Nicaragua

We predetermined, before we got to Nicaragua, that our time here was going to be relaxing!

Our first port of call was a small coastal town just over the border from Costa Rica called San Juan Del Sur. San Juan sits in a small cove lined with swaying palm trees and a stunning white sand beach, which was was pretty much empty the whole time we were there. The sea was warm and calm, perfect for the frequent swims that were required to cool down in the sizzling heat.

We found a hostal in a prime position on the beach front and we were lucky enough to get a room with a balcony overlooking the sea. We instantly agreed to stop here for at least four nights.

There is not a huge amount to say about San Juan. We spent breakfasts on the balcony, with neon green parrots perched just above us as squarking spectators. We basked on the beach during the day, drank cocktails on the beach front bars in the evenings watching the sunset into the ocean, and spent our nights eating amazing sea food. We'd finish the day as we started, sitting on the balcony with the sea breeze on our faces, but this time with bats whizzing through the air all around us. In summary, we had a great time there.

From San Juan we caught two buses and a boat across to the volcanic island of Ometepe. The small ferry rolled over the surprisingly choppy waters of the lake, with black smoke billowing out of the back. The island is about an hour from the mainland, and the enormous Volcán Concepcíon looms over you as you arrive at the main port, sulphuric clouds foaming the top of the peak from it's still active crater. At the other end of the island sits the extinct volcano of Maderas, covered in dense cloud forest filled with howler monkeys, whose roar you can hear from miles around.

From the main port we hopped on a bus to go 50km to the other end of the island to a village called Mérida, which sits at the bottom of Volcan Maderas and has one hostel. The 50km bus trip ended up taking us 3 hours, due to the amount of times it stopped to pick up and drop off the crammed on passengers, as well as the poor condition of the roads. Our hostel was on the banks of the lake and was ideally positioned to take in the stunning sunset every evening. It also came with two of it's very own bats, who would fly out of their little hidey hole in the wall and circle the reception area before returning to their home. There were also a plethora of "winged beasts", as Mel calls them, which were huge moths, beetles, fireflies and (Mel's favourite) mosquitoes. The remainder of our first day we spent lounging in hammocks reading and getting to know the people we were sharing our hostel with.

The following day, we awoke to find that Mel had been bitten on the foot by a spider. The puncture marks had swollen up and Mel felt a little under the weather. We decided to keep a close eye on it and that Mel should put her feet up in a hammock and spend the day relaxing. I, on the other hand, rented a kayak and spent four hours going along the south coast of the island observing the locals bathing and doing their laundry in the lake. It become obvious after a while just how integral the lake is to the local peoples' lives and how much they rely on it for everyday activities. Along the way I stumbled across a small river that led inland, that was filled with wildlife. The river was only about 2 feet deep so I had Ox crossing the river in front of me, the birdlife was abundant and there were loads of huge terrapins who dived under water for cover as I approached. Four hours of constant paddling totally took it out of me, so when I got back to the hostel I had an amazing banana milkshake and collapsed in a hammock. I then realised that I'd forgotten to put suncream on my legs and so got a bit burnt, which produced a fantastic line where my shorts had stopped.

The following day Mel, still feeling a bit peaky, wanted to take it easy again. Meanwhile an English guy and girl we had met, an American guy and I decided to climb the 1316m peak of Volcán Maderas. The peak is roughly the same high of Ben Nevis, but here you start climbing from sea level. At it's summit it had a crater lake that was surrounded by cloud forest, so we knew we would be in for a treat when we got there.

We started out at 7.30am to avoid walking in the heat, but by this time it was already 25 degrees, and as the sun began to rise quickly in the sky, so did the temperature. The climb was tough in the heat and the sweat was pouring off all of us. The path was steep and we often found ourselves having to clamber up wet slopes using tree roots to pull ourselves up. We did get get to see a lot of cute howler monkeys, however they were uncharacteristically silent as they watched us passing beneath them.

After three and a half hours we reached the top and found a good vantage point for lake, which is where we sat down to have a drink and sandwich. After about 20 minutes we headed back down as I had to be the dutiful son and call my Dad on his birthday. We descended quickly and within two and a half hours we were back at the hostel for a very cold shower and a much deserved banana milkshake. Once again I, along with the other trekkers, collapsed in hammocks and slept.

The following morning we left the island and head for the Spanish colonial town of Granada. Granada is one of the highlights of Nicaragua, due to its beauty and relaxed atmosphere. We spent our time here wandering around it beautiful streets and churches, and strolling along the shores of Lago Nicaragua. The houses, which from the outside appeared to be unimpressive, were actually hiding tresures inside. We sneakily peaked through open doorways, which led onto sun-filled courtyards with over-grown plants shading swinging hammocks.

We had met a lovely Danish couple on Isla de Ometepe, who we hooked up with again in Granada, and spent a very pleasant Friday evening eating and drinking with them. Granada is a great town but very touristy so we were constantly hassled by touts trying to sell usless stuff (no, we don't want any ceramics or whistles), which wore us down, so after a couple of days we left and headed for the much less touristy town of Masaya.

Masaya is essentially a market town, but has a very pretty main square and is set on the shores of Lago Masaya. We spent our day searching the huge market for bargains, where we purchased a great hammock, for the bargain price of ten pounds, in preperation for our move to Australia. All we need now is a nice balcony overlooking the sea to hang it on!

From Masaya we made our way to Nicaragua's other colonial town of Léon. Léon was a lot less tourist ridden than Granada, making it much more appealing (to us anyway). We meandered it's streets taking in the laid back local atmosphere, occasionally stopping for coffee and ice-cream along the way.

The following day we took a very hot, cramped and slightly smelly bus out to the coastal town of Las Piñatas. The bus ride was supposed to be an hour, but as with most buses in Nicaragua, it was late and actually took and hour and a half. When we finally arrived we found a long, white, sandy beach with the most ferocious sea we have ever seen. The beach was very steep as the sea was constantly biting chunks out of it, and the rip was intense, so much so that we walked for 10 minutes down the beach to find a calmer area. We had to walk right to the end before we found a spot that backed onto a lagoon that was really calm, but the sea on the otherside of the beach was still far to scarey for either of us to brave.

We thought we were safe in the area of beach we had choose to bathe on, but before we knew it the wave were crashing over the ridge we were sitting behind, and the sea was starting to push us back up the beach from where we had come. We relocated and as we settled down we had a visitor.

A pig decided to waddle onto the beach to do some foraging. She wondered around without a care in the world, taking no notice of the humans randomly scattered on the sand, and took the occasional dip in the lagoon to cool herself down from the baking heat. The whole scene was hilarious and everyone was taking pictures of the random farm animal.

The following day would see us take a long journey leaving Nicaragua, traveling across Honduras (at it's narrowest point) and into El Salvador.