The other side of Central America

I must say, this trip already has been filled with highlights, but finishing my journey through Nicaragua, I can add a couple more on the list. After getting enough of my enforced laid back lifestyle in Granada, I took the ferry to Isla de Ometepe, a volcanic island in Lago de Nicaragua, one of the biggest lakes in Central America. Arriving there, for the very first time on this trip, I was confronted by a place that's almost untouched by major tourism. So not too many people around, unspoiled magnificent nature, but also pretty rough, little infstracture and no roads that name worthy. Anyways, it was an interesting experience to just let luck and coincidence play their part, and get on a pickup passing by, together with 4 other backpackers I met on the boat. The ride costed us 1 euro each, the extra dust we got for free. It took us in total 2 hours to get to the nearest village, and from there we made it to the Finca Magdalena, a cooperative coffee plantation, that hosts groups of volunteers that come to work there, and small flocks of backpackers as well. Accomodation was pretty basic (with other uninvited guests such as tarantula spiders in the showers, roaches and flying ants) but very cheap (1.5 euro for a night!), so no complaints there! Got some very good food and home grown organic coffee as well. Anyways, after nearly a week of dolce far niente, I was in for a challenge, and so were my travel companions, so the next day we hiked all the way up Volcan Maderas (1394 m), through an amazingly beautiful cloud forest, on a trail of tree trunks, ankle deep in mud. We sweated our asses off in the damp of the thickly covered woods, slipped and slided off rocks, but also saw some very cool things such as howler monkeys, all kinds of tropical flowers, wicked butterflies, humming birds and cacao trees. We thought the hike would take us 5 hours in total, but with all the stops and the difficult final descend (in complete alpine style!), the whole muddy adventure took us 9 hours! And optimistic as we were, we didn't even bother to bring along food, just water. Luckily, we met some Canadians down at the crater lake, and they split one sandwich and 3 cookies with the 4 of us. Yiehaa! Well, needless to say we were DEAD MEAT by the time we made it back down (just before sunset), but the awesome veggie soup and lots of french fries saved our day. That night, I went to bed at 8pm and slept for 11 hours. I thought I was going to be stiff as a stick the day after, but apparently, this body has more energy in it than I assumed, so at 8am, we hopped on the ONLY local bus, cramped ourselves together and bumped our way back to the ferry. And eversince, I have been enjoying the good life at the beach again (this time on the Pacific side), filling my days swinging my hammock, drinking ice cold Toña beer and Flor de Caña rum, some bodyboarding (when the surf is on) and playing hips of Kanasta (a dangerously addictive Aussie card game) with my refound mates Lara and Eddie. The beach here at Bahia de Majagual (south of San Juan del Sur) is a real beauty, totally different from any Caribbean beach, a lot more rugged and rocky. And very hot! People say this place looks like California before people came, and maybe that's why more and more Americans come down here to buy land and put up a resort or a backpackers' place of their own. Nicaragua is certainly something else than the rest of Central America, less touristy for sure, very cheap too, and for those who don't mind the dust and like to rough it up a bit, it's a total must! I already have to say goodbye to this place, because in no more than 2 days, my girlfriend Leen will touch down at the airport in San Jose, Costa Rica!Until then or later, surf on!