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.
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.
