San Jorge dock. Roughly 70c. Fifteen minutes.
- Ferry from San Jorge to Ometepe island. $1.70. 1.5-2 hours.

Ometepe island is located in the fresh water Lake Nicaragua. It is famous for it's two volcanoes towering over opposite ends of the island, Volcán Concepcíon and Maderas. The island is also known for its waterfalls, wildlife, fishing and kayaking.

I travelled over with a guy, Markus I met on the bus in San Juan Del Sur. We both wanted to hike the Volcán Concepcíon the next day, the hardest volcanic hike in Nicaragua sitting at 1600m (what better way to shake off the Sunday Funday hangover). We decided to stay in a hostel in the main town of a Moyogalpa as it was closer to the volcano for an early start the next day.

The evening we got there we decided to take a tuk tuk with a French guy and Dutch girl we met in the hostel to watch the sunset on a beach called playa punta Jesus María. It was one dollar entry to walk down the black sanded bank jutting out into the lake. We just got there as the sun was setting and it was beautiful. One of the guys in the hostel told us we could swim in the water but the whole week I was at the lake we didn't swim in it once, the water is very murky and with tales of fresh water sharks, I wasn't keen to take a dip.

Sunset at Punta Jesus Maria

Volcán Concepcíon 

The next morning...this time before sunrise at 4.45am, Markus and I left to meet our tour guide David to take a local bus to Volcán Concepcíon. It was the morning after the presidential elections, so we were both pretty sleep deprived and still in shock at the disastrous result. By the time we got to the park, paid the $3 entry to the park and $20 for our guide which is compulsory and stocked up on 3 litres of water each it was 5.30am and we started the hike. The first two hours through hot, sticky jungle where we saw howler monkeys, lots of spiders and insects and thankfully no snakes. The last ascent however took nearly three hours and consisted of clambering up bare rock face, dodging falling rocks from above and trying not to stick your hand on boiling rocks from the volcano. It was a really hard hike.in total it took us 8 hours to the top and back down (although we were told it can take up to 12 hours)! When we got back down we also ended up having to walk the 4km from the volcano back to Moyogalpa after much confusion about transport back, our tour guide storming off and us trying (and failing) at hitching back to town...but that's a whole other story. We finally made it back to town by about two o'clock. With it being the sixth volcano I have visited since I started my Central America trip, it has definitely been the most challenging and I'm now happy to take a little sabbatical from exploring further volcanoes for the time being.


I had arranged to meet friends from San Juan Del Sur on the other side of the island that evening and Markus decided to come with so without even having the chance to shower or take our hiking boots off, we grabbed our bags, had a bit of food (more chicken, rice and beans) in a local comidor and took the last chicken bus of the day at four o'clock to Santa Cruz, It took about an hour and a half, cost $1 and I was standing for a solid hour. We got dropped off at a hostel called Zopilote, a permaculture farm and Eco lodge. We arrived just as the sun was setting so it was a dark fifteen minute walk uphill with all our bags, still in our hiking clothes. When we got to the  reception we were told that it was another ten minute walk to a dorm....after nearly crying with hearing this but realising I was close to a shower, I dragged my stuff up to the dorm room and had a very refreshing (cold) shower in the dark...outside. The toilets were also composting toilets and everything was solar powered. The only wifi and main common area was a restaurant back down at reception, when I got down to the restaurant I met back up with some of the others who had come over from San Juan that day.

The next morning my legs felt surprisingly alright. About ten of us from the hostel took a twenty minute chicken bus to Ojo de Agua, a natural swimming pool a few kilometres down the road. It was $3 entry each. It was a really nice place to swim and chill out for a few hours especially after the hike the day before.

It's recommended that the best way to see the island is by renting motorbikes or scooters however the roads are full of potholes and can be pretty bad if you've never driven a bike before. As there were six of us we decided to rent a beaut of a red jeep with four wheel drive for the day. We wanted to explore the island and a waterfall called 'Cascada San Ramon''. The jeep cost $50 for the day plus some fuel between us all. We were able to drive most of the way up to the waterfall and hike for 30minutes instead of an hour, which was a nice relief as I was done with hiking for the time being. We got to see lots of the island, taking it in turns to drive (and sit in the boot) and picking up hitchhikers along the way.

