Isla Omatepe: The double volcano island.
The Crazy dog Gandalf
This crazy monket ran up and just sat on Aarons lap.
One of our final days in San Juan Del Sur we spent out fishing which was significantly cheaper than most places in the world. It was $16 per person and they gave you a free drink. At least everyone on our boat caught one fish, which was nothing to exciting just big bonitos. The usual fish you try not to catch at home because that’s how many of them they are. But it was still fun. I later cleaned it and ate it with rice and coconut milk. The following day we had huge thunderstorms with what appeared to be gallons plummeting from the sky.
Two days later we went out to Isla Omatepe and walked around the dirty little town of Mayagalpa. There was not too much happening in this town, just tiny casinos on each corner and kids roaming the streets riding bikes and doing what kids do. It definitely seemed like the place with the most of beggars so far, and not your standard “dame una Cordoba” , but old drunk men asking for money or to buy them a café after fallowing you around for quite some time. Being a Saturday, we attempted to figure out how to get to the other side of the island on a Sunday which seemed virtually impossible. So the following day we decided to just get on the morning boat and take it back to San Jorge and go to Granada instead. The only real enjoyable part of Omatepe was the random guy on the street who was selling tamales for only 20 Cordoba’s each(the equivalent to $1 and they were huge.
We arrived in Granada on May 2nd and stayed at a place called The Oasis. It had tall bunk beds and a small pool but was great because Granada was HOT, like most Central American places we have encountered. We even saw a few people who appeared to be on the Northern Backpacker rout as we were. We ran into a group of 4 Israeli guys that we happened see 4 different times throught out trip. The first being our first hostel in Panama City, then the San Blas Islands, San Juan Del Sur, and finally In Granada. Also staying at the Oasis were 2 Swedish girls which we saw in San Juan as well, however we didn’t share a very strong bond because she stole my tostada chips. WHAT A BIOTCH! I really didn’t care but they were pretty anti social as it is.
The following day I played in a poker tournament at an Irish bar which was $100 cords buyin ($5 US) and re-buys for the first hour. Prior to the tournament they asked me my age and said, “were going to need to see and ID and just laughed”. Not necessarily because I looked young but because almost all of the other people were at least 45. They did not really care about my age but just wanted to make me think and make fun. I was not getting the cards I had hoped for but managed to make my way to the final 5/12 people and with re-buys which was a disappointment because the top 4 were paid.
The next day we walked through the Granada market which consisted of tons of vendors selling tons of different foods, and of course the makings for Gia pinto (the traditional Nicaraguan main dish just beans and rice) and tons of fruits and veg. We later made out way over to the Central Park and slurped down tons of fresh juice, my new favorite was tamarindo.
After a few days of hanging out we went to the market and gathered some portable foods such as pastas veg, mini pineapples and tortillas and made our way to The Monkey Hut, a place on Laguna de apoya which is a lake in the crated of a volcano 30 minutes outside of Granada. We stayed in the triple bunked dorms for 5 nights and did almost nothing except hang out at the lake, kayaking, swimming, laying and jumping off the float, reading, and other lazy things.
The second day we took the buss to Masaya which had lots of bigger markets. I purchased 2 really big paintings from a few artists. They took them off the canvases and rolled them up nicely so they will fit in my already over weight pack. We hung out for the next 2 days and then on Monday we took a overnight trip into Granada. Again we stayed at the Oasis where I where I was able to get caught up on my college info and future plans. That night I also went to Kellies bar and I got in on the game of cards. I ended up taking 2nd and $900 Cordoba’s ($45 US). The next day we headed back out to the monkey hut and enjoyed the lazy days and cooler weather.
Today Thursday, May 13 we went back into Granada Aaron wanted to watch the hockey game and I also didn’t mind playing a game of cards. I got knocked out with a full house Q’s and 9’s with a higher full house. That sucked, but it was still fun. Guess what we are doing tomorrow? ………… Ya, were heading back out to the monkey hut for a few days! And then who knows where we will be heading after that.
18 days to go!
The only reason why I am really excited is because I have been out of the country for 7 of the 12 months. It will be nice to go home for a bit.
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