Day 92 – 93 : Rivas & Getting to Monteverde from Nicaragua

Why Rivas? 

I had originally wanted to stay 1 more night in The Landing at Ometepe, but they were fully booked.  As I had already covered all the things I wanted to see, I decided to head back to the mainland.

All routes to the border of Nicaragua and Costa Rica will have to go through the town of Rivas.

Staying in Rivas was a means to an end - I didn't have to wake up extremely early to catch the 6am ferry from Ometepe and minimised being time pressured with wrong information by exorbitantly priced taxis, which I had heard happening to many.  

Getting to Rivas from San Jorge can be easily done by taking one of the collectivo taxis for USD1.

Not too much to see in Rivas, and seems to be a town mostly catered to the local community.

 

Day 88 – 91 : Ometepe Island

Ometepe is an island formed by two volcanoes (Concepcion and Maderas)rising from Lake Nicaragua, joined by a low isthmus. 

Getting to Ometepe requires taking a boat from San Jorge (mainland) to either Mogoyolpa or San Jose.

There are more connections to Moyogalpa and thus made that my arrival point into the island.

Finca Mystica

Finca Mystica is located between Merida and San Ramon. 

It is called Finca, as it is a farm located on 25 acres of forest.  From time to time, you could hear the cries of the howler monkeys on the property, and see fireflies glowing in the night.

They also grow many different herbs, plants and fruit trees on the property, many of which are used to prepare the delicious meals served in their kitchen.  .

Dinner menu is changed daily, and served at 7pm, allowing the opportunity for all guests on property to get together and interact. 

Scooting around Ometepe

Getting around Ometepe isn’t easy without own transport, and thus I was very interested in renting a scooter to explore the rest of the island. 

There was the possibility of renting a bike around Finca Mystica, but I wasn’t keen on renting it from that side of the island – There is only a small section of road that is nicely paved, and the area around Merida unfortunately isn’t one of them (read : dirt roads with uneven gravel ground). 

Below map shows the sections with good paved road (orange highlighted route).

Kayaking Rio Istian

Another activity strongly recommended to do is the kayaking tour along Rio Isitian. 

Besides Chris and I, a family (John, Sarah and daughter Alex) whom we met at Finca Mystica had also decided to join us on the trip.

Greek Restaurant Thalassa

The 40mins walk from Finca Mystica to Caballitos' Mar, the starting point of our kayaking trip, brought us past a small quaint Greek restaurant (Thalassa) midway, where we decided to grab lunch.

Decorated in blue and white, the Greek flag colours, we were the only guests at Thalassa and ordered a Chicken gyros pita each with juice. 

Food was good, served with fresh cut potato chips.

We were told that the chef had stayed in Greece for 17 years and cooks all meals from scratch, and that they had just recently opened the restaurant.

The place was interestingly decorated with hand made hanging lights, and even a sailing boat made out from stones, logs, recycled clothing and decorative lights.

The staff were so friendly and good natured, and before we left, handed us name cards that were personally hand written.

I would strongly recommend anyone who is on the way to the San Ramon Waterfalls or planning on going kayaking to visit them for a meal. 

San Ramon Waterfalls

Staying at Finca Mystica has its benefits.

It is about a 30 minutes walk along the coast to the entrance of San Ramon Waterfalls, one of the must-do in Ometepe.

The entrance fee costs USD3 or NIO87.  From the ticket counter, it is about 3.5km hike to the Waterfalls. 

A moderate hike, with a couple of steep climbs nearing the top, it took us about 1.5hrs one way, with great views along the way.

Day 84 – 87 : Granada

It's my birthday today... There was the option of being in Ometepe Island and partying away at the Magma fest – a 2 day electronic music event that I had heard many travellers were going for.

But I wanted something less loud, and neither was I keen on squeezing in crowds this week. 

Taking some time out to pamper myself on my special day (and the days leading up to it), I stayed in Granada for 4 nights, much longer than what most people would usually stay for. 

And pampering I did -

• Massages on 3 out of 4 days that I was in Granada (strongly recommend Coco Berry located on Calle 14 de Septiembre, near Iglesias de la Merced.  Best out of 3 different massage places I went to.  Very good masseuse, used organic products and was the most reasonably priced).
• More beauty regimes with a facial and manicure & pedicure  (visit Polish Nail Spa located on Calle Consulado, near corner of Calle 14 de Septiembre.  Most reasonably priced at NIO280 for a manicure and pedicure, and friendly owners)
• Lazing by a really nice pool at Choco museum on most days

• Day trip to Laguna de Apoyo and getting a good tan.  Laguna de Apoyo is a huge fresh water lake, and said to have one of the cleanest water in Nicaragua.

• Enjoying a couple of good meals along the infamous street of Calle La Santander.

