Well, we did our first border crossing to renew our visa's. It was quite an adventure.
We met up with Suzanna, a friend of Katia's who travels to Nicaragua every two weeks. We took the public bus with her to the highway where she got us on a Trans Nica bus all the way to Granada. Sounds easy enough right... The Trans Nica bus stopped at the border and the driver and his helper guided us through the border crossing. It was relatively easy.
We enjoyed our time in Granada but we wanted to see as much as we could in our short visit. I was hoping that we would get to see Ometepe but that just wasn't in the cards. The ferry to Omatepe only comes and goes from Granada twice a week and that wasn't happening while we were there.
We took a public bus to Rivas and then a taxi to San Jan del Sur. One friend gave me an approximate price of the taxi but then another told me we paid too much.... oh well, it seemed reasonable and I was happy not to be on another bus.
Rivas was crazy. We didn't get to see much of it but what we did see was overwhelming. The area around the bus station is filled with taxi drivers fighting for the opportunity to take you wherever your final destination is. What they don't realize is that after a few hours on the bus all you really want to think about is using the bathroom and possibly finding something to eat. Surely that does not require an investment in a taxi ride! Again I need to learn how to travel lighter because this is the point where that extra bag starts to feel like a lead weight and is like a neon sign that tells the few hundred taxi drivers that you are not at your final destination it is saying to them please help me get somewhere I can unload and there are dozens happy to fulfil that request whether you are ready for it or not.
I was quite nervous about the trip back to Monteverde so I facebooked a friend and he put me in touch with some of his friends who were in San Jan del Sur and heading back. I was very grateful for this!! Three buses, a shuttle and almost 10 hours later we finally arrived in Monteverde! I am sure once my spanish is a bit more fluent I will not find this trip as overwhelming but the potential for being stuck standing by the side of the road realizing you have just missed the last bus up the mountain is outside of my comfort zone at the moment.
More pictures of Granada:
We met up with Suzanna, a friend of Katia's who travels to Nicaragua every two weeks. We took the public bus with her to the highway where she got us on a Trans Nica bus all the way to Granada. Sounds easy enough right... The Trans Nica bus stopped at the border and the driver and his helper guided us through the border crossing. It was relatively easy.
We enjoyed our time in Granada but we wanted to see as much as we could in our short visit. I was hoping that we would get to see Ometepe but that just wasn't in the cards. The ferry to Omatepe only comes and goes from Granada twice a week and that wasn't happening while we were there.
We took a public bus to Rivas and then a taxi to San Jan del Sur. One friend gave me an approximate price of the taxi but then another told me we paid too much.... oh well, it seemed reasonable and I was happy not to be on another bus.
Rivas was crazy. We didn't get to see much of it but what we did see was overwhelming. The area around the bus station is filled with taxi drivers fighting for the opportunity to take you wherever your final destination is. What they don't realize is that after a few hours on the bus all you really want to think about is using the bathroom and possibly finding something to eat. Surely that does not require an investment in a taxi ride! Again I need to learn how to travel lighter because this is the point where that extra bag starts to feel like a lead weight and is like a neon sign that tells the few hundred taxi drivers that you are not at your final destination it is saying to them please help me get somewhere I can unload and there are dozens happy to fulfil that request whether you are ready for it or not.
I was quite nervous about the trip back to Monteverde so I facebooked a friend and he put me in touch with some of his friends who were in San Jan del Sur and heading back. I was very grateful for this!! Three buses, a shuttle and almost 10 hours later we finally arrived in Monteverde! I am sure once my spanish is a bit more fluent I will not find this trip as overwhelming but the potential for being stuck standing by the side of the road realizing you have just missed the last bus up the mountain is outside of my comfort zone at the moment.
More pictures of Granada:
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