Cascade San Ramon

After deciding to put off Costa Rica for another few days, seven of us set off from Ometepe island to go to a quiet surfing beach called Gigante. We got the ferry back to the port of San Jorge. Unfortunately for us we had decided to travel on a Sunday (its very hard to keep track of what day it is) where there is a serious lack of public buses. We arrived at the port to be told there wasn't another bus to playa Gigante until three o'clock...it was about eleven in the morning at this stage. Not wanting to hang around the dirty town of Rivas, we ended up getting two taxis to bring us all the way to the beach about forty minutes away, stopping at the supermarket along of the way for about $6 each. We stayed in Monkey house which definitely has the best location I have ever seen, placed on a headland jutting out into the sea overlooking the quiet Gigante beach. It had a lovely little gazebo with hammocks and benches, salt water showers, basic kitchen and easy access climbing over the rocks down to the beach. I only stayed for two nights but could have happily set up camp for longer. We spent the day swimming, attempting to surf and body surfing in the waves. It is owned by an ex pro Nicaraguan surfer called Oliver and his cousin. They are so chilled out and the people staying there seemed to have the same idea, choosing to surf, play cards, read in hammocks and cook. We also discovered the best burrito place about two hundred yards down from monkey house, where we had 'our last supper' before three of us went to Costa Rica the next day.

Hammock views overlooking the beach 

Next stop: Monteverde, Costa Rica
Food/drink: so much flor de caña rum in little Morgan's in Ometepe.
Bars/restaurants: Local food in Moyogalpa, Zopilote hostel for cooked typical breakfast , huge fresh fish burritos ($4) in playa Gigante.
Stayed: The landing hostel in Moyogalpa (main port town), $8/night
Zopilote $8/night Santa Cruz in Ometepe
Little Morgans $8/night Santa Cruz in Ometepe
The Monkey house in playa Gigante $10/night. Surf boards for rent for $10/day.

#10 Nicaragua - Sunday Funday on Monday

Saying goodbye to El Salvador was hard, I really loved this country and hope I can go back one day soon but the next and sixth country on my trip was going to be Nicaragua. I had heard about the stunning beaches, cheap surfing, volcanoes and lakes so was excited to see what this country had to offer.

I travelled from El Cuco with Chelsea and Aaron. We got a lift into San Miguel from Lisette, the owner of Casa de Canela where we had been staying. We therefore left a bit later than we intended. We thought as it was such a long journey we would start anyway and see how far we made it. We encountered a few hiccups along the way but this was the route we ended up taking:
- Chicken bus from San Miguel to the border, 1 hour.
- Crossed the border from El Salvador back into Honduras on foot, paying $3 into Honduras.
- Mini bus straight across Honduras. $6 each. Roughly three hours (these are easily found on the other side of the immigration office)
- Honduran/Nicaraguan border. Nicaraguan entry $12
- Mini bus from Nicaraguan border to Chinandega. $8 each. Roughly one hour
- Mini bus from Chinandega to Léon. $8 each. Forty minutes.

We ended up having to take two mini buses across Nicaragua as unfortunately by the time we got our Honduran exit stamp, walked over the bridge and finally located the very discreet Nicaraguan immigration office, paid our entry to Nicaragua and got our entry stamp it was dark. Being stuck in a border town at night was not ideal.... We were told there were no more chicken buses to Léon (whether this was true or not we don't know). We made a deal with a guy with a mini bus to take us to a city called Chinandega about an hour away where we then planned on staying for a night and getting a bus early the next day to Léon. It actually took longer due to the bad roads and roadworks. When we got dropped off at a petrol station outside of Chinandega we were all tired and hungry. Again there were lots of guys with mini buses, one told us he would take us to Léon, about forty minutes away for about $8 each....a lot more than the public buses which cost about $2 however the thought of finding a hostel in a town we didn't want to stay in for one night was not very appealing. We decided to fork out the cash and get to Léon. Despite having to get two unplanned private buses and spending more on the trip than expected we spent a total of $22 on transport, still cheaper than the shuttles which were $35 from El Cuco.

