Jess and Stacey’s Travels

Our 90 day visa was up on the day that Mark and Jeana left.  Unfortunately, we couldn’t see them off to the airport because we were bee-lining it to the Costa Rican border early that morning.  We got to the border about 11am at Penas Blancas.  It was the most confusing border crossing we had encountered.  No clear signs on which way to go. 

Info for anyone else crossing on foot (not on a Ticabus or other bus) – little girls try to sell the immigration form to fill out.  One tried to sell us them for $1 a piece.  A bit steep for something that they give you for free at the window.  Go through the break in the chain linked fence and pay the $1 on the Nica side.  Walk to where you see the buses and go to the window where you pay to exit Nicaragua and fill out the form – $2/person.  You need to give the other copy of the form to the Costa Rican side.  Walk down the dirt road where the trucks are going, and stay on the left side of the street.  There is a bank at the Costa Rican side next to where you get your passport stamped, so no need to change to Colones before then. 

At the border, Penas Blancas, we caught a mini-bus to Liberia in Northwest Costa Rica, where we are now.  So far we like Liberia, more for what it is not.  It is not nearly as loud at night as Granada.  It does not have fire crackers and car alarms going off all night.  No church bells clanging at 5am.  It does not have men telling Stacey they love her, or cat-calling as she walks by.   Ah, Liberia!  We have such low standards.

Evidently, Liberia is changing rapidly because of all the beach development happening 45min – 1 hour away.  We were told by Dennis, owner of our hostel, that the population has doubled in 3 years.  Unfortunately, the Rincon de la Vieja park that we wanted to visit was closed today so we are just walking around town today and maybe going to the beach this afternoon.  There are public buses that go to the beach from here.  Tomorrow we are visiting the park and then we’ll probably leave Liberia on Wed. 

Mark and Jeana’s visit-click on photo for more pictures

Jeana and Mark returned to the states on Sunday after 10 days in Nicaragua.  We really, really enjoyed having them here and hopefully they had fun too.  Thank you to everyone who sent little care packages with them.  The corn nuts and cookies went quickly – partly to satisfy Mark’s insatiable appetite and partly to sustain us on our trip to the Corn Islands.  Sadly, the home-made jam got confiscated despite Jeana’s kung-fu efforts with homeland security. 
Fortunately for their visit, the rains had stopped the week before they got here.  Prior to that, we had had about one month of straight rain. 

Their first few days were spent in and around Granada.  While we wanted Jeana and Mark to stay with us in our rented house, the rooms were too stuffy.  They stayed at Casa Chandler, which they both said they would recommend, particularly the rooms inside the house near the pool.   

The second day, Stacey careened around potholes with everyone in a rental car to visit neighboring villages of Granada where we bought ceramics and hammocks.  The following day, Jeana and Mark soaked up more sun zip lining and hiking around Volcano Mombacho while Jess and Stacey worked on arranging the trip to the Corn Islands, on the Caribbean side of Nicaragua.

Zip lining at Mombacho-click on photo for more pictures

Monday, we all went to Managua and flew to Big Corn Island and then took a harrowing boat ride to Little Corn Island.  We met two other couples that we ended up playing cards with that night.  On Little Corn, we lazed around in hammocks overlooking the sea, Jeana obsessing over crossword puzzles and everyone else reading their books.  We only went diving a few times because the visibility was so poor due to bad storms that had hit that week.  We did see 5 sharks on one dive.  Surprisingly, Stacey did not freak out.  We used the Dolphin Dive Shop, although Little Corn Dive Shop seems to have higher standards as a PADI 5 star shop.   We played alot of hearts (missing Dan and Sara).  And Mark fished with a local resident, catching at least one big, ugly barracuda.

Card Shark and a Barracuda-click on photo for more pictures

After 3 days on Little Corn, we took another harrowing boat ride in the rain amongst big swells back to Big Corn Island.  We flew back to Managua and returned to Granada.  Jeana and Mark needed more adventure and left for Ometepe for two days of hiking, waterfalls, and crosswords; while Stacey and Jess napped in Granada. 

In 10 days, Jeana and Mark saw as much as you probably could squeeze in for that amount of time.  Mark discovered a love of Toña and pollo empanadas without pollo, while Jeana perfected her impressions of street vendors – Quesiiiillooos!