Valentine's Day in Nicaragua

Valentine's Day started with a walk down El Castillo's main path to Manuel's waiting boat, a 2 hour trip on the Rio San Juan to San Carlos, a short taxi ride from the dock to the airport, a 45 minute flight to Managua in a Cessna where Antonio, our driver, was waiting to take us to on the 2 hour drive to Leon. 

Unfortunately William, our guide, couldn't be with us, but he did send HJ a wonderful box of rum truffles and as Antonio passed them over, William rang on the phone to wish HJ a happy Valentine's Day.  RM meanwhile reached for the sick bag as he had failed to produce any romantic offerings.

HJ enjoying Williams's chocolates

On reaching our hotel, El Convento, a former convent, we found the beautiful courtyard garden being set up for a huge $35 a head VD dinner with live music.  We asked if we could just eat in the restaurant and after some negotiations were told we could. 

On arrival at the restaurant, we found we were the only two people in the 50 cover, air conditioned restaurant. 

Apart from a scrambled egg breakfast we hadn't eaten all day and HJ had the munchies and decided we would both have a starter and main course as to date, the portions have been so huge we have been sharing. 

The layered smoked salmon and cheese terrine was so big, M&S would have sold it as a main meal for two and the shrimp cerviche had 12 shrimps.  Then it was on to mains of a volcano of erupting lava (called four cheese risotto on the menu) and a dinner sized plate crepe stuffed with scallops in a cheese sauce.  With two bottles of wine (it was VD after all), our bill came to the bargain of $71.

"Cheesed" out we retired to our room so HJ could munch on her truffles and dream of William.

PR was equally spoilt as on logging on, he found an e-mail from his favourite admirer, appropriately named V.

Relaxing after dinner in El Convento

Crocodile Dundee, snakes and pirates

Transfer day was again eventful.  We left Granada at 8am for a four-hour drive to San Carlos.  The journey ended up taking five, due to an accident, diversion, cattle being herded by horses along the road and school children who had not learned the Green Cross Code.

On arrival at San Carlos, we boarded a boat with our new guide Manuel, for El Castillo (only accessible by the river – Rio San Juan) for the 90 minute journey when Manuel soon gained favor when he dished out plastic bags and eventually a huge plastic sheet that we all had to huddle under as a massive storm engulfed us. The town is dominated by a castle made famous for repelling pirates, including a young Horatio Nelson.  It has one main path and no cars or roads.  There is apparently one motor bike, which the locals hate.

How rubbish is collected in El Castillo

Our first evening was spent caiman spotting from a canoe.  HJ had low expectations until our intrepid guide, with flash light on his head, jumped in the water, thrashed around and returned to the canoe with a four foot female in his arms

He proceeded to perform the same trick with male and female green iguana and a number of frogs including the famous red-eyed tree frog.

Our second day was split. The morning was spent trekking in the Indo Maiz Reserve, where howler monkeys took umbrage to our guide’s impersonation of them and pelted us with almonds.  HJ then excelled herself by not only spotting a snake (poisonous and over 5 feet long), but staying around to take photos. 

Although the rain forest trail was only 2km, it took three hours as we had to squelch through shin-deep mud. Fortunately the hotel provided wellies which we were able to wash in the river before returning.

The afternoon was a more sedate amble up to the castle (properly known as La Fortaleza de la Limpia Pura e Immaculada Concepcion) with its small museum and stunning views of the river and town.

Our next stop will be Leon, our final in Nicaragua.

Hair raising and hectic! - photos added

We have spent the last three nights in Granada and it has lived up to our expectations.  Our first stop was a tour of the 365 Islets of Lake Nicaragua - around 40% are inhabited - with houses owned by the very rich - apart from one which is inhabited by three monkeys, with Pancho being happy to jump onto passing boats.

This rich person owns two islands and the house forms a bridge

Pancho - white faced capuchin monkey

Lunch was in El Zaguan described in the Rough Guide as having "melt in your mouth sirloin steaks" which they certainly did.