In Léon I stayed in hostel Guardabarranco which had a little kitchen. It was opposite Bigfoot hostel which is the main party hostel. The main reason people come to Léon is to do the famous volcano boarding, which entails sledding down the side of an active volcano ridiculously fast on a wooden board. I was really looking forward to it! I decided to do it with Quetzaltrekkers for $30. All profits go towards supporting street children in Léon from the tour company. The volcano Cerro Negro is about an hour drive outside of Léon, It is still classed as an active volcano and towers above the green forests, a mound of sparkling black sand...perfect to board down. It is about a forty minute hot hike up to the top of the volcano and a very fast sleigh down. I ended up doing it twice and it lived up to my expectations. All limbs still attached and not necessary to use my travel insurance yet, I had a nice lunch of vegetable burritos with the other three people I did the boarding with and our two guides.

The view from Cerro Negro

Not quite pulling off the overalls post boarding

I explored Léon by walking around the big market behind the parque central, where you can buy lots of fresh fruits vegetables, meat and fish. I had lunch one day in one of the 'comidors' near the market for $3 which consisted of chicken in a mildly spicy sauce, vegetables, rice and beans, tortillas and a fresh fruit juice. The best ice cream in Léon was definitely from a place called Kiss me next door to my hostel. They had really inventive flavours and was too hard to walk past without going in.

The cathedral in Léon towering over the parque central and one of the oldest cathedrals in the Central America was stunning. They were repainting it when I was there so it was a fresh white at the front and dirty white with black stained windows around the sides. It is a UNESCO world heritage site.
The view from the top is supposed to be breathtaking with the vast white roof and I had really wanted to go to the roof but unfortunately it was closed for the Nicaraguan presidential elections on the afternoon when I was there so I missed out on it.

Léon cathedral 

I went to the Museo de la Revolucíon in the main square where you get shown around a derelict building brandished with gun shot holes in the walls with Frente Sandinista Liberacíon Nacional (FSLN) veterans sitting around talking. For $2, one of the veterans will show you around the murals and explaining the revolution and the war. This is all in Spanish but I think I understood most (I did have to ask Carlos my guide to speak a bit slower at times which he did do). It was interesting to learn about the history of the country and revolution which took place even if I didn't quite understand it all.

I also discovered the famous Nicaraguan rum, Flor De Caña while I was here. Apparently it's award winning, it tastes amazing and even better costs about $7 for a litre....think it will have to replace gin for the time being

My next stop after Léon was another colonial town, a bit smaller called Granada. A tourist shuttle cost about $25 however I had decided to take the public bus route. I said my goodbyes to Chelsea and Aaron as they were staying in Léon and traveled over with a guy from the hostel in Léon.
The route we took:
- Mini bus from Léon bus terminal to UCA Managaua. Cost less than $2. 1.5 hour
- Mini bus from UCA to Granada. Cost less than $1. 1 hour.

The bus dropped us about three minutes away from hostel Oasis Granada. I really loved this hostel. It had so much space and I met some really good friends here. It also had unlimited pancake breakfast included (very important),  a kitchen, film room and a swimming pool which was ideal in the hot city. That afternoon we went to the bell tower of Iglesia La Merced. It cost $1 to climb to the top to get panoramic views of the city. Whilst we were there the hostel staff told us that Granada is not safe at night and we were warned not to walk around at night, especially around where the hostel as mugging of tourists  were common.

That evening a group of six of us decided to go on a Masaya volcano tour. This involves getting a shuttle bus up to the crater of one of the most active volcanoes in the world. You can peer into the crater and the lava a few hundred metres below. We managed to get the tour down from $20 to $17. The most popular time to see the lava is after sunset where the lava glows bright in the crater. When we arrived on our shuttle at about six thirty there were really long queues of numerous shuttles into the volcano park however we got lucky and managed to get in quicker by tagging along with another tour group who were at the top of the line. We only got about fifteen minutes at the top, enough time to take some photos and peer into the crater with the lava bubbling below. It was a great experience (if however a bit overpriced) but another volcano to tick off the list.

Lava spotting 

The next day a bus full of us from the hostel took a day trip out to hostel paradiso on Lago de Apoyo. The shuttle was $10 return. Lago de Apoyo is a  beautiful lake in the crater of an extinct volcano. We had full use of the beach, pontoon, paddle boards and kayaks for the day. We brought plenty of rum to keep us hydrated for the day. The lake was so clear and we spent the day kayaking, jumping off the pontoon and drinking rum. Which we continued when we got back to the hostel.  The next day, feeling extremely rough we took the easier option of getting a direct shuttle for $12 each to San Juan del Sur.

