Monteverde

21 - 28 June 2008

After our adventures in Nicaragua and the border, we decided to spend a week in Monteverde. Natasha's sister Munira works at the CPI language school there as a chaperon for the students.

That means that she's often on the road with the kids. Luckily, she managed to be in town on an important occasion: Natasha's birthday. We celebrated at the local restaurant La Chimera.

Munira organised a great apartment for our stay in Monteverde. After several weeks of eating out three times a day, an own kitchen was pure luxury, and we looked forward to a week of homecooked food.

We got so excited about cooking that we signed up for the one-hour cooking class at school. Believe it or not: it tasted great.

We also took advantage of Spanish classes, to expand (Gaudi) and brush up (Natasha) our skills. We had two great teachers: Alexandra and Carlos.

Mornings in Monteverde were always clear, with good views over the mountains. On very clear days, we could see the pacific coast. But towards the afternoon, clouds usually creeped up the mountains, and by 2pm it was raining. Knowing this, Munira arranged for our classes to be in the afternoon. :-)

During the mornings, we did outings to the nature reserve (or worked on our homework!). Monteverde and Santa Elena are untouched areas of beautiful cloud forest. We were able to spot Tucans, Colibries, and other interesting birds.

See all Monteverde and Santa Elena pictures here:

Monteverde

Rio Frio

19 June 2009




We cross the border today, upstream rio Frio into Costa Rica. First, we need the exit stamps from the Nicaraguan Immigration in San Carlos. In the wooden building (shack), we make sure we get all the necessary stamps. We pay two dollars, and a lady types up a receipt on an old typewriter. She's a very fast typer though. The immigration officer is thrilled to learn that Natasha is from Suriname (he enquired about the Surinamese Visa in her passport). Our boat (a large wooden canoe really) leaves directly from the dock of the immigration office.


All passengers on board of this barge are locals, except for one other tourist couple: John and Kate who camped on the deck on the ferry yesterday. The cruise on the river is very scenic. Again, lots of water birds. We can often spot monkeys in the trees that line the shore. Most of them are just relaxing on a branch and hardly take note of us passing by on the river.


At some point, the engine of the boat fails, and we drift downstream i.e. the wrong direction. We enjoy the silence - the locals are less thrilled. However, after a little while, the boatmen manage to fix the engine and we continue our journey.


We pass a Nicaraguan military post. The soldiers enter the boat and check handbags - not suitcases. The passing of the boat must be their only activity for the day. I'd like to take a picture of this isolated post, but, as a rule, we don't take pictures of men with big guns.


Towards the end of the journey, we pass some fancy tourist boats from Costa Rican tour operators which have started to make use of the river. In fact, Costa Rica is nowadays pushing for more river access into Nicaragua for their rapidly growing tourism industry, not only on Rio Frio but also in Rio San Juan. However, more boats mean less monkeys.

The Costa Rican border town Los Chilles surprises us in its lack of infrastructure. Upon arrival at the shore, the passengers of our barge line up in a parking lot where what looks like plain clothes officials check the luggage. They seem to focus on the Nicas and wave us through.


We follow the only road and soon a young man behind a desk on the roadside yells: he asks if we come from Nicaragua. We pay two dollars and get a receipt. He tells us to drop in the immigration office further up the road. Sure enough, after a few minutes we come by a hut - if we would not have looked out for it, we would not have noticed that this wooden hut is the Costa Rican immigration. No uniforms here either: two girls in tank tops stamp our passports.


There's nothing happening in this town. Best thing to leave as fast as possible. I change my last Nicaraguan Cordobas (worth about 3 USD) into CR Colones. A man leads me to a group of very dodgy men playing poker under a tree behind the bus station - one of them changes my cash. As opposed to Nicaragua, the money changers here definitely don't wear badges.


We board the bus to Tilaran where we'll spend the night.

San Carlos and Rio San Juan

18 June 2009

We arrive at 5 am in this pleasant harbour town. The security guard of a bank is pretty much the only person awake. He gives us directions to a hotel.

