Do you know the way to San Jose?

Tuesday 14th August

A 2:55am alarm this morning so that I could shower and be ready for 3:45am. Ouch. By 4am we were waiting on the side of the road a little way from the hotel, in order to meet the bus that would take us to Costa Rica's capital, San Jose. As soon as we were comfortably on the bus I fell asleep (thank goodness for my inflatable pillow) - even with episodes of Once Upon a Time to watch on my netbook. I only managed about 20 minutes of one.

With one stop along the way, we arrived at San Jose bus terminal and got straight into taxis, arriving at our hotel mid-morning. It's very pretty - an old wooden building with lots of original features, like the wooden railings around the first floor balcony leading off to the different rooms, and the tiled floor in the lobby.

Natasha, Rose and I headed out in the direction of the city centre and found that what the guide books say is true: San Jose isn't particularly appealing and there doesn't seem to be much to do here. Lots of high street-type shops - different to the ones at home, but the experience is the same - and fast food chains, with the odd restaurant dotted in between. We walked along Avenida Centrale and ended up splitting for lunch so the girls could go to KFC and I could eat at Vishnu, a sort of vegetarian fast food chain. A huge soy patty burger with cheese and salad and chips and a blackberry smoothie - that ought to see me through another few rounds of vegetables for tea.

We met back up and I announced my plan to see a film and then possibly visit the Contemporary Art museum. We walked to where one of the cinemas was on the map but found it looking almost abandoned, with nearly two hours to go until its only showing of the day. Instead we got a taxi to a nearby shopping mall called San Pedro, which scuppered the chances of going to the art museum but proved to be a good decision because the cinema was much nicer, like the ones at home.

For just under two pounds we saw Total Recall (the remake, with Colin Farrell). The girls weren't impressed but I didn't mind it, and I had a lovely ice cream. Afterwards, though, I started feeling ill. My stomach had been stirring since the night before and it was at its worst just after the film - really painful. I guess I've done well to make it to my fourth trip before getting ill!

I bought a sparkly flowery ring to cheer myself up and we took a taxi back to the hotel. My stomach was still very sore, but I still managed to shower and go to tea. Our briefing meeting had been cancelled since none of the six new arrivals had checked into the hotel yet, so we met at 7 in the hotel restaurant instead. Just before going down, Ray and Barbara arrived. They're an English couple from Devon (I'm not the only Brit anymore!) and both seem lovely.

The hotel didn't offer anything vegetarian, so they kind of cobbled two salads together minus the meat - and charged me nearly a tenner for the pleasure, what a rip off. It wasn't that nice either. Never mind. During the meal Laura, from Texas, arrived. She seems really nice as well. I'm glad our group is growing.

I went to bed to watch things on my netbook, and slept on and off, but unfortunately stomach pains kept me up through the night. Oh dear. Hopefully better soon.

Samara Beach

Monday 13th August
What felt like an easy start to the morning, with breakfast at 8 at the hotel. French toast with maple syrup might be my new favourite breakfast. At about half past nine we left with Augusto (minus Jeremy who had gone out on his own) to walk into town.

The walk was about 4km according to Augusto, and was entirely along the beach. It was beautiful. Blue waters, coconut/palm trees, bright blue sky. People surfing and sunbathing. The sand wasn't perfect, as there was quite a lot of lumpy coral washed up on the shore, but it didn't spoil it for me.

After our long walk we arrived in town. After randomly looking at a few jewellery stands with us, Augusto left to run some errands and we wandered through the town. It was really tiny, consisting of nothing more than some souvineer shops, a few restaurants and a couple of hotels. After looking in some of the shops (I must be saving lots of money as there's nothing I want to buy) we had a drink at one place (Canada Dry Ginger Ale is becoming my drink of choice) and lunch at a Mexican restaurant. Hongo y queso empanadas - that's mushroom and cheese to you. Yum.


A quick stop off at the supermarket and we were ready for the long walk back to the hotel, again via the beach. It felt like it took a really long time, and by the time we arrived back at the hotel it was 3:30pm. By 4pm Rose and I were back on the beach in our bikinis, trying to make the most of the remaining sun. The sun sets really early here - before 6pm - but it was still really warm. Unfortunately I realised later that I had been bitten alive by sand flies - I'm covered in dozens and dozens of itchy red lumps. Lovely.



