30 May 2005
Nicaragua
i´ve decided that nicaragua should be a translated into ¨cheaper than costa rica yet just as amazing.¨
from santa elena we headed north into the south western edge of nicaragua. our first night was spent in moyogapla on the island ometepe. Ometepe literally means ¨between two hills¨ which fits the island very nicely as it is composed of two volcanos side by side joined by a land isthmus on lake nicaragua. absolutely amazing to see! after meeting two canadians at our hostel in moyogalpa the four of us made it to the beach chardo verde where we spent 1 1\2 days doing absolutely nothing but sitting in the sun and hiking around. there we met up with two other girls from madison. All six of us had a beach fire that night and the following morning we headed to the base of Maderas, the smaller of the two volcanos. We found a nice little farm\hostel that rented out beds at $4\night and hammocks at $1.50\night. i spent the next two nights sleeping outside in a hammock overlooking a volcano. wow
this place has been the highlight of my trip so far. its a working organic farm where people come to bed down or to volunteer. the entire place is self contained. Each night we had an amazing view of the sun setting behind the larger volcano. The second night directly following sunset a huge thunder storm rolled in from across the lake and we were able to watch the whole thing from our front porch. now, add into this the sound of howler monkeys going wild in the forest behind you and you´ll see why this place was so cool. Also on the second day we did the 7 hour hike, round trip, to the top of our volcano. The hike up took a solid 4 hours and was super steep. but once we made it to the top we got to crawl down a combination of mud and clay for about 15 minutes to a lake that now fills the dormant crater of the volcano. i swam to the center of the lake and the view was amazing. it was like being in a large bowl that consisted entirely of jungle. So cool! The hike down took about 3 hours and just ruined my legs. i was dead for the rest of the night. it worked out to be the perfect night to watch a storm roll in. the third day we all crammed into a cab and got off the island. now only the four madisonians are traveling together. the two canucks were lost along the way.
From ometepe we went to san juan del sur for a night. and the following morning we headed out to the local surf beach about 10km north. this place was really cool. it was a fairly expensive cab ride and we had to walk the last 200 meters cause the road was so bad but once we got there it was all worth it. there were around 20 surfers or so and it was low tide. We played wiffle ball and frisbee on the beach between their surfing sessions until the tide came in and that night everyone made it up to this crazy american´s place up the beach about 5 minutes for an all you can eat meal. The guy´s name is Dave but everyone called him crazy dave, and for good reason. the dude was nuts, but really nice and a good cook. Spent two relaxing days here where we again slept outside in hammocks. We are now in Granada. A little colonialish town north from san juan del sur. We´ll spend all day tomorrow here and catch a bus south into costa rica in two days. i´ve finished three books so far and i´m looking forward to finding some new books to waste my days with.
smiles
from santa elena we headed north into the south western edge of nicaragua. our first night was spent in moyogapla on the island ometepe. Ometepe literally means ¨between two hills¨ which fits the island very nicely as it is composed of two volcanos side by side joined by a land isthmus on lake nicaragua. absolutely amazing to see! after meeting two canadians at our hostel in moyogalpa the four of us made it to the beach chardo verde where we spent 1 1\2 days doing absolutely nothing but sitting in the sun and hiking around. there we met up with two other girls from madison. All six of us had a beach fire that night and the following morning we headed to the base of Maderas, the smaller of the two volcanos. We found a nice little farm\hostel that rented out beds at $4\night and hammocks at $1.50\night. i spent the next two nights sleeping outside in a hammock overlooking a volcano. wow
this place has been the highlight of my trip so far. its a working organic farm where people come to bed down or to volunteer. the entire place is self contained. Each night we had an amazing view of the sun setting behind the larger volcano. The second night directly following sunset a huge thunder storm rolled in from across the lake and we were able to watch the whole thing from our front porch. now, add into this the sound of howler monkeys going wild in the forest behind you and you´ll see why this place was so cool. Also on the second day we did the 7 hour hike, round trip, to the top of our volcano. The hike up took a solid 4 hours and was super steep. but once we made it to the top we got to crawl down a combination of mud and clay for about 15 minutes to a lake that now fills the dormant crater of the volcano. i swam to the center of the lake and the view was amazing. it was like being in a large bowl that consisted entirely of jungle. So cool! The hike down took about 3 hours and just ruined my legs. i was dead for the rest of the night. it worked out to be the perfect night to watch a storm roll in. the third day we all crammed into a cab and got off the island. now only the four madisonians are traveling together. the two canucks were lost along the way.