Today, we do a daytrip to El Castillo. El Castillo is downstream of the San Juan river, which links Lago Nicaragua to the Caribbean/ Atlantic ocean. During the 19th century, this river was a popular passageway from the Atlantic to the Pacific - especially during the gold rush. There even were efforts to build a channel to link the Lago Nicaragua to the Pacific - a project which was ultimately achieved though the Panama canal. Since then, Rio San Juan has become very, very quiet. The river is lined with lush, green vegetation. We spot a lot of birds, and once we even see turtles sitting on a branch in the river.

The Spanish built El Castillo to defend the river from pirates of the caribbean who used to sail up the river to attack and plunder Granada. Today the ruins still provide for good views over the river and the surrounding land.





More pictures here.

Crossing Lago Nicaragua overnight

18 June 2009

We take the 7pm overnight ferry from Ometepe to San Carlos. We are advised to arrive at least one hour in advance at the harbour. The cabdriver that brought us to the hotel on our arrival has given us his number. We take advantage of the luxury of having a hotel with a telephone and book the same cab to pick us up. One reason for this is that I lost my hat in the cab when we arrived. Now, five days later, I am happy to get my hat back from the cabdriver.

The only paved road on the island is still blocked, so we have to take the dirt road to the harbour (one extra hour). Upon arrival we are rushed to board the ferry, and soon after we board it takes off - 30 minutes before scheduled departure. No wonder people advised us to come early.

The main difference between first class and second class is the airco in the first class cabin. It is set to full blast on minimum temperature. It feels like being inside a fridge. The first class passengers complain about the cold wind, but the staff doesn't care. Soon, all passengers wear their sweaters and windbreakers - inside the cabin. One couple travelling with a tent decides that it is more convenient to put up their tent and sleep on the outside deck.

The atmosphere on board is good, there is a small kitchen that sells warm food, and the lake is calm. Overall, we enjoy this ferry trip.

Road Block

18 June 2009

We decide to spend our last night on Ometepe by the beach: Charco Verde is a nature reserve by the water, with great views of both volcanos and many beautiful walks.

The transfer proves rather adventurous. The night before our departure, we try to arrange a cab for the next day but are told that this will have to wait till the morning. Apparently the only phone of the pension is a mobile phone, which has insufficient credit to make calls (The boy who usually brings the charge cards from the village has not shown up that day). The next morning, the phone is charged, but there is no network. So much for taking a taxi then, on to plan B, taking the bus. With our heavy backpacks on our backs, we start the 15 minute walk down to the main road (aka dirt track). As we're approaching the road, we already hear the bus announce its arrival by honking. It arrives 15 minutes early. We are lucky and just make it.

The bus takes us to Las Esquinas, where we need to connect to another bus. After a few minutes, a 4WD stops and two women from the bus stop get on. The driver asks us about our route and tries to explain that the bus will not be able to take us to the hotel and that we'd be better off riding with him (for 2 USD each). We decide to get on. We pick up a few more passengers on the way, including a police officer in uniform (Gaudi was worried for a second that this spelled trouble but the officer simply needed a ride to the next village).

Soon we see the reason why the bus could not get us to our destination today: heavy rain during the night provoked a mud-slide from the volcano El Concepcion. Lava gravel covers a large section of the only paved road on the island and makes passage impossible. As there are no heavy machines on the island, people start to clear the rubble by hand (more of a hundred meters of road are covered by massive rocks). Travelers have no other choice than to walk across the rubble field, and take buses and taxis on either side of the blockage. We had to cross with our luggage. Our courteous driver carried Natasha's suitcase across.

Another taxi already waits for us on the other side of the rubble field and brings us to our destination. We are rewarded with a lovely cabin directly on the sandy beach.

More Charco Verde pictures here:

Charco Verde

Climbing the Volcan Maderas

15 June 2009

Ometepe has two volanos: el Concepcion which is the higher one and still active and Maderas which is inactive. The 1400m high Maderas can be climbed. Presumably you will be rewarded at the top with great views across the giant Lago Nicaragua and with a refreshing swim in the lagoon inside the crater. We arranged for the highly recommended guide to pick us up at 7:00am at our pension (100m altitude) to start the ascent.