After a shower and some packing we ate at the hotel again, and I had salad for the second night in a row. Then it was to bed to watch Once Upon a Time - Natasha has showed me how to download it - and an early night.

Ometepe to Playa del Samara

Sunday 12th August
Today has been another succession of journeys in one form or the other.
I enjoyed another pancake with maple syrup at the hotel before getting into our minivan at 8:15am for the drive to the ferry. We enjoyed the ferry ride a lot more this time around, as this time the video playing was of cheesy ballads from the 70s, 80s and 90s. Eternal Flame, the Bryan Adams song from Robin Hood, Toni Braxton's Unbreak My Heart, even Back for Good by Take That (yay). It was a nice way to pass the time.
Next it was into another mini van to drive to the border and cross into the fifth and final country of my trip. It took hardly any time for us to get through, but the paperwork for the mini van seemed to take a long time and there was quite a bit of waiting around.
More sleeping, and then we arrived at a sort of outllet place with a supermarket and a few shops in order to get some lunch at about half past two. I was about to be in a bad mood as it became clear I wasn't going to find anything good - I NEEDED food! - but decided to walk in search of the Subway I'd seen signposted from the road before we'd turned off. I found it really quickly and felt much better with one of their huge sandwiches and some iced tea to take back with me onto the bus.
More travelling, and this time because the road was so bumpy and twisty I was feeling pretty ill by the time we arrived at our hotel at 4:30pm. All I wanted to do was lie on my bed until it was time for tea. Today doesn't exactly make for interesting reading...
We ate tea in the hotel, since we're 4km from the main part of the town. I just had a salad, still full from lunch. The hotel seems really nice, and apparently we're really close to the beach, so I'm looking forward to making the most of it tomorrow. I had yet another early night; I'm getting more sleep on this trip than I've had all year!

Ometepe Island, Nicaragua

Saturday 11th August
Up at 6:30am and breakfasting at the hotel. Like the rooms, the restaurant part is outside under a big canopy thatched with dried leaves. The service was quite slow and our pancakes arrived with less than ten minutes to go before we were due to meet for our tour at 8am, so we had to eat pretty fast. We met our tour guide for the day at Reception - Erick - and got into his jeep to travel to our first destination: Charco Verde. We embarked on a 90-minute walk around this little area of the island, taking in wildlife (monkeys, termites, various birds, butterflies, a snake) and lots of different trees. Erick told us the story of Chico Largo, a local legend about a shaman who could transform into animals and died following a hunting accident mid-transformation, half man and half stag. The locals believe he still haunts the area and drags souls under the small lake in the area. Hmm.

Spot the snake?

We walked up to a viewpoint and enjoyed a view of the island's dormant volcano, Volcan Maderas (1394m) before returning to the jeep, having walked in a circle.

Next we went to one of the main towns, Altagracia. There we had a look at a church that was practically falling down, the parque central and a few pre-Columbian statues that had been found on the island, one of which features on the 500 cordoba note. Next we drove to a place on the edge of the rainforesty area where Erick showed us some of the petroglyphs that have been found on the island: large rocks with carvings dating back thousands of years. Some of the carvings were quite ambiguous - a monkey or a lion? - and open to interpretation.

Next we stopped for lunch at a open air restaurant with a view of one of the main beaches, Playa Santo Domingo. It was beautiful. They actually had vegetarian lasagne on the menu, but I just wasn't hungry enough to take advantage of that, unfortunately. Another cheese sandwich and a few chips instead. The beach looked nice, with grey sand and palm trees, but there was quite a few waves and I didn't fancy swimming there so was quite happy when it was suggested that we skip the beach and head straight to our next destination, the Ojo de Agua.

Once at the Ojo de Agua it was bikini time; it consists of naturally fed pools of volcanic water (cold, not hot) shaded by the rainforest. The pools have little fish in them, there's a rope swing if you fancy jumping in and lots of seating around the edge. It was really nice to cool down in the refreshing water, even if it became a little chilly after a while. After swimming I read for a while before we decided to let Erick take us back to the hotel for the day.

