WOW! What an amazing last few days!!
Leaving Laguna de Apoyo, a couple British girls, Lottie and Anna and I headed to a remote Nicaraguan island called Ometepe. Ometepe is an island that you can only imagine in your dreams. The town we stayed in there was called Playa Santo Domingo. Playa de Santo Domingo sits directly between two HUGE volanoes. In fact, the island itself is ALL made up of these two volcanoes, and no other terrain. In transit to Ometepe, we three girls scooped up a really great Canadian traveler who had just hopped on a bus with no specific desitination in mind (love traveling alone for that reason). Omid, Lottie, Anna and I stayed at a REMARKABALE hotel called Villa Paraiso for $12 each a nice. This place would have been a five star resort anywhere else in the world. Our room was a house consisting of two floors, with a TV (that we didn't use...), and our very own terrace, which we absolutely used! Located RIGHT on the beach, we had access to a small boat, beach chairs and more! To top it off the service at this particular hotel was really incredible. Everyone was extremely courteous, and responsive. It has been more difficult than you can imagine in Nicaragua thus far to find that kind of service, and at that price! WOW!
The first day there, we were four lazy, spoiled, and very relaxed travelers. Taking advantage of the beach, boat, and service. the second day, HOWEVER, we dug our teeth into what the island had to offer! We rented dirt bikes!!! OH they were so incredibly fun! We rode them ALL over the island, having the time of our lives. The roads in Ometepe, especially as far in as Playa Santo Domingo are just messy, rocky, and muddy tracks that make for the perfect dirt bike terrain. HERMANA, you would have LOVED it. Don't worry Papalardo, we were as safe as could be.
That evening the four of us moved the group to a finca at the bottom of the smaller of the two volcanoes. The finca was an old military base that had been turned into a coffee plantation. MAN, was the coffee amazing! I wish I had bought a bag... We woke up MEGA early the next day and hiked a MUDDY scramble up the volcanoe, Maderas. when I say muddy scramble, I cannot communicate quite effectively just how muddy it was. It was a 6 hour hike and afterwards the four of us were quite literally DRENCHED, caked, sopped, whatever word you want to use to grasp the fact that we were covered head to toe in mud, sweat and then, of course, in true Nicaragua style, rain. The last hour and a half it POURED on us with no remorse. Everything we were wearing, and carrying was held victim to the heavy droplets that only come around in the tropics. They have this really amazing abillity to SOAK everything in a light fifteen minute drizzle as if it were a two hour downpour. In fact, as we were leaving Ometepe yesterday, all the buses were shut down because of mud slides that caused roads to wash out and collapse. As a result, the watermelon collection truck that collects watermelon from the farms once a week was baracading half the road due to a engine dropping or something mechanically complicated of that sort during a mud slide (this is what my little Spanish can interpret). It was a scene to see too!!! Only little shuttles could get by...
Made it to a surf town called San Juan Del Sur yesterday afternoon. I LOVE this quant, european style town! The vibe is really relaxed, but not too relaxed like Montezuma was. Last night we had drinks at a hotel where the cast of survivor is currently staying called The pelican. At $200 a night this specific RESORT was and is ridiculously far out of our budget but that have an amazing happy hour that makes the gorgeous sunset to die for. It is located on a big hill that overlooks the whole city - WHEW! It was a good happy hour :)... and a good goodbye location. Today the team splits to head in all different directions. I REALLY hope we are all able to get together again someday. We have already begun discussing a reunion in London, Scottland, and Ireland a year from now. AMAZING! I have met more remarkable people while traveling than I could possibly have imagined. The time I have spent with them and then experiences we have shared have served to bring us really close in just a short period of time... it's a truly great feeling.
Headed to Shaka surf camp today!!! If you haven't had a chance to check this camp out, you MUST! www.shakacostarica.com. It is a surf camp organized by two Americans for surfers with spinal cord injuries. I am volunteering with them for ten days now and hopefully five weeks in September or October. I am really excited to get involved in something along these lines. It will be a really incredible experience and I hope that it leads to other organizations that I can get involved with down the line.
Until next time, BESOS!!! and... PICS!
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looks like fun!
ReplyDeletei didnt say anything!
ReplyDeletewhere did that awesome boat doggy come from?