We made it out of Costa Rica but I feel like I didn´t quite explain the torture that was our hike up Cerro Chato well enough. That was now 5 days ago and we´re just starting to feel normal again. Jesse says that her body hurt in places she didn´t know existed. I´m not sure what she means by that but it sounds pretty bad. The sick thing is I actually enjoyed it. After walking about 5 hours uphill from where we started in the center of town (which was half of the problem, we should´ve taken a taxi to the base) it was an acomplishment that left me glowing and Jessa crying. Enough about that though.

So 1 taxi, 4 buses, 10 hours, and 40 dolars later we made it through the rest of Costa Rica via Tilaran, Cañas, & Liberia, and then across the border to NIcaragua with a little help from a US expat living in Costa Rica and working as a bookie. I don´t know where Jessa finds these people but he was very helpful. We had to spend the night in a city called Rivas because it was getting late. Nothing special but you can immediately tell you are no longer in Costa Rica. Much cheaper, much rougher, less touristy, and FSLN red and black Sandinista flags all around.


The next morning we caught a ferry to Isla de Omotepe, an island in the middle of Lago de Nicaragua formed by the explosion of two volcanoes that created an isthmus connecting them into one island. It is very underdeveloped and kind of reminded me of some places in Guyana where the locals look at you like your crazy. It took a while and some pretty rough bus rides but after a final 1km hike uphill we made it to Finca Magdelana (www.fincamagdelana.com). It´s a co-operative coffee farm set on the base of a volcano. The turned an old barn into an very unique hostel and we spend the next few days enjoying the dozens of howler monkeys and dozens of cold Toña beers. You can walk the grounds and see petroglyphs left by the indigenous depicicting shapes and humans in various forms.



Yesterday we took the fery back across and caught a chicken bus to Granada. I didn´t see any chickens but we did share the ride with over 150 other people in a standard size 1960´s school bus. Quite a ride. We´re now sitting in the park in Granada loving the laid back atmosphere and colonial architectures. We wil spend the next few days here and then off to the next adventure.

Blake