Arrival in Nicaragua

 

Leaving Costa Rica

We leave Gillan’s home at 6am and Gillian drives us to Liberia to catch our 9:15am shuttle bus to Nicaragua. In Liberia we grab a quick breakfast before saying our good-byes. The drive to the border goes quickly but the border crossing is hell. First we have to go through Costa Rican immigration. We drive through an area where a lot of cars and trucks are parked at the side of the road. It turns out to be the border crossing .We get out on the Costa Rican side and join a long long line waiting to be processed. I am told that both the men’s and women’s washrooms are scary. I think I can wait.The line is barely moving. It takes 1.5 hours standing in line to get our passports stamped by one of the two customs officials on duty and to pay the $8 USD exit fee.

 

Next we have to walk the equivalent of a block or two to the Nicaraguan immigration. First we have to pay$1 USD to enter the immigration building. They have more officials working but it takes longer per person as they photograph you, take your fingerprints and charge you another $13 USD entry fee. Finally after another hour, we get into a new shuttle bus which is taking us to our hotel in San Juan del Sur. So only 2.5 hours to cross the border!

San Juan del Sur

The LC Liri Hotel where we are staying has beautiful lounging areas and is right on the beach. The views are gorgeous.

San Juan del Sur is a beach town. Lots of surfers come here. It is situated on a bay, surrounded by low, lushly forested mountains. One of the mountains has a large statue of Christ on top. It is one of the top ten largest statues of Christ in the world and is called Christ of Mercy.

On the Beach

We head out to check the beach strip which is filled with lots of restaurants and bars. John and I have supper at one of the beachfront restaurants.  Seafood is well priced. I have a lobster dinner with an alcoholic beverage for $25 Canadian.

We sit on the beach to watch the sunset before heading back to the hotel

There are fireworks on the beach which I watch from our hotel lounging area. I love the supersized hammocks here.

The hotel serves a great hot breakfast in the morning. John and I choose scrambled eggs with toast, vegetables, rice & beans with sour cream and coffee. Of course there is also lots of fresh fruit and home made juice. Yum.

Ferry to Ometepe Island

We grab a taxi to San Jorge to catch the ferry to Ometepe Island. An egret is hunting at the docks. Click here for the video. As the ferry sets off its very windy and the water is quite rough and at some points splashes through the open windows. I keep my eyes closed through most of the one hour trip and fortunately don’t get sea sick.

There is a tv in the ferry playing a Latino soap opera…lots of drama…lots of shots showing people’s expressions and responses. The only soap operas more melodramatic than the Latin ones, are the Middle Eastern or Indian ones. They do seem to have a huge following.

Finding Rancho Tranquillo

Upon arrival at the port in Moloygalpo we start to walk to our accommodations at Rancho Tranquillo which is in a beautiful natural setting by the lake.  It is a 1 km walk along a path with our rolling carry-on bags and backpacks. It is 30 degrees out. We pass a number of very skinny street dogs. I feel sad for them.

Unfortunately, we miss the turn-off to the path. As we later find out, the path was under construction and was unrecognizable as a path when we walked by it… all we saw was a big pile of dirt. We follow an alternate route on Google Maps which leads us to another path that exists only in Googles mind and not in reality.  We have to backtrack almost all the way to the port to find another way to the original path. By this time John is lugging both suitcases because my rotator cuff is sore. Over three km later we arrive to Rancho Tranquillo.

Rancho Tranquillo

The place is lovely. There are chickens, dogs, a baby goat, parrots and a flock of guinea fowl. There are even water birds with their babies. So cute.

Our friendly hostess, Daniela gives us lots of good advice.

Trying Something that Scares Me

They say you should do something that scares you daily. I am not sure if I believe that or not..after all there is a reason it scares you.

After a rest in the hammock at our cabin, John and I go into town to rent a motorized scooter for the duration of our stay. This can be a really good idea or…

The guy takes John for a lesson then we drive around town. It is a little scary.

We stop for supper at a place that our host recommends. She says that it’s not much to look at but the food is really good.

When we arrive, two locals sitting in front of the restaurant have big smiles on their faces as they watch us. Is it my imagination or are they smiling even more as they watch me struggle to get my helmet off? The restaurant is packed with locals and a chicken is running around on the dirt floor. We climb up some rickety stairs to the 2nd floor and get a table. We order the local fish. It is delicious and costs $4 CAD. 

It is dark when we leave the restaurant and drive the scooter along the dirt path, past many local homes towards our accommodations. There are a number of ruts, some roots and lots of rocks on our path. At one point John guns it through a rocky rut and I yell out a few very colourful words….I hope no children pick up these new English phrases.

We make it back safe and sound.