7.00h We enjoy our breakfast of fresh fruits. After a night of heavy rain, the morning is bright and clear. What a perfect day for a hike – hard to believe that this should be the rainy season. Definitely no need for rain-jackets today, especially not with 35 degrees heat.

7.30h We start our walk. The hotel has prepared a lunch bag for us: four mangoes. Our guide is called Guillermo and wears a t-shirt and rubber boots (hmm...). The path starts right behind the pension.

8.30h We walk through green fields. The path is well-defined. We learn that we are still on the farmland which belongs to our hotel.

8.45h The path steepens. We sweat in the heat, a lot (even our knees are sweating). We start to hear the noise of the rainforest: crickets, birds, and monkeys make a hell a lot of noise.

8.55h We spot dozens of howler monkeys. Whole families. Mothers carry their babies on their backs as they walk from branch to branch. The nature is beautiful.

9.00h We take a much needed rest at a viewpoint with great views on La Concepcion and the beaches of the island. We can hear the monkeys in the trees. Not a dry spot left on our t-shirts.

9.15h We enter the forest. More cute monkeys, this time with white faces. They take great interest in us.

10.00h As the path continues to become steeper and steeper, we sweat profoundly. Not only out t-shirts are completely wet, but also our trousers. In fact, every part of our bodies is covered in sweat. I really look forward to cooling off in that lagoon on top.

10.15h We enter the cloud forest. The view is now obscured by dense forest.

10.30h Three hours into our walk, Natasha asks the guide how far up we are . . . we are halfway up – at 700m . . . oh damn can I make this Natasha asks out loud.

10.45h After walking in the cloud forest, we now enter the clouds themselves. It's getting much cooler now. The view is obstructed by fog.

11.15h We take a rest, eat one mango and offer a second one to our guide. We ponder to turn around, but our guide explains that we'll be descending on a different route, apparently a shorter one (as we'll find out, it will be no easier).

11.30h The path is narrow, very steep, and muddy. We try not to get our shoes too dirty (a few hours later, this will be the least of our problems).

12.00h We reach the top of the mountain. A little turn-off leads to the lagoon. It's about 10 degrees cooler here than it was at the hotel. Guillermo and I undertake the steep decline down into the crater, while Natasha (wondering how the hell she will make it down this volcano) takes a rest and will wait for us here. She eats a mango.

12.30h After crawling on all fours over rocks, holding on to roots and branches, we manage the decline into the lagoon. It is unique. We're the only people here. However, clouds are closing in. I ponder a swim, but in this humidity I would not dry (not that I was dry). I decide against it, as it would be inconvenient to walk with slightly wet socks. Little did I realize that I would be soaked in a matter of minutes.

13.00h We arrive at Natasha's “resting” spot. The drizzle has turned into rain. Natasha is shivering under a tree. While she was waiting, a single hiker without guide passed by, heading for the descent via the path we came up on.

13.30h Now it is pouring down. Again we are soaked to the bone, but this time not only by sweat. No rain gear but not sure it would have made much of a difference.

14.00h The rain has turned our steep downhill path into a small stream. We walk ankle-deep in water. Now the choice of shoes of our guide shows its advantage over our soaked hiking boots.

14.15h Another group of tourists pass us. They enquire about the single hiker that went down the other path. He seems to have gotten separated from this group.

15.00h We spot a large crab in the middle of our path (well no big surprise as our path is really more like a river . . . with rapids)

15.30h More cute monkeys in the trees above us, looking down. We ignore them. We just want to get off this bloody mountain.


16.00h We run out of water (and mangos). Gaudi fears that we won't return to the hotel in time and will miss dinner again! Not another dinner of Oreo's and beer, please. Natasha's fears are of a different nature (will I ever make it down :-) At least the rain has stopped.


