Isla Ometepe to Granada and a little city walk

We got picked up by a taxi at 8 AM. Instead of trying our luck with the 5:30 local bus we decided to splash out on a taxi which we had the guy at the hostel ordering for us last night. Fixed price USD 25. Once we got to the ferry the driver wanted USD 5 per person - 30 in total. Small argument and he got the price we agreed.

We made it to the ferry just minutes before it departed from the docks so super timing for us. It was much less busy this morning and much easier to find a nice spot on the ferry and enjoy the scenery. The lake is impressive and once we got moving it was possible to get a much better picture of the island and the two volcanoes dominating it. Concepción and Maderas are really impressive, their peaks covered in clouds.

Once on the other side we had to wait for the giant banana truck to get off the ferry and then fight our way through the usual crowd of "taxi-taxi"-guys before finding some we could negotiate with. The price to go to Granada was USD 28 or 800 Cordobas. We got dropped off at our hostel in central Granada around one hour later and had our rooms almost instantly.

Then it was time to walk around town a bit, getting slightly lost but ending up in the local market and then finally figuring out where the main square was. The area around our hostel was busy with lots of shops and small stalls in the street and we also noticed lots of places where we could get a haircut. Much needed for the guys.

We had lunch on the main square, just opposite the cathedral which we visited afterwards. On the way back to the hostel we found a nice woman who agreed to give us a haircut for 50 Cordobas or roughly USD 2. Michael and Mikkel looking fantastic we just relaxed in the hammocks at the hostel the rest of the afternoon before heading out for a nice dinner in the evening. Granada seems to be a nice place to chill out for a few days - but not us. Kayak trip to Las Isletas booked for tomorrow morning including a 8 AM pick up.

DIY breakfast at 7 AM

Leaving our nice dorm room

Looking back towards Ometepe Island

High tech boat

Danish ferry companies could learn a lot from the local ferry in Nicaragua

Market walk in Granada

Inside the cathedral

City view from the top of the Cathedral

Getting Michaels hair done

Looking better than ever

Heading for Isla Ometepe and Lazy Crab Hostel

Everything comes to an end - eventually. Also our stay at Magnific rock. We really enjoyed it and the others arriving from Denmark looked like they also liked it a lot. Laid back and quiet and with the beach just down the road - and those Pacific sunsets.

On the other hand we were all happy to cram into the way too small minivan that was going to take us to Rivas and the ferry. Just one hour or so of driving. Nicaragua is a wonderfully small country to travel in. After our trip through South America everything seems to be right "around the corner" here.

So off we went, just having to make a technical break in Rivas town to get cash at the ATMs in town not really sure whether there were ATM's on Ometepe. Maybe there would be, maybe they would work. No really worth taking the risk.

We arrived at the ferry just 10 minutes or so before it was leaving. It was really busy but they kept loading people and cars onto this small ferry, Eventually there could not be more people on the boat and we left for a very slow, very windy and very nice crossing of the lake Nicaragua with big waves splashing over the side of the ship. This is where you cannot help to think of those news stories from "somewhere" in the world where this boat has capsized on some odd lake and 400 people have drowned.

Anyway, we made it to the other side of the lake, the captain did some very slow manoeuvres to dock the ship and a tidal wave of tourist headed for the taxis - including us. We had to pass through a big crowd of people waiting to go back to the mainland and there in the middle of a lot of people we bumped into Bridie and Claire from Bocas. It's a small country. We managed to give some new years hugs and then they had to board the ferry and we had to find a taxi and off we went. 30 minutes later we were dropped off in front of our hostel and got the keys to our room.

We went straight for some late lunch at a local cafe and realised that this was the Nicaraguan country side. Laid back, friendly and a bit slow. Eventually we got food and hung out for a few extra beers before heading back to the hostel.

In the evening we headed down the main road and found a place for more cold beers. The town was celebrating something so they had a mini-festival organised on a small field complete with beer, food and bull-fighting. It turned out to be ox-fighting with the local jumping around trying their best to annoy some very lazy oxen. Back to the hostel for some sleep and packing for our hike to the top of the volcano tomorrow.

Last morning at Magnific Rock

No, Michael is not a giant, its just a very small van

Order to go

6 of us - and driver in a small van

Heading to Isla Ometepe

Late afternoon beers, sunshine and local market

Everything packed for our hike tomorrow - almost