From ometepe we went to san juan del sur for a night. and the following morning we headed out to the local surf beach about 10km north. this place was really cool. it was a fairly expensive cab ride and we had to walk the last 200 meters cause the road was so bad but once we got there it was all worth it. there were around 20 surfers or so and it was low tide. We played wiffle ball and frisbee on the beach between their surfing sessions until the tide came in and that night everyone made it up to this crazy american´s place up the beach about 5 minutes for an all you can eat meal. The guy´s name is Dave but everyone called him crazy dave, and for good reason. the dude was nuts, but really nice and a good cook. Spent two relaxing days here where we again slept outside in hammocks. We are now in Granada. A little colonialish town north from san juan del sur. We´ll spend all day tomorrow here and catch a bus south into costa rica in two days. i´ve finished three books so far and i´m looking forward to finding some new books to waste my days with.
smiles
21 May 2005
getting started. San Jose -> Santa Elena
Hey all,
The whole idea around this blog is to copy the idea of gregor, mike, and Niko while adding a little bmo and betsy flavor. So here's the deal... Quick updates and highlights of our happenings via our loving fingertips.
Getting started - got into san jose on thursday and within an hour of arriving we were on a bus heading NW into Monteverde/Santa Elena. The trip into this fine city was something of an experience in and of itself. The last half of the journey consisted of dirt switchbacks only one lane wide. Friday we spent the morning hiking through the santa elena forest reserve. This entire area is a cloud forest. A cloud forest is defined by an area that is 100% humidity 100% of the time. Basically a really amazing forest denser than any i've been in before. We hiked for a solid four hours until all the trails were exhausted.
While riding home for the reserve we heard of a waterfall 5km outside of santa elena and decided to check it out. one expensive cab ride, three tough river crossings, and one hour later we were in front of the most amazing waterfall. 25+ meters high with a second waterfall above that. The coolest thing about the whole experience was swimming right up to the falls and jumping off the rock ledges.
today (Sat.) we spent the entire day on the front porch of the hostel la pension santa elena chilling with other travelors. Really great times with some really cool people. Tomorrow we leave early for liberia, and from there we're on to nicaragua and a supposedly great hike up a volcano.
Love, us
The whole idea around this blog is to copy the idea of gregor, mike, and Niko while adding a little bmo and betsy flavor. So here's the deal... Quick updates and highlights of our happenings via our loving fingertips.
Getting started - got into san jose on thursday and within an hour of arriving we were on a bus heading NW into Monteverde/Santa Elena. The trip into this fine city was something of an experience in and of itself. The last half of the journey consisted of dirt switchbacks only one lane wide. Friday we spent the morning hiking through the santa elena forest reserve. This entire area is a cloud forest. A cloud forest is defined by an area that is 100% humidity 100% of the time. Basically a really amazing forest denser than any i've been in before. We hiked for a solid four hours until all the trails were exhausted.
While riding home for the reserve we heard of a waterfall 5km outside of santa elena and decided to check it out. one expensive cab ride, three tough river crossings, and one hour later we were in front of the most amazing waterfall. 25+ meters high with a second waterfall above that. The coolest thing about the whole experience was swimming right up to the falls and jumping off the rock ledges.
today (Sat.) we spent the entire day on the front porch of the hostel la pension santa elena chilling with other travelors. Really great times with some really cool people. Tomorrow we leave early for liberia, and from there we're on to nicaragua and a supposedly great hike up a volcano.
Love, us
