Aymi’s Adventures

That lovely border crossing sign – AGAIN!!! 

So after leaving Tamarindo and feeling alone I soon met up with 4 others all heading for Nicaragua, so I managed not to do the border crossing alone – although at this point I am an expert at the Costa Rica Nicaragua border anyway!! We split up at the border as they were heading to San Juan Del Sur (fab memories there) and I knew I had to get to Managua to get my ticket changed. So after arranging a taxi all the way to Managua for $45 the bus turns up, so decide to save myself some money and take the bus instead. Everything went smoothly if uncomfortably crammed into the chicken bus, they were really helpful and advised where to get off and told the cab driver where I was heading to. So Managua was not as bad as it seemed.

2 minutes later I ask the taxi driver how much, the reply 65 instantly made me think he meant Cordobas, it was only when I realised he meant dollars that I realised I was in trouble. It was my own fault for getting in without agreeing a price, but still annoying knowing I could have got a cab all the way from the border for $45. Anyway, by this point he´s threatening to throw me out (were in some dodgy area by now) with all my stuff and just take the 100 cordoba note I had pulled out. Evil Robbing bastard. I ended up giving him just over $30 to get there as it was pretty scary especially when he pulled over another taxi driver and they had me completely blocked in the car. At least I didnt get any stuff robbed though & was not hurt, it could have been much worse!

So when I arrived at the Casa Blanca hostel (after shouting a string of obscene language at the taxi driver) it was an absolute dive, bugs on the bed, blood on the floor and a group of 5 big black guys getting drunk in the reception area. I didnt care, I just needed a bed for the night. I couldnt get any food as nothing was open and it was to unsafe to walk anywhere so decided (& I wasnt about to get another taxi) to befriend the group of guys who turned out to be from various parts of Africa. Went well and they gave me free beer all night (it´s becoming my usual diet – who needs food!!!) only to proceed by trying it on with me. Nothing happened and I didnt feel threatened by them, I just wanted to get out of that hell hole!!! The nights sleep was also pretty bad – to be expected!

Took me an hour and a half to get my ticket changed in the morning and then left with a French guy on a minibus to Leon. I am now staying longer in Central America and cutting out some of the United States. So for those of you i’ve forgotten to tell I now fly from Guatemala City on 17th July straight to Philadelphia, then train to New York on 20th July and the rest of my itin as planned. Met an American guy when we got off in leon who had been robbed of everything he owned apart from his passport and 100 Cordobas by his taxi man and was punched in the face and held at knife point – made me feel a lot better about my situation and realise how lucky I actually was!

Leon was another beautiful town in Nicaragua, I had a great two days there with some more great people.  Spent the day at a beach about an hour away from Leon which was great after the night of drinking before.  The beach was perfect even though the strong current made it difficult to swim.  The weather was fantastic until around 4pm when the heavens opened and there was an amazing storm.  You could see the clouds moving over the beach, it was so weird to watch, Ive never seen anything like it, it was exactly how I would expect a hurricane to be.

I then set off for the Bay Islands with an English guy.  We started at 8am and after 4 busses only made it as far as Tegucigalpa (the capital of Honduras).  The hotel we stayed at (Hospedaje Familiar) was even worse than the one in Managua, it was basically a knocking shop.  I couldnt even bring myself to use the toilet there, let alone the shower.  Neither of us had any local currency and only a few dollars between us, so we set of in search of a cash machine, an hour later after 3 cash machines all of which didnt work we gave up and had half a chicken in the only place we could find that was open.  The woman let us pay in dollars and gave us our change in Limps, which came in handy for the next full day of travelling.  I was so glad I had a travel companion for this journey, it would have been horrible if I was alone, but it turned out to be quite a funny adventure!

We set of again at 5.30am and 2 long bus journeys, a ferry crossing and some more money issues we finally arrived in Utila around 6pm and boy did I enjoy a nice long shower!

The Girls in Nicaragua

So after setting off from Monteverde at 4.30 am and being dropped off on a street at around 6am to await the tika bus picking us up at 8.30, we eventually arrived at the border only to be kept waiting for aprox 3 hours. Suppose we should have realised that every man, woman and child would be trying to get to Nicaragua because it was mothers day the next day?! Although most of the wait was due to all the other busses jumping in front of ours because they were bribing the police & officials there! We arrived in Grenada at around 6pm and checked into the Oasis hostel, heading straight for the pool to cool down and get rid of the sweaty day of travelling (well it´s better than a shower!). Soon realising we hadnt eaten properly all day we headed out to check out Grenada & get food – you know what im like when I get hungry!! We found an amazing place where everything was off the grill – my chicken kebab was devoured in seconds, along with a couple of beers of course. It was a really posh place, candlelit dinner and all that (i´m not used to those luxuries anymore) and it only cost total $20 for the two of us, bargain or what. Back home it would have been around 40Quid.