Met a few folks at the hostel earlier this evening and ended the night with live guitar music courtesy of Dan, and interesting conversations together with Emily and Christine, with couple glasses of Flor de Cana rum.

Granada is a colonial town, with a prominent large cathedral and with most activities happening around Parque Central. 

Compared to Leon, it is more catered to the international crowd, with more international meal offerings mostly on Calle La Santander, a pretty street lined with lots of restaurants and bars.

Making a trip to the tower at Iglesias de la Merced is a must recommendation.  Views from the top is amazing, with the entire town of Granada beneath me.  You could also see the main church in the distance with seaview as the backdrop on one side, and view of the looming Volcano Mombacho on another. 

Another highly promoted activity in Granada is a night tour to Volcano Masayo, that is a noteworthy attraction to visit if you had never seen lava in a volcano.  No trekking needed, and suitable for all ages.

Volcano Masayo

After a failed attempt of not seeing any lava at Volcano Telica, I decided to do the night tour of Volcano Masayo.  

Departing at 5.30pm, we hopped on the shuttle which drove us all the way to the summit.  There was a 30 minutes wait while we wait for our turn to get to the top. 

Upon reaching the top, we saw a cloud of orange, which was the colour of the lava reflected in the smoke coming out from the crater.  The circumference of the crater was walled up, for safety reasons and there was definitely less smoke as compared to Telica, with less smell of sulphur. 

As I peered down into the crater, I saw a small pool of thick flowing orange liquid bubbling away in the distance, probably about 400m below.

Day 81 – 83 : Leon, Nicaragua

Leon is the second largest city in Nicaragua, after the capital Managua.

A colonial city, with very bustling streets during both day and night, the city is very "local", defined mostly by shops that are catered mostly to people staying in Nicaragua and street food (very little international touristy restaurants).  

Rum Tour at Flor de Cana

I am a big fan of rum, but had never visited a rum factory before. When I heard that Flor de Cana has the best rum in Central America and runs a tour daily (with the exception of Monday), it made it to my list of "to do" in Leon. 

There are tours that run to the factory, but they are super overpriced at USD40/head, of which half of that amount is used to cover transportation. 

Latina Hostel suggested that I can make my way on my own, costing just a couple USD for a return bus trip.  This was the instruction sheet I received from them. Super basic! 

Telica

The drive to Telica was a very bumpy 1.5hr ride, as we drove through the countryside with rush hour traffic (aka cows, see picture). 

There was only 1 other lady who joined the Telica Sunset Tour, and even when we arrived at Telica, we were the only vehicle at the foot of the Volcano.

Cock Fighting

I was the only person whom had signed up for the cock fighting tour offered by my hostel, and so my guide Ronny picked me up and we made our way to a village (Col. Eugenio Perez) about 15 minutes outside of Leon on a motorbike. 

We arrived in a small crowded compound, mostly filled with men. At the entrance was a betting table, surrounded by men shouting. 



Seeing that I was the only tourist, carrying a camera around trying to get a good shot of whatever they are doing, they made way for me. 

On the table was a big circle with a lot of red and black dots, and a small funnel like thing in the centre.  Ronnie explained to me that they throw a ball  through the funnel and the winner will be whoever that had bet on where the ball lands. 

From what I gathered, it seemed to work in a similar fashion as roulette in the casinos.

Volcano Boarding

Cerro Negro, located in Leon, Nicaragua, is the only place in the world where Volcano Boarding can be done.  This was the main reason why Leon was a stop on my travels.

There are usually 2 daily departures, 8am and 2pm.  I was keen to do the cock fighting tour organized by the hostel later in the evening, and thus opted for the 8am Volcano Boarding trip.

At 8.30am, I was picked up in a 4x4 and we made our way to Cerro Negro, located about 1hr drive from Leon. 

It was a much smaller group than I expected, with just another French couple and I.

Arriving in front of a black hill, made up of ashes and gravel – This is Cerro Negro, which also literally means Black Hill. 

Day 80 : Border Crossings – El Salvador to Nicaragua

After a few nights of just chilling and doing nothing in El Tunco, it’s time to make my way down south. 

I dreaded getting on the shuttle, particularly since our legs would be crammed in an uncomfortable position for a full 10 hours.  Just wish they could had made the spacing between seats wider for a more comfortable ride. 

I suppose it does beat taking the chicken bus and crossing 3 countries’ immigration.  I would definitely hate it more having to load and unload my bags, changing buses at each immigration checkpoint, and queuing to get my passports checked. 

With the shuttle, everything was taken care of by the driver, a total peace of mind, and definitely worth the USD30. 

Cost breakdown

• Shuttle from El Tunco, El Salvador – Leon, Nicaragua : USD 30
• Honduras Entry Fee : USD 3
• Honduras Exit Fee : USD 1
• Nicaragua Entry Fee : USD 12