Tag: Nicaragua

Architecture and Art in Granada

After a few days of fun on Ometepe island we were keen to get to Granada, famed for it’s old Colonial centre. We’d booked three nights in one of the largest and most well established hostels, and were looking forward to the facilities of a city after being in small towns or villages for a few weeks. First however, we had to get there.

Ferry from Ometepe to the mainland

I’d organised for the taxi driver who dropped us at our accommodation on Ometepe to pick us up and ferry us back to the port and, although this was not a cheap way to travel, the public buses from a remote village on a Nicaraguan island aren’t great. After the taxi it was a short wait at the port and then we were on the boat where we met a nice German couple who’d been travelling for three years! Their travel stories and recommendations made light work of the boat ride and soon we were at the port. We needed to get from the port of San Jorge to the roundabout in Rivas where we’d be able to catch a bus going North and, avoiding the taxis, we spotted a bus which I don’t think was actually in service but was going in the right direction. Unfortunately the fare we paid wasn’t much less than the taxi, but they did helpfully point out where to go once we reached the roundabout!

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Ometepe Island Adventures: Volcanoes, Kayaking, and a Motorbike

Ometepe is a very large island in the enormous Lake Nicaragua (the largest lake in Central America at 8,264 km2). It is dominated by two volcanoes, one active (called Concepcion) and one with a lake in the crater (called Maderas). To get here you have to get a ferry from the mainland that takes about an hour, the lake is huge!

We did well with our journey there, our host at Rancho Chilamate was going into town so she gave us a lift. There we found a yellow bus bound for Rivas. The bus dropped us at a petrol station and we met another backpacker going to Ometepe and agreed to share a ride. We were offered a taxi by a man charging $5 per person, whereas we’d all been told $5 per car. We took our bags away and met another driver, this time very nice and offering the price we expected. He helped us by explaining the correct taxes and ferry prices, and telling us where we needed to go. He asked if we needed transport on the Ometepe side, and then proceeded to call his friend and pass the phone to me to explain where we were going and to agree a price.

Ready to board the ferry to Ometepe

Once on the little car ferry, the water was surprisingly rough for a lake! Water was splashing up over the bow and through the door where we were sitting. We spent the journey chatting to Nina, the Belgian girl we’d met by the taxis. Chatting to people on public transport has been great, we’ve received lots of travel tips and it really helped pass the time on long journeys. The twin peaks of the volcanoes loomed closer and we were soon disembarking onto a sunny quay.

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From Costa Rica to Nicaragua, a few days relaxing near San Juan del Sur

We had a lovely few days doing pretty much nothing when we arrived in Nicaragua. This is very unusual for us, but at this point we were about half way through our trip and needed a break from moving around.

Rancho Chilamate, a lovely place to relax

San Juan del Sur is on the backpacker trail, and is a bit of a party town on the Pacific coast. We decided we didn’t want more partying at this point, so we opted for a very nice Airbnb option at Rancho Chilamate, about 20 minutes drive on dirt roads by a small town called Escamequita. Rancho Chilamate is a horse ranch set in beautiful countryside. It was hot whilst we were there, low thirties most of the time, but with a strong breeze. We had a lovely room, with air conditioning and a nice ensuite with cold water shower (this is very common in Central America, and is perfectly OK in most places as it is so hot you really don’t want a warm shower). Our room opened onto a courtyard around a swimming pool, with a small yoga / gym area off to one side, it just perfect for a few days relaxing. The ranch is home to a few people helping out, and it was fun spending a some nights drinking and chatting with them and meeting their friends, neighbours, dogs, and cats.

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