Friday, August 13, 2010
San Juan del Sur
since i have a fairly flexible schedule, i am open to changing my ¨plans¨ and this occured a few days before i was supposed to leave Ometepe. everyone at Little Morgans had either been to San Juan del Sur or were planning to go. i had not really thought about going, but was given pause as i heard more about the beaches, surf vibe and was reminded of the glory of the pacific ocean. the final push though was this argument, "you have quite a bit of time so if you go and do not like it you can leave the next day and it will not affect your trip or your schedule in the slightest."
the 2 days later i was on the ferry with 3 australians and a fellow californian heading to SJDS. a small beach town that has become popular with the surfing crowd, it is quaint in a funny kind of way and i came away appreciating what it had to offer. still, i would not say it is my favorite place in Nicaragua, that spot is still reserved for Granada and followed at a close second by Ometepe.
here are a few photos...
a few more from Ometepe
below are photos of Little Morgans and some of the plant life on the premises...
back in Granada...on Friday the 13th
arrived back in Granada mid-day and felt immediately at home, a nice and generally rare feeling. rather than spend the day on the bus from San Juan del Sur to Leon, myself and the newly acquired traveling buddy opted to stay the night in Granada and head to Leon tomorrow. so now, as we escape the pending storm (again) we are online...even at the same cafe as before!clearly there is so much that has happened in the week that i have been through Ometepe and San Juan del Sur. but at the moment i am not sure where to start or even what to say...so i will start with some photos and hope that they will help me along.
we start with a view of the ¨chicken buses,¨this one going to Managua. took this photo from the van i was in on my way to Ometepe. i will be taking this bus, or one like it, tomorrow since there is no direct bus to Leon. So at the least, we will be on 2 buses tomorrow.
this is the ferry i took across Lake Nicaragua to the island of Ometepe. it is 15km from San Jorge (where i picked up the ferry) to Moyogalpa, the main city on the island.
this is my first view, from the ferry, of the volcanos- Concepcion and Maderas.
this is from inside the crater of Maderas. you can see the lagoon-lake to the left. it was a tough and muddy climb through cloud forest and with our group of 11 plus a guide it took us 10 hours total. we were sweaty, dirty, wet and sore by the end...of course we all had a wonderful time and were bonded for life!
this was one of the views of the lake, the island and part of Concepcion.
this is from the next day, a day of rest which included a walk along the lake and a visit to the cold water springs of Ojo de Agua. that is Maderas behind me.
Ojo de Agua...so beautiful and refreshing. perfect for the day after a big hike!
the rim of Concepcion. experienced sweat and chills up there at the rim as the wind blew and the sulfer heated the rocks below and a combination created a phenominal mist. an amazing experience and a challenging hike. i am proud to say we made it to the rim in 3.5 hours (9:30am) and came down in 3 hours...it was not easy and much of it was climbing rocks at quite steep angles but undoubtedly it was worth it. also, Maderas was a great warm-up for Concepcion.so i met some fantastic people in Ometepe and specifically at Little Morgans, a wonderfully rustic and welcoming location with dorms, hammocks and casitas (great for any budget traveler!)...not found in any books just yet because it is so new this was definitely one of the best places i have stayed so far. mainly due to the people, both travelers and those that run it. great conversations, many laughs...good times overall and on this amazing island. i am so ridiculously lucky.
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
out of touch
yes it is true i have been out of touch...here´s the story:
in the last posting i talked about the storm that was coming and losing internet access. well we lost more than that, water and electricity went out. so for a few days there was intermittent water and power. it was actually quite interesting and overall a good experience but it was also odd and a little frustrating at times. Granada is a big city, well relatively speaking, but the infrastructure is not so solid and so things happen. like power outages and water problems and transformers catching fire. what resulted though was a unique experience and many new friendships!