I pottered around, used the internet, showered and read my book in my rocking chair until it was time for tea. Rose, Natasha and I had decided to walk through the foliage along the waterfront to get to the next hotel along, as Rose had had a nice lunch there while we'd been on our little tour. It was nearly pitch black by this time, so we had to get by with light from mini torches. It felt like we were in an episode of Lost or something. Tea was unfortunately uninspiring for me - another plate of vegetables, with papas frites to try and fill me up. The walk back was even darker, and we could hear lots of wildlife, but the only thing I managed to spot was a giant toad bigger than my foot croaking away as we walked past it.

Granada to Ometepe Island

Friday 10th August

Up early and breakfast at the hotel again before climbing into our mini van for our drive to the coast. Our destination was Ometepe Island, Lago de Nicaragua's largest island. To get there we had to board a ferry, and at first I read (finally finished my book, The Illusionist), but the music dvd that was playing on a dodgy old tv screen son went to the title screen and stayed there. The same continuous loop of a few bars of salsa music was threatening to drive me insane, so I tried to go to sleep to pass the time, with some success.  screen soon went to the title screen and stayed there. The same continuous loop of a few bars of salsa music was threatening to drive me insane, so I tried to go to sleep to pass the time, with some success. We were met on the island by another little mini van, and taken to our hotel. I loved it straight away. It was right on the edge of the lake, with its own little beach, and the rooms were little beach huts with their own porches and ROCKING CHAIRS. Very exciting. From the front of the hotel there was a stunning view of one of the two volcanoes that make up the island: Volcan Concepcion, the active one. At 1610m high, it's Nicaragua's second highest volcano.



After lunch in the hotel (tomato soup - the vegetarian food is getting progressively less inspiring) we had free time to freshen up and I spent quite a while just chilling out on the porch in one of the rocking chairs, enjoying the view and starting my next book. I've chosen Saturday by Ian McEwan, and I'm rocketing through it so far. I always forget just how much I love McEwan's prose until I read something else of his. It's brilliant so far.

We ate tea in the hotel. A plate of vegetables was my only real choice, and after eating it I had to give in and order papas frites (chips) to try and properly satisfy my hunger. Yesterday's good food day cancels out today's bad one, I suppose.

There's not much else to say about today, really. I'm looking forward to enjoying the island some more tomorrow, as Natasha, Jeremy and I are booked onto a tour that covers quite a few things on the island.

Granada, Nicaragua

Thursday 9th August
I woke up quite early this morning and was already showered, dressed and at breakfast by the time my alarm would've gone off. I managed to Skype mum (happy birthday!) and everyone in Scotland, which was lovely, and hand in my washing (nearly out of clean clothes) before getting into a horse-drawn carriage for a guided tour around the city.

Our guide was really nice. Among many things we saw the San Francisco Church and monastery, the La Polvora Fortress, the only train in Nicaragua (an old steam train on display from the 1800s - the rest of the railway network has been sold piece by piece to the US or El Salvador), and climbed up to the top of the bell tower of La Mercad for good views of the city.

By 10:45 we were back in the Parque Central. Quite tired from the sun, and slightly worried about my lack of sun cream (ran out without putting any on this morning) I decided to go back to the hotel to rest (and Skype) until 12:30, when I met Natasha for lunch. We ended up stumbling across the Garden Cafe, a colonial conversion built around a beautiful leafy courtyard with a big fountain. There were tons of things to choose from on the menu, and I ended up having a fruit smoothie and the best hummous, feta cheese and roasted vegetables wrap I've ever had. It was so nice, and it even came with coleslaw. YUM. We both lamented the fact that we didn't have longer in Granada, as I definitely would have eaten there again given more time.

We were caught in a sudden downpour on the walk back, and both of us looked like we'd just stepped out of the shower by the time we arrived back at the hotel. We didn't have long to wait until our next activity: a boat trip on Lake Nicaragua, the world's largest freshwater lake. It was quite relaxing driving around on the boat, and the guide (the same nice one from the morning) pointed out lots of different wildlife to us. Mainly birds, but some monkeys too: Capuchin and Spider monkeys. We sailed around Las Isletas, an archipelago of 360 islands created by volcanic explosions from the nearby Mombachu volcano. We set foot on a couple, including one with a historic fort, and had a drink on another.

