Granada y Isle de Ometepe

Hello Everyone,

The five days I spent in Granada and Isle de Ometepe were exactly what I
needed. Exactly half way on this trip I hit a wall, and I hit it hard.
I read up on what I should do to get out of the rut and a vacation was
the antidote. I went with Jess, Marissa and new friends Sara and
Austin. Sara lived with my family and worked at FUNARTE last year with
Intercordia. She also knows alot of spanish and was a very very big
help.

We arrived in Granada on the 5th of July. Its a beautiful city but its
very hot. So colourful, everything is painted in bright colours and
very kept. What a refreshing sight. That night after our horse drawn
carrage ride around the city, we ended up meeting two of Sara´s friends
from london Ontario completely by coincidence. It was great, they are
two very very interesting characters. Juan Diego from Columbia
originally and Justin bobby, a london native. These guys were caught in
a huge Honduran protest and have many many stories to tell that would
really blow your mind. I was beyond happy to know that they would
accompany us on the ferry the next morning to Ometepe.

The Ferry was tiny and scary. We made it to Ometepe and took a very
crowded bus two hours to Altagracia where we settled into our 4 dollar
a night room at the Hotel Castillo. The seven of us then set out to Ojo
de Agua (Eye of Water) which is this crystal clear mineral spring on
the island. You couldn´t pay me to get out of the water. I was in there
swimming with Juan Diego (someone who just love swimming as much as I
do) and with everyone for hours and hours. It was incredible. When they
finally managed to get me out we returned back to Altagracia and had
two girls from the town to take us around. We ended up at their
cemetery in pitch darkness.. Then to reward the girl´s kindness we took
them out for dinner at a local restaurant. The night of sleeping was
horrendous. Bed bugs everywhere. It was a mental exercise to not rip my
skin off my body. I just lay there in agony all night, in the heat and
the bugs.

Juan and Justin left early the next morning to climb the volcano
Maderas, so the five of us split to Playa Santa Domingo (a beautiful
beack on the lake of Nicaragua.) The water was wonderful and the sun
was very very strong. The backs of my legs and my back were burnt to a
crisp, even after applying sunscreen four times. After the beach we
made our way to what I like to call the heavenly hostel. For $6
american a night you get a cabin with the greatest beds and pillows,
the most delicious food (which is brought to you while you lay in your
hammock) and the most amazing dock that allows for kayaking, swimming
and watching heartwrenching sunsets. Kayaking to Monkey Islands was
incredible. There are these two islands that spider and howler monkeys
inhabit respectively. You cannot get any closer than 50 ft or the
monkeys will jump into your kayak and bite you, no joke. It was a tough
kayak as the water was rough but I enjoyed it so much.

The next morning was really early, we had our hearts set on climbing
the volcano. Most physically exhausting thing I´ve ever done.  We ended
up only going half way to the waterfall because of a huge mix up from
our guides but it was sufficient for me! 12 km of brutal brutal hiking.
Unreal. After the walk down my legs were jelly. I jumped off the dock
sooo fast when I got back, and rewarded my hard work with an afternoon
in a hammock with cafe con leche and coconut ice cream. I slept like a
baby that night.

The next day was trying, starting with a trek in the rain and mud to
the bus that took three hours and was so beyond capacity. I was so
ready to stand up and breath fresh oxygen at the end of it. Then back
on the tiny Ferry full of fumes. Then into a cab that we paid five
dollars each to get driven back from San Jorge to granada.

That night in Granada was laid back, we went out to the tourist strip
and had a delightful dinner of vegetarian curry crepe and a deliciouso
sangria. The Hostel we stayed in was rather sketchy and lacking in air
so I didnt sleep at all and woke up the next morning at 5 to take a bus
to managua, then another to esteli. We got back to Esteli at 10:30am
which from granada is record time. All my clothing stank horribly so I
did laundry for two hours and then took a shower and slept.



There! You are all sufficiently caught up!

I am home very very soon guys, I have mixed feelings about this. I
really dont want to leave but on the other hand I really miss certain
things at home (like my beautiful family) an abundant amount.

Can´t wait to start back at work on Tuesday.

xoxo

S