the other reason i have been out of touch...i have been on the island of Ometepe for the past few days and there is internet but only on certain parts of the island. i have not been staying on those parts so i am online now as i await to ferry to take me back to the mainland. i will post more in the next few days, photos of Ometepe and the 2 volcanos i climbed. yep, 2...the only 2 on the island! the climbs were intense and certainly a great challenge although each for different reasons. Concepcion was the best though, mainly because i got to sit on the rim! hahaha photos to come!
want to read more about Ometepe, check out this link:
http://www.vianica.com/visit/ometepe
in the last posting i talked about the storm that was coming and losing internet access. well we lost more than that, water and electricity went out. so for a few days there was intermittent water and power. it was actually quite interesting and overall a good experience but it was also odd and a little frustrating at times. Granada is a big city, well relatively speaking, but the infrastructure is not so solid and so things happen. like power outages and water problems and transformers catching fire. what resulted though was a unique experience and many new friendships!
the other reason i have been out of touch...i have been on the island of Ometepe for the past few days and there is internet but only on certain parts of the island. i have not been staying on those parts so i am online now as i await to ferry to take me back to the mainland. i will post more in the next few days, photos of Ometepe and the 2 volcanos i climbed. yep, 2...the only 2 on the island! the climbs were intense and certainly a great challenge although each for different reasons. Concepcion was the best though, mainly because i got to sit on the rim! hahaha photos to come!
want to read more about Ometepe, check out this link:
http://www.vianica.com/visit/ometepe
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
A little time on my hands
it is about ready to pour pour and pour some more here in Granada and since i am not inclined to get caught in the rain anywhere in the world i stopped into the closest place to pass the next 1-2 hours...an internet cafe. No i will not be online for that long, even if it is relatively cheap here to spend time online, that is just a bit excessive. also, while you can get online many places here in Granada the connection is not so consistent. there is a very high probability that at some point during this storm the internet connection is going to be lost AND there is a pretty good chance that the power will go out as well. heck, the phones went out already once today, of course it was when i was on the phone...my first call to The Pregnant One since i left the states. as i mentioned yesterday, i am ecstatic to find that there is a relatively fast internet connection and locations to make international calls. of course i found out yesterday that the Skype connection that was promised is good by the headsets are not. well 2 out of 3 isn´t bad and considering i haven´t been able to make international calls since Mexico it is a really good sign!right, so this might be the time to mention that while internet and phones and other such things are available they are still a luxury in this part of the world. yesterday i mispoke though, Nicaragua isn´t the poorest country in CA, it is the second poorest. still, internet, phones, electricity...not so consistent or reliable. we all know about the water and sewage...indeed there is still much work to be done, but considering the infrastructure and political situations in CA i think Nicaragua is doing fairly well. granted, it is all relative and i have admitedly fallen in love with Granada so my opinion is certainly biased.
coming from Costa Rica to Nicaragua was indeed a shock to the system. the differences are striking and from the moment i reached the border, there was no doubt i was entering a Central American country. i wish i could find the words to describe this sentiment. let me first clarify that this is not meant to be disparaging or judgemental, there is just something that binds many of these countries together and also sets them apart that is hard to describe. the fact that the country and it´s people are poor (approximately 50% of the population live below the poverty line and on average people live on $2 a day) is not really an adequate description or explanation. there is a feeling, an attitude, a history and a sense of pride that cannot be captured in any photos or books or movies...or even words.
for me, i know i am here, in a Central American country when i feel a sense of discomfort and a sense of familiarty at the same time. there is always a moment when a little voice says, "you should not be here, this is too much for you" and immediately following is the strong sense that in fact i should be exactly where i am and nowhere else.
so i find myself seated at a computer a block off of the Parque Central- the center of the city where old men linger, venders sell hot dogs, cashews and plaintain chips while teenagers hawk bracelets and ceramics to the few tourists walking by. Granada is a beautiful colonial city that has some of the most astounding architecture i have seen this trip, and it is falling into disrepair; the heyday of this city was many many generations ago. but there are up-and-coming artists, chefs and writers and, there are children begging on the streets and riding into the ´city´ on sadly pathetic horses.
welcome to Granada.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)