We had more time to relax back at the hotel before heading out to tea. Natasha went to enquire about our washing and at first the guy was saying that it would be tomorrow as the place had shut for the day. Eventually, after saying "no" quite a few times (we're leaving first thing tomorrow, so we definitely need our clothes back today!) he sped off on his motorcycle and returned with our nice clean clothes. Phew.

We ate at the same place as last night, because we were craving the gnocci again. This time I had it with vegetables, and it was just as lovely. I'm developing a real liking for iced tea here too. Then it was back to the hotel to pack (from scratch again - I wonder how many times I'll have to do that on this trip?) and then finally collapsed in bed.

27 today

Wednesday 8th August
I woke up early and ate breakfast alone - included, at this hotel - while opening a few birthday cards I'd brought from home. (All lovely, thankyou!) I was ready for 8am and left with Jeremy to drive to Cerro Negro - Central America's second most active volcano - to board down the surface of black ash. It was a nice little drive out to the volcano, and we saw some road runners - sadly not red and blue like the cartoon. We stopped off at a little place that had loads of iguanas and then it was on to the volcano. I had the guy take my birthday photo while holding my hastily cut out numbers (he thought I was quite strange until Jeremy explained) and then we hiked to the top.

The walk took an hour (I was red faced and puffing and panting for most of it, and the guy took pity on me - partly because it was my birthday, I think - and carried my board for me after a while). It was far more spectacular in terms of views than Volcan Pocaya had been, as the contrast between the black ash, the nearby green and the blue of the distant water was stunning. There was also a lot more to see in terms of volcanic activity; although there was no lava, you could smell the sulphur and see large areas where gas was escaping. There was quite a lot of heat coming from the ground, too.

We walked to the very top, and then back down a little to where we were to descend via our boards. We got all kitted up: all in one boiler suits, gloves and ski goggles. Jeremy had decided to stand, like snowboarding, and I had decided to sit, so that meant I had to go first. Standing at the top and looking down, it looked incredibly steep and I was very nervous. Afterwards Jeremy said he had felt the same, too. Unfortunately I didn't get off to a good start, as I didn't get enough speed and the front of the board kept burying into the sand. The video of me doing it just makes me look ridiculous! Haha. Once I got stuck, it was impossible to stand up as you would just sink and fall down - it's a lot steeper than it looks - so I had to figure out a way of digging out my board and getting back on it without tumbling down the hill. Tricky. Eventually I got the hang of it and slid down with quite a bit of speed, but I think the guide had grown bored of my failed attempts by that point and had long since stopped filming me. So the world will never know... haha.

Once we were driven back to the hotel I had time for a quick shower and opened a birthday present (thankyou Leanne) before we checked out and were driven to Granada. On the way we stopped at Masaya for lunch - a plate of vegetables for me, hmm - and a look around the handicraft market, where we spotted some rather scary-looking chicken baskets. Not your average holiday souvineer. We also stopped at San Juan de Oriente and La Catarina to get a view of the lake. Finally we arrived in Granada at our purple(!) painted hotel at around 5pm. Too late for Skype etc., I pottered around until 7pm, putting on my best maxi dress (purple with flowers) for tea.

We walked to the restaurant-y area of Granada: a long street lined with places, and lots of tables and chairs outside all the way along. We found a place quite quickly that would suit all of us (with more than one vegetarian option - what a novelty!) - and I had four cheese gnocci. It was DELICIOUS. The best gnocci I think I've ever had, and Rose said it was on a par with her Italian grandmother's homemade stuff. High praise. There was a musician nearby singing and playing his guitar, and at one point Augusto must've signalled to him because he came and sang about seven choruses of 'Happy Birthday', in Spanish and English. At the end of the meal the group surprised me with a little dessert brought out with a candle. :-)

We walked home and I went to bed pretty much straight away, exhausted from a long but happy day.