17.00h Finally, 10 hours after we started, and 1 hour before dark, we arrive at Finca Magdalena, which is 8km by dirt track from our hotel. We ask the staff to call us a cab, or any mode of transport that can save us this additional 8 km walk. I would be happy to settle for a horse. We are advised to walk the kilometer down the access road to the “main road” (a dirt road with more holes than anything else) and check there.

17.15h We learn from the lady at a fruit stand that we just missed the 5pm bus. Natasha refuses to walk one more step and asks the lady if she could help us find a taxi. Ah her son has a taxi but she has no way of contacting him. Luck has it he passes by on a motorcycle and says he will return with the taxi.

17.30h He returns in a red pick-up truck. It must date from the early 70's. Natasha sits in the driver's cabin, Guillermo and I jump on the platform in the back. Natasha bargains down the fare from 250C$ to 150 C$.




17.45h We realise that bargaining down the fare got us down the priority list. The main reason to get the truck was not to assist us, but to actually tow another truck out of the dirt. We drive down a farm road to where the vehicle is stuck. The farm workers quickly tie a rope around the vehicle and we pull the truck out of the mud. After that manoeuvre, we are on our way again.

18.00h We arrive at the pension. Luckily, they have counted on us having dinner, and prepared some very tasty chicken. What an eventful and strenuous day. Our clothes and shoes are dripping wet and we are covered with dirt head to toe. In retrospect (after a nice shower, dry clothes, a good meal and night's rest) we agree that it was worth it though we would not repeat the experience.




On a tragic note: the hiker that passed by Natasha and took the path down on his own did not show up at his destination that evening. Although a search party looked for him in the mountain until 2am that night and the whole of the following day, he had not been found by the evening of the following day.



Fotos and Videos here:

Volacan Maderas

Ometepe

14 June 2009


Ometepe is one of the most interesting and impressive places we've ever visited. The island Ometepe consists of two volcanoes rising from the waters of Lago Nicaragua. One of them, El Concepcion, is still active. We never tired of looking at this magnificent volcano, as ever changing cloud patterns change its appearance from minute to minute. The other volcano, Maderas, is inactive. In its crater at a height of 1400m is a green lake.


Ometepe is little touched by tourism. Most of its inhabitants live of agriculture (plantaines) and move around on horeback. Given the state of the few roads on the island, this is understandable: only one stretch of the roads on this island is paved. The lack of infrastructure means that the nature in this island is largely intact. We spot monkeys everywhere, and beautiful birds too. In addition, Lago Nicaragua is home to the only shark that can live in sweet water as well as in salt water. The shark travels from the Caribbean through Rio San Juan into Lago Nicaragua. This shark is not dangerous: we swam in the lake and no shark bit us.

Ometepe Pictures here:

Ometepe

From Granada to Ometepe

13 June 2009


After a lazy morning, we take the local bus from Granada to Ometepe. Ahead of the journey, various women enter the bus and sell biscuits, little plastic bags of drinks, and other snacks. As it is lunchtime, Natasha buys the local street-food: Vigoron - a palm leave filled with cabbage and fried pork skin. We try some of the Vigoron on the bus, but decide against eating it all.









After a pleasant 2 hour bus ride, we arrive at Rivas from where we cross Lago Nicaragua on a small boat (1hr). As it is already 4pm, we take a cab for the ride from the harbour to our pension. The ride starts out on a paved road, which after twenty minutes changes into a dirt road, and another twenty minutes into a track full of potholes (the thought “where the hell will we end up” does cross our mind). The ride takes a bit longer than one hour - not due to the big distance, but mostly because of the bad road. After driving up a small pitch dark dirt track, we arrive at what we sincerely hope is our pension. Luckily, the pension supervisor is awaiting us at the entrance (there is only one other couple staying in the pension). But the kitchen staff has already left. We can buy some items from the small kiosk: our dinner today consists of 4 Oreo cookies and a beer (should have had lunch!).









Only the next morning could we appreciate our location: The Finca El Porvenir has a beautiful lush garden with beautiful flowers. On the hotel grounds are many Petroglyphos: archeological stones with carvings. The restaurant is open air, under a large thatched roof. The views on El Concepcion and the island are just fantastic.