San Juan is a typical surfer town and surfing is the main reason people tend to go there. The other reason being the famous 'Sunday Funday' pool crawl around the main hostels in the town. We arrived on the Saturday and had been told in Granada that Sunday Funday had been moved to Monday as the
Nicaraguan presidential elections were on Sunday and no alcohol was allowed to be sold or consumed. I didn't know whether I was willing to fork out $30 for a t-shirt and shuttles between the hostels but we all decided that 'when in Rome' (or Nicaragua) we may as well. And it ended up being a wild day, starting at 12pm and ending at whatever time you can make it to! Think I lasted until nine that evening....not sure whether to be proud of that. Probably not.

Pre Sunday Funday (Monday) 

Overall I wasn't taken aback with San Juan del Sur, it was expensive for Nicaraguan standards, particularly the supermarkets and cafes/restaurants and being a surfing town I thought it was a bit mad that you had to get a shuttle to and from the surfing beaches. However there is a Christ the redeemer style statue towering over the headland which is about a thirty minute walk to which gives great views of the coastline. I don't however think it is as impressive as Christ the redeemer in Brazil, hopefully I'll be able to compare them soon. I've also heard there are quieter beaches in Nicaragua where you can stay right on the beaches where the surf is good (not that I'm any expert after one day of surfing in my whole life)! However if you like a good day sesh than Sunday Funday is a good one for a wild days drinking in the sunshine with other drunk backpackers in matching wife beaters.

Next stop: Isla de Ometepe, Nicaragua
Food: ice cream at kiss me and market food in Léon
Drink: Flor de Caña rum...a Nicaraguan speciality
Bars/restaurants: Bigfoot hostel bar in Léon
Stayed: hostel Guardabarranco in Léon ($6 per night), Oasis hostel in Granada ($10 per night), hostel Tadeo in San Juan del Sur ($8 per night).

#9 El Salvadorian beaches

Attempting to surf and 'bean' a bag of coffee!

Our stop after the lovely Ruta de Las Flores in El Salvador was the Pacific beaches where most 'backpackers/tourists' tend to head straight to on entering El Salvador. I traveled down with Rex, and Chelsea and Aaron. The main surf spot hub in the coast is the town of El Tunco. Therefore the beach front is very touristy with lots of cafes, hostels and surf shops. The beach is very rocky but the surf is apparently more suited to those who already know how to surf with aggressive waves and the beach doesn't tend to be good for swimming. As I had never surfed before, this didn't sound ideal! We decided to head to a smaller beach called El Sunzal, a ten minute walk west of El Tunco along the beach or twenty minutes along the road. It's more laid back, slightly cheaper for hostels and the water is better for learning how to surf (something I had wanted to do here)!

The first leg of our trip was a chicken bus from Juayua to Sonsanate where we could get a bus straight down to the coast which stopped off at the beaches along the coast. This direct bus went twice a day, once at 6am from Sonsanate and again at roughly 3.30pm. The other route you can take is Juayua - Sonsonate - San Salvador - El Sunzal. We waited around for the morning and got a bus at about 1.30pm from Juayua leaving plenty of time to get the 3.30pm bus to El Sunzal. The two buses cost us roughly $2-3. Unfortunately I cannot remember the exact fares! We got dropped off on a strip of road lined with pupuseries and a few small tiendas at about 5pm. A lady got off the bus with us and told us about a place we could stay a couple of minutes along the road. We were greeted by a local man called Anthony who told us he had private rooms for $6 a night. We decided to give it a go and it was great. Very basic but private rooms with our own entrances and bathrooms, basic little kitchen, a cute puppy and surf boards to rent. It was also only five minutes walk out the back down a small dirt track to the beach. Anthony's family were all there and his son in law walked us up to the local pupuseria to get some food, helping us order and even sat with us as we ate. The Papusas again were very good costing about $1 for three. There were only two other guys staying there when we arrived and the family were so welcoming.

