Leaving Honduras.
I wake up a bit more refreshed than usual and relax in bed for a while watching TV. As I lay there I am aware that I have to make the border crossing into Nicaragua today, the first on my own, and am a little anxious how that will go. It is described in Chris Scott’s book as the worst of them all in the Americas !! Using terms such as “in the thick of it” !!
I load the bike and suffer the teenage work force tittering and giggling with the occasional reference to the/me Ingleis(English) in their sentences. I have breakfast at the restaurant I’d used for my few days in Valley of the Angels and set off.
The road rapidly deteriorates into a dusty rough track but I am able to maintain 45mph. This is the first time since being on my own that I was away from major highways where the traffic volume was low. The thought crossed my mind as to what would happen if I broke down or ran out of petrol but these thoughts are counter-productive and so put them out of my head. Even so, my fuel light had come up unexpectently (sometimes the result of fuel being inadvertently being fed back into my auxiliary tank if the valve is left open,) and so I pulled in at the first petrol station…which informed me that they weren’t open…..Ironically when initially trying to clarify if they were closed…they wouldn’t confirm that, just that they weren’t open. I set off again onto a hot dry dusty road hoping I would get some gas soon..just in case.
10 or so miles later I found a gas station and so filled up, the total volume of fuel just about equalled the maximum capacity of the main tank so I was pleased and relieved to have stopped.
Entering Nicaragua.
Looking at the GPS, the Nicaraguan border was getting closer quickly and I was still a little nervous of the crossing. The miles quickly slipped by and the border simply just appeared. Where the Honduran border ends and the Nicaraguan border began is not really defined-There is just one rope which limits access to Nicaragua. I was quickly approached by a lady begging with her daughter, and a lad of about 14. The lad of 14 was offering to assist me through the border formalities, but only on the Honduran side-I in my wisdom though that would be simple so declined and told him I needed someone for the Nicaraguan side, when up popped another lad of the same age who said he could do both sides. I asked him how much and he said $3 for Honduras, and $7 for Nicaragua. $10 in total. My memory from Chris Scotts book was that I shouldn’t pay more than $3-$5 so I hold out to reduce it to $5, but the boy looked perplexed and repeated it was $10 so I reluctantly agreed to his services. We went to the Honduran window first to get my bike officially stamped out of Honduras. The man was efficient enough and checked everything thouroughly. I got my passport stamped and was told that the charge for this was 190 limperas(about £6.30) so I paid(I’d expected to pay an exit charge as it is an official Government levy). I drove the bike over to the Nicaraguan side of the area and was about to continue with the whole process when I was greeted by a group of Swiss, which on the one hand was nice to see, but on the other, a distraction to getting on with the whole border crossing fiasco. I decided to enjoy the time with them whilst my helpers looked on. I was also semi-engulfed by a number of children begging, with one very persistent boy who stayed glued to me throughout the whole of the border crossing formalities. We then went to the Honduran Passport exit window. They wanted $3 but I only had a $100 note which was too big. (Had I any Limperas left, I could have paid with them, but the boys assured me after the 190 Limpera charge that I would have no more use for Limperas…so I gave them to the Lady who was begging with her daughter and a very old Lady.) So we went to the Nicaraguan counter with the $100 note. He gave it very close inspection, ran it under once machine, used some sort of pen and then declared that he too had no change, however, one of the boys remembered that I had changed some money into Nicaraguan so I paid in that. However, I was still stumped for the Honduran $3 so off I went back to the money changer to get some change-he dutifully obliged even though there was nothing in it for him. Back to the Honduran counter again-my $3 paid. Then I had to register my bike for temporary import into Nicaragua. This went quite well and there was no charge for this, but as we finished I was reminded/told about the need for Insurance. It was obligatory, and even though I would only be here for three days, had to purchase the minimum cover of 30 days for $12. The insurance salesman had no change of my $20 note so gave it to me in Nicaraguan. The exchange rate seemed to favour him too much for my liking but I was getting tired and just wanted to get the whole process over with. So now I had all my paper work….and had a sense that I’d been ‘emptied and properly shaken down’ so it was off to the border to cross into Nicaragua. The lady who’d assisted in registering my bike for Nicaragua said I would need one more stamp from the official at the border on my paperwork. I gave two of the young boys who’d followed me around begging some money each and I had to pay my assistants (the 14 year old boys) their $10. I gave it to the main man of the two(they worked together as a team) and he looked disappointed. I reminded him that we’d agreed $10 and to share it with his business partner, and he seemed ok’ish. I left for the rope and asked for my final stamp, The official said I didn’t need any further stamps and showed me that I had sufficient. He looked like he knew what he was talking about so I set off. The whole process took less than 90 minutes ! As I drove along I considered all that had gone on and realised that the $10 the boys had originally asked for was not for them but the authorities $3 & $7 !! Doh !!!……..and I will now never know what they normally got !!
I was quite tired though and wanted some lunch, so after many hesitant looks at restaurants, decided on a comdeor which had a few guys sitting on stools drinking their beers. To cut a long story short, after sitting down, I was surrounded by two groups of men, one lot on my right, were already well drunk, and a second group on my left, who either were, or were on their way to being so. ..So their many questions, all in Spanish, weren’t really thought out and I became their sport for a while. I wasn’t altogether comfortable and could see there was the potential for deterioration into a less pleasant environment, so I found the toilet, got kitted up and left to the waves of a balcony full of youths playing pool on an upper level.
Later in the day it was the usual “where am I going to stop” so I decided on a large town I could see on the GPS but when I got there, it was big and grim, and despite my fears of ending up riding at night, that seemed a better alternative at the moment. Just as dusk was occurring, I chugged to a halt. The main tank had run out of petrol and I had to stop to drain some for the auxiliary. Whilst I was waiting I asked an old man walking his dog if he knew of any hotels locally. He told me there was one 4 kilometres away. I wasn’t sure if he’d got it right but I set off looking, and sure enough he had ! The staff were very friendly and I got to shake 4 hands and have a number of very hard conversations in Spanish about my trip etc.
I was told of a local restaurant which I ate at and settled down to watch the end of a DVD movie on the Laptop with Bob Hoskins…..who was in the movie !!…for those of you who couldn’t help yourselves !!
I was woken this morning at 05:45 by some sort of moving operation from on part of the hotels grounds to another. This was then followed by a juke box being blasted at disco level at about 07:00 so I gave up trying to sleep anymore. After sorting out the usual I managed to get on the road for about 10:30 and was contemplating what to do in Nicaragua. When John and I were last planning Central America we’d decided to do at least one thing in each country so’s not to have just been through it. Things were obviously a bit different now but I didn’t like the idea of just racing towards Costa Rica, so….I decided to visit the Island John and I had planned to visit. It is called Isla de Ometepe and is basically two volcanoes, one still active, joined in the middle by some land mass. The scenery is supposed to be spectacular with jungle and wildlife in abundance, so I headed towards the ferry port at San Jorge. To get there I had to pass very close to Granada which is supposed to be full of ex-pats who just can’t drag themselves away. I was very tempted as I know it has history but I was also aware how quickly time disappears in these jaunts so I stuck to my plans and arrived at San Jorge for about 15:45, with just the event of my bike being blow over at lunch time, and the whole family rushing over to help me right it. I learnt the word for help over lunch to show my gratitude.
Ferry to Isla de Ometepe.
The ferry port was what is becoming an expected disarray of who and what are going where and I ended up being directed off to someone who wasn’t interested and then to someone else who told me ‘embarco’ was at 17:00 so I bought myself and a couple of port officials a cold drink, and settled down to wait……however a few conversations later I decided to repair the damage from lunch-times fall, which was yet another front left hand indicator…the third in the trip so far !!, and the Perspex for protecting the headlamp. In further photos the more discerning(cum:nit-picking) will note that it is now formed of three pieces. I shan’t bore you with the ferry roll coming into dock so great it looked like it might capsize, nor the general way I was treated, or re-assured that my pannier rubbing against the side of the boat was ok.
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The ferry coming into the harbour, not quite as bad as it got but you get the idea.
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The reason some of your bananas are bruised !
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Isla de Ometepe from the ferry.
I did though get into a conversation with a local which lasted the whole trip, 1 hour, He Didn’t speak a word of English and I was exhausted and yet invigorated by the end of it. I managed to glean a fair bit of information of places and roads on the island. I disembarked and headed for the first decent Hotel I could find. The chap in reception showed me a room near the street but as the hotel was near the port, I wanted a quiet night..and morning. He showed me another room which was much better. I was in the process of confirming that the room had hot water when I was told I could have hot water near the street or a quiet room with cold water-I settled for a quiet room. I then asked the price-$25 !! I said “that is expensive” -he agreed ! I asked how much others were charging and he said he didn’t know….. I said he must…but he was silent. It was getting late- I took it !! I looked at the Lonely Planet guide and discovered that most are charging single figures in $’s !! so I will be moving on tomorrow.
Ascending Volcan Concepcion.
After continued consideration from yesterday evening I decide that I’d like to do the half day ascent (1000m) of Volcan Concepcion, the larger of the two volcanoes on the island, which takes about 6 hours. I would really have liked to go to the top to see the crater but it is a 10 hour journey up a very steep climb and I haven’t done any real exercise for a while. I go down to the local Expedition centre, which also happens to be the Tourist Information centre. After a quick chat with a prospective guide, who is concerned about bus availability to our point of starting, and me offering a lift on the bike, we agree to meet in 30 mins, a bit quicker than I expected but grateful for not having to wait for another day as the weather was overcast, ideal for making an ascent in the jungle. The road to the start was very bumpy, rutted and dusty. The two of us may well be singing soprano by the end of the day…I kid you not. For those of you who think this may be a bit of rhetoric, look at the set space on the bike with the spare tyres in situ. None-the-less, we made the 6km trip. My guide, Eric, knew a comdeor owner near the beginning of the trip and I was allowed to park my bike on their mud forecourt, such that it was.
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The bike on the mud "forecourt"...actually taken after the walk. My guide, Eric, is seen enjoying a coke.
We loaded up our rucksacks with water, food and camera and set off. The first 1km was ok apart from an increasing presence of lava rocks which made it a bit hard on the ankles, me wearing regulation running shoes !! Not far in I got my first sighting of a group of Howler monkies and I was quite impressed.
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First sighting of howler monkies. The deep sound they emit belies their relatively small size.
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Then it got a bit steeper and got a bit steeper and rutted with tree roots exposed in abundance. It was very hot(even with the clouds) and I was sweating buckets and buckets. Within an hour, at about 600m I was reduced to almost staggering a few steps and then resting. No matter how hard I tried to convince myself that walking slower would extend the gaps between stopping I was finally reduced to about 20-30 secs per climbing period. I wasn’t very pleased with myself and whilst the sweating and pain were genuine, I didn’t want to turn back(as others have apparently done) so I decided to count my steps and see if I could just keep doing the same number. I found I could manage 100 for some of the time or 50 if it was really steep and tricky, but I was surprised how even counting took my mind off the pain.
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This gives some idea of what the climb contained. At points it was much steeper and muddy.
However, on a few occasions when I had to push hard to make my 100 I though my heart was going to burst out through my chest… Finally Eric announced that we had passed the 900 meter mark, and whilst I can’t explain how, I had already realised that the worst was now over and that I should now make the viewing point I’d set out for at 1000m. Funny how these things work out, but the last 100m seemed to go on for ever, which was not aided by being out of jungle protection and in a very strong wind, and was now being accompanied by rain. We sat at the top, in the shade of some bushes, and ate our lunches.
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The top of Volcano Concepcion from the 1000m viewing point.
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Triumphant at 1000m !! and still able to raise a smile.
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The view down from 1000m. You can see the mainland on the other side of the lake.
15-20 minutes later we were on the descent. This was much more fun and I could actually see more of what there was about me as opposed to the pain being my main focus on the way up. I enjoyed the climb down and we were able to see some white faced monkies which are the only other type found on the island. (For the nature-lovers amongst you, both monkey types eat mainly leaves and some bananas.)
We eventaully got back onto flat terrain and finally back to my bike still parked on the ridge outside the Comodor. I bought Eric and I some cold cokes which we enjoyed as the sun started to set, paid the lady for the cokes and something for looking over the bike. I returned Eric to his office and set off for another part of the island, Charco Verde, which is apparently well liked for its beaches and large monkey population. I arrived in the dark and after a few minutes was shown to a cabin but told I would have to move into another room the following night as it was reserved-I was a bit hassled by the thought of moving my stuff but pleased to have a bed. I got quite a barrage of questions too from some of the staff which I was not so appreciative of tonight as I was dog-tired and just wanted to sit down to dinner. None-the-less, I chatted until I’d really had enough and set out for dinner. I was so tired I went to bed at 20:30 to watch a film on the laptop expecting fall asleep within a few mins but I was actually over-tired and so watched the whole film and didn’t actually get off to sleep for a while.
Woke up to the sound of wood being chopped (the root of a tree that had fallen over) just outside my room at about 7 so a bit disappointed again that they don’t consider their guests a bit more. At breakfast I started chatting to a Norweigen and Serbian lady, who had both travelled quite a lot on their own. The conversation was very pleasant and lasted until after lunch. I prepared for moving onto Costa Rica and sat out in the sun. Later I went for a walk to see some more howlwer monkies nearby and shot a few more photos. Watched the sun go down and had dinner. Spent the rest of the day preparing to leave.
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My view from Charco Verde....don´t all write your sympathy cards at once.
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A stork I saw when on a walk a few minutes from my room.
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The sunset.
Leaving Isla de Ometepe.
Leaving day morning arrives and my alarm went off in the midst of another night of not sleeping too well so struggled to get up. Finally prized myself out of bed at 06:30(ish) and managed to get rolling quite quickly. I was showered an the bike loaded and ready to leave by 07:30.….just in time for breakfast !! Nearly everybody this morning was asking me about the trip and it was actually too much for me to engage with so I felt a little awkward. A German couple asked me which ferry I was catching as they didn’t think there was one until 12:00, I said the 09:30 which my guide book had said but I checked with one the Managers who said the ferry actually left at …. 09:00 and I should just about make it…….as the drive was 20 mins to the port. Well, I made it with about 3 mins to spare.
I went down to the entry point and had to pay two fees, one for me and one for the bike…seems fair enough….except that when I got on the ferry I was charged again for me so I agued (before paying) BUT he showed me the receipt and I was charged a parking fee effectively on one, and the other was a transport charge for the bike. I paid for me as it was obviously due but I pointed out strongly that charging someone waiting to board the ferry for one minute was crazy…he just smiled………..and took my money. As soon as I landed I went straight to an Internet café I’d seen on my way out to the Islands and settled down to checking my mail and getting a few urgent e-mails off. That done I headed for Costa Rica, juggling in my mind whether to go for the known Penas Blancas, as recommended in Chris Scotts book, or to go for another which looked like it might be much quieter which showed up on the GPS but not my guide book.
I wasn’t in the mood for a detour and so settled for Penas Blanacs, despite my concern that it would be busy from coach day trippers. I’d been hoping that at this border I would be more in control. After all, all you have to do is check your bike and yourself out of one country, and your bike and yourself in the next !!….well, you’d like to think so……
Mike
I wake up a bit more refreshed than usual and relax in bed for a while watching TV. As I lay there I am aware that I have to make the border crossing into Nicaragua today, the first on my own, and am a little anxious how that will go. It is described in Chris Scott’s book as the worst of them all in the Americas !! Using terms such as “in the thick of it” !!
I load the bike and suffer the teenage work force tittering and giggling with the occasional reference to the/me Ingleis(English) in their sentences. I have breakfast at the restaurant I’d used for my few days in Valley of the Angels and set off.
The road rapidly deteriorates into a dusty rough track but I am able to maintain 45mph. This is the first time since being on my own that I was away from major highways where the traffic volume was low. The thought crossed my mind as to what would happen if I broke down or ran out of petrol but these thoughts are counter-productive and so put them out of my head. Even so, my fuel light had come up unexpectently (sometimes the result of fuel being inadvertently being fed back into my auxiliary tank if the valve is left open,) and so I pulled in at the first petrol station…which informed me that they weren’t open…..Ironically when initially trying to clarify if they were closed…they wouldn’t confirm that, just that they weren’t open. I set off again onto a hot dry dusty road hoping I would get some gas soon..just in case.
10 or so miles later I found a gas station and so filled up, the total volume of fuel just about equalled the maximum capacity of the main tank so I was pleased and relieved to have stopped.
Entering Nicaragua.
Looking at the GPS, the Nicaraguan border was getting closer quickly and I was still a little nervous of the crossing. The miles quickly slipped by and the border simply just appeared. Where the Honduran border ends and the Nicaraguan border began is not really defined-There is just one rope which limits access to Nicaragua. I was quickly approached by a lady begging with her daughter, and a lad of about 14. The lad of 14 was offering to assist me through the border formalities, but only on the Honduran side-I in my wisdom though that would be simple so declined and told him I needed someone for the Nicaraguan side, when up popped another lad of the same age who said he could do both sides. I asked him how much and he said $3 for Honduras, and $7 for Nicaragua. $10 in total. My memory from Chris Scotts book was that I shouldn’t pay more than $3-$5 so I hold out to reduce it to $5, but the boy looked perplexed and repeated it was $10 so I reluctantly agreed to his services. We went to the Honduran window first to get my bike officially stamped out of Honduras. The man was efficient enough and checked everything thouroughly. I got my passport stamped and was told that the charge for this was 190 limperas(about £6.30) so I paid(I’d expected to pay an exit charge as it is an official Government levy). I drove the bike over to the Nicaraguan side of the area and was about to continue with the whole process when I was greeted by a group of Swiss, which on the one hand was nice to see, but on the other, a distraction to getting on with the whole border crossing fiasco. I decided to enjoy the time with them whilst my helpers looked on. I was also semi-engulfed by a number of children begging, with one very persistent boy who stayed glued to me throughout the whole of the border crossing formalities. We then went to the Honduran Passport exit window. They wanted $3 but I only had a $100 note which was too big. (Had I any Limperas left, I could have paid with them, but the boys assured me after the 190 Limpera charge that I would have no more use for Limperas…so I gave them to the Lady who was begging with her daughter and a very old Lady.) So we went to the Nicaraguan counter with the $100 note. He gave it very close inspection, ran it under once machine, used some sort of pen and then declared that he too had no change, however, one of the boys remembered that I had changed some money into