After 4 nights there I fell in love with Grenada. There is so much to do nearby and the town itself is so small, picturesque and friendly, with a great mix or travellers and locals, but not so many travellers that you miss the culture. Mesayah is an unbelievable market town, hustle bustle and yet still safe and friendly. Although I think I would have felt safe walking through a war zone after Riley purchased 3 (yes 3) machete´s – apart from when the sheath fell off the largest of the three and the blade was swinging past my legs along the street – thanks Riley!!

Riley & Lesley – the best travel buddies, All the old school busses lined up in Mesayah!

Laguna de Apoyo was a great day. Swimming in the cleanest water in Nicaragua (yeah Lake Nicaragua is pretty grim) in a huge crater lake, snorkelling, kayaking, swimming, drinking and of course playing asshole. Our group by this point had expanded to 7 people, 4 ozzy´s, 2 Americans & me, you guys made Nicaragua for me.

Laguna de Apoyo – the piccies dont quite line up, but you get the idea!

So we all set off together heading for Omotepe, the island itself turned out to be not what I was expecting at all, but as there was the 7 of us with 5 (pretty much adjoining) private rooms & private bathrooms with little balconies with table, chairs & hammocks for like $5 each per night, we had a fab time. We hiked to San Ramon waterfall (about a third or the way up Volcan Mederas) that I believe was actually the highest shower in the world – not too impressive really, but after the hike there the water felt fab. The picnic we had there was my highlight, especially considering most of the ingredients were bought off the back of a stopped truck on the road (I dont believe there are any shops or supermarkets of any kind in Altagracia! The whole intention of going there was to hike one of the Volcanoes, either Maderas or Concepcion, after the San Ramon hike we never made it – probably a good job as there was a huge storm that night, and we would have had to get up at 4am to do it, which would not have been pleasant! Instead we went to check out the beach at Charco Verde where it appeared to be washing day for horses, cows and people alike!

Waiting for the ferry to omotepe, Volcan Concepcion & maderas, local haunt in Omotepe (or was it the only haunt!!)

Volcan Maderas – we had to climb halfway to get to that rubbishy waterfall!, Picnic at the waterfall, wash day at Charco Verde.

From there we all decided to head to San Juan Del Sur where we hired a boat for the day between the 8 of us we got through the largest bottle of Flor De Cana (gorgeous local white rum) and 5 people were seasick and not drinking – you can imagine how drunk myself Leslie & Renee were!! We continued drinking for the rest of the day which resulted in many drunken antics and lots of DRI´s on my part (drink related injuries – come on get with it!). Breakfast the next day was a pretty abismal effort. Some thought that a bike ride would be a good idea – not I. The three sensible ones of us took cabs and met up with the rest of the group at a beach just South of San Juan. We got caught in a huge downpour and figured the only way to conquer a hangover was to get drunk again. Well the uneven clay roads didnt hold well after the rain and it became impossible to even push the bikes back – boy was I glad I didnt have one, even though we had not arranged a cab to come back to pick us up and the only other option was walking – I was still a lot happier with this. We did eventually get a lift with two french guys in a converted Canadian bus – the highlight of the day was driving past Leslie & Riley in the bus as they were pushing the bikes along the road, what they shouted at us I cant possibly repeat!! We also met two more great American guys, Ryan & Tim (AKA Bill & Ted) they added even more humor and fun to the group (including late night skinny dipping – or was it early morning?) and kept our numbers up after Renee & Jane left us to go back to Costa Rica, wasnt the same without you girls though.

The drunken boat trip, Ryan & Tim (AKA Bill & Ted), getting drunk, view from our balcony at night.

So eventually the time came for Leslie & I to leave to head for the Bay Islands, after another drunken night & missing our 9am bus (we didnt even try to make it in all fairness) we decided we couldnt split up the family just yet so back to Costa Rica it was!

Im glad I decided to go back, Tamarindo was fab. We were sad to say goodbye to Jahdi & Ra after 4 nights, but the partying continued for Leslie & I for another 2 nights. The main memories being the Monkey Bar & the 1st world cup match Costa Rica V Germany – they lost but hey the atmosphere was fab and what an excuse for morning drinking! If only we had stopped at morning drinking instead of all day & night drinking too, it may not have got quite so messy eh!! The sunset in Tamarindo was also on a par with the one seen earlier in Santa Teresa, I cant decide which is the best, they were equally spectacular and both enjoyed with fantastic people. Leslie you are my sunset companion forever!

Monkey Bar, how cool do we look – wish we could actually use the damn surf board!, Sunset in Tamarindo, Lesley & I

Back to travelling alone seems like quite a depressing thought after the fab couple of weeks we all had together, but im sure another new adventure will be awaiting on my journey back up through Nicaragua and to Honduras.