The next few days we spent chilling out on the rocky beaches, wandering down to el Tunco for breakfast but mainly cooking together in the little kitchen with some beers from Anthonys' small tienda (shop) and surfing. I actually only took one surf lesson from a local guy who didn't speak any
English and found my limited Spanish hilarious. The hour only cost $10 though and it was useful to learn how to duck under waves and not get knocked out by other surfers or by my own board. Later that day I went out surfing with some of the guys from the hostel and managed to stand up (extremely briefly) on a wave! Almost a pro already.

Beautiful sunset over El Sunzal

After four nights we reluctantly left El Sunzal for an eastern beach close to the Nicaraguan border called El Cuco. We had heard about a great little resort there called Tortuga Verde. As it was 'low season' we hadn't booked before hand. The bus journey here was a little longer and even though we were heading along the coast there were no direct buses. Therefore the route we took was as follows:
Chicken Bus from outside El Sunzal surfers inn to a petrol station outside La Libertad (main town on the coast) - number 201 bus through La Libertad to San Salvador - taxi from bus terminal in San Salvador to terminal de Oriente - Speciale express bus to San Miguel - number 302 bus from San Miguel to El Cuco - taxi from El Cuco to Tortuga Verde. The whole trip in total cost about $10 (very rough estimates between three). It would have been a lot cheaper although we unknowingly took a bus that cost $5 from San Salvador to San Miguel. While this was a very fancy and much quicker bus we didn't realise it was a bit pricey as we had been hastily shuffled onto the bus when we got out of the taxi. I also said adios to my travel buddy Rex who headed up to Mexico from San Salvador. Sad times.

Next Stop: El Cuco, El Salvador
Food: Papusas!
Drink: beers at the hostel
Bars/restaurants: Charlys for a typical breakfast of eggs, plantain, beans and cheese in El Tunco for about $3
Stayed: El Sunzal surfers inn for basic rooms with own bathroom for $6 per night

Traditional El Salvadorian breakfast of plantain, eggs, rice and beans

El Cuco, El Salvador
El Cuco town itself is quite small, not very touristy with some small shops, basic cafes and a liquor store. It is a bit of a drab fishing town but welcoming and quaint. In El Cuco we headed straight to
 the most popular place to stay called 'Tortuga Verde', it's about fifteen minutes in a taxi ($5 fixed charge) from the small town secluded at the end of the beach. The night we got there they were releasing newly hatched baby turtles into the sea at sunset which was a unique experience to be part of. We stayed for a night but ended up finding another nice little hostel in town the next day for the next few nights which also got us entry to use a lovely pool in one of the other hotels. Where Tortuga verde is is a really nice spot but you don't have the option of cooking your own food, wander to the market or shops or explore closer beaches without having to get a taxi or endure a long hot walk back into El Cuco.

Releasing the baby turtles at Tortuga verde

On the Saturday night we were there there was a big Halloween party in Tortuga Verde that the owner of the hostel Lisette and her friends and family were going to so we tagged along. I even made a last minute Halloween costume and went as a bag of El Salvadorian coffee. We got entered into a costume competition at the party which was a bit bizarre but it was a really good night of drinking 'moonshine' on the beach and dancing.

Halloween beach party 

The next morning feeling a little rough I dragged myself up and walked to another beach called Playa las Flores which was very secluded and quiet. I read my book for a couple of hours and had a nice walk back in the mid morning sunshine.

There weren't many restaurants in El Cuco, mostly small 'comidors' so we cooked in the hostel a bit. Chelsea and I went on the hunt to buy some fresh fish one of the days after we had seen all the fishing boats coming and going every day. After asking around we ended up being directed to a large fish warehouse backing onto the beach. We weren't quite sure if it was the place to buy fish but we were assured they could sell us some fish for four people. We ended up buying the biggest prawns I've ever seen and a red snapper which they filleted for us there, it all cost $15 which fed four of us with leftovers. We had the most amazing fish tacos with it that Aaron cooked up. Our next stop and next country was going to be Nicaragua! And where it meant saying goodbye to magnificent El Salvador, I was really looking forward to exploring Nicaragua.

Next Stop: Léon, Nicaragua
Food: fresh fish bought from a market, ceviche at one of the small restaurants for $8
Drink: tequila
Bars/restaurants: La Tortuga verde for the Halloween party
Stayed: La Tortuga verde for one night, Hostel Casa de Canela for three nights. Both were $10 per night.