Our first afternoon was spent with our guide William and concentrated on a city tour of the many historical, cultural and artistic gems in Granada - following 200 years of repeated attacks by pirates.

Day 2 looked at Nicaragua's favourite subject: volcanoes (there are 25 of them in the country and many are active).  We visited two.  Firstly Mombacha was which a blind tasting as it was in the cloud forest and we couldn't see anything.

With Ramon our guide in the cloud forest at Mombacho Volcano

The second was a nose tasting with a distinct whiff of sulphur from the very active crater which last erupted in 2012.  Fortunately HJs loud sneeze did not trigger a seismic reaction. Little wonder, you are advised to park your vehicle facing the exit, just in case. 

HJs three amigos- Antonio our driver, RM and William, the best guide in Nicaragua

RM at the top of Mombacho Volcano

We also managed to squeeze in a shopping trip to Masaya market and a tour of a coffee plantation including an eye opening explanation of how our favourite brew is made.  Supplies were purchased, so perhaps a coffee morning in 100PS on return would be appropriate.




   

Our final day was equally hectic and hair raising.  We started with RM going to the barberia before 9am for a much needed re-style. 

We continued to the cemetery and tracked down a few of the more notable mauseleums including the first Nicaraguan President.  Next we celebrated with a cigar at Donna Elbar and saw a demonstration of hand rolling cigars (but not on a maiden's thigh)!  Keeping to the luxury mode, we visited the chocolate shop and museum which said it all.  The advice for Valentines Day is that women prefer chocolates to flowers! 

Lunch was at Gordito's kiosk in the plaza where for $2 we shared a plate of banana leaf wrapped pork, casava and cabbage salad which tasted better than it sounds: we avoided the vignon which is basically a huge pork scratching. 

We had a post lunch horse and carriage ride around the town before HJ had a BOO sponsored massage by "Seeing Hands" a non profit organisation where blind masseurs are trained. The $15 for an hour was well spent as she had managed re-arrange her shoulder when she missed her step on exiting the mini bus in a most inelegant fashion.  Meanwhile RM spent a paltry $4 on dos cervaza whilst researching our next port of call.

A tale of two craters - updated with photos

Next stop is our current home, Isla Ometepe, which came into being when two volcanoes appeared in the middle of the freshwater Lake Nicaragua. The volcanoes were joined by an isthmus and our hotel is situated on this, giving us views of each volcano, but unfortunately not together.

You can just about see both volcanoes in this photo - taken from the ferry on the way over

To get here we had an hours drive to San Jorge and then boarded a ferry for the one hour crossing.  Our guide told us that the ferry was brought from Holland six years ago and was clearly not built for the tropical climate.  It had sealed windows and heating instead of air conditioning.  William advised us to sit nead to sit near the open door to avoid being cooked.

The ferry to Isla Ometepe

Our tour of the island started on arrival. We visited Playa Punta Jesus Maria  a small, narrow strip of sand which provided good photo opportunities.

Next was a real contrast, and our first museum, when we stopped at Museos el Ceibo where we learned about the history of the Nicaraguan currency (the Cordoba) and saw pre-Colombian ceramics and pottery. After lunch at our hotel Villa Paraiso, where RM was presented with a dessert with a birthday candle, we walked around an atmospheric lagoon at Charco Verde before cooling off in large pool formed by water from a crystalline spring. 

We also called in to Altogracia, one of the main towns and the home of our guide, to look around both the new and old church. Our final stop was to Finca Albergue Ecologico where we wandered around their gardens and saw the best of the islands Petroglyphs. 

Our full day was completed with sangria and sun down.

Feliz Crumpleanos!

The birthday boy's day started with a surprise al fresco breakfast in the gardens of Monteverde Lodge in Costa Rica.

Our friend Eduardo picked us up for the four hour transfer mainly over unmade roads to the Nicaraguan border, stopping to pick up a snack lunch along the way.

We'd been warned about possible long delays at the border, but in the end it was quite uneventful.  Particularly as our new guide, William, greased the palm of the immigration officer.  He told us that he thought the officer looked hot, and so offered to buy him a soda.

We then had a relatively short ride on the Pan American Highway to San Juan Del Sur one of Nicaragua's main ports. William suggested a tour around the town, stopping at a beach side restaurant where beers were provided and a toast made to the birthday boy.

Morgan's Rock Hacienda and Eco Lodge is hard to describe.  We passed the front entrance and 30 minutes later we were still following signs for reception.  Eventually a series of thatched roofs came into view and we were greeted by Miriam.  

Our 'room' is one of 15 and only accessible by negotiating a long path and 100m hanging bridge.  It perches on the side of a steep hill and our room is amazing.  It has a courtyard garden, large veranda with swinging day-bed and two chairs for watching the sunset over the Pacific Ocean.  The large indoor room, with only mosquito mesh at the windows, has a huge bed and on another floor a sofa for relaxing.  The pipe work in the bathroom is exposed copper tubes.

HJ had pre-booked a birthday dinner on the intimate deck but on arrival, found we had been usurped!  Complaints were made and the manager offered a bottle of their "finest champagne".  This turned out to be a cheap bottle of sparkling Chilean wine that we had already ordered.  On complaining again, he produced a bottle of their most expensive French wine $70 and said that he had another chilled should we want it.  He also offered a free excursion of our choice.  The meal was excellent and we were last to bed across a now very dark bridge.

Farewell Costa Rica

Here we are at the Monteverde Reserve where our guide, Samuel, was desperate to spot the resplendent quetzel in its natural habitat.  After some time we found the female but it is the male with all the colourful markings so, rather frustratingly for us, we kept on looking and therefore did not venture that far into the forest.  We did make the waterfall but by now, a lot more visitors had arrived and the 'big cats' had gone to bed.

After three hours on the look-out for flora and fauna, we moved on to the hummingbird gallery where, over a small hot chocolate and bun, we observed the tiny colourful birds zipping backwards between the water feeding stations.  Apparently they flap at least 60 times a second - a bit like being back at work.

On return from our travels, we dropped off our things and headed out for a light lunch in the town, 15 minutes away.  On the way back HJ spotted the Monteverde Orchid Gardens where for $20 we had a tour and free time to take photos.  It has 400 species, with a collection of miniature ones including the smallest one in the world.  Little wonder we did not spot many in the forest.  Here though, we were provided with magnifying glasses so we could have a good look.

We just could not get past the Green Park bar so without transferring onto the Jubilee Line, we ordered a couple of well earned Cervezas and sat in the sun.  Dinner then beckoned after hot showers.

Our final full day in Costa Rica started with a long walk in the Ecological Sanctuary which adjoins our lodge's complex.  Here we came across some stunning tree formations and miradors which afforded excellent views of the Pacific Ocean.

The afternoon was spent in, what according to the sign, was a Frog Pong (rather than Pond). Here we saw 28 species of frogs and toads, many of which are characteristic to Costa Rica such as the colourful poison dart frogs and the red eyed tree frog.  We will return tonight to see them at their most active.

Tomorrow, on what will be RMs birthday, we leave for Nicaragua.

Come on baby light my fire!

Onwards, and literally upwards, once again.  This time to the Monteverde Cloud Forest.  RM was exorcised about getting to  what he thought was going to be a roll on, roll off ferry across Lake Arenal on time as he was held up paying the room bill. When we arrived we found we had a 40 seater boat to ourselves for the 30 minute crossing to Rio Chiquito.  We then bumped onwards for another 2 hours on a dirt track to our next home.

Temperatures have dropped considerably and it feels more like being in a ski chalet rather than a cloud forest lodge.  Here we are having a drink just after the lighting of the fire and candles at 5.30pm.  We even have a duvet and blanket on our bed rather than the thin sheet we've needed to date.  Although sunny, it is very windy with sprays of fine mist every so often.  Activities await.

Peter has managed to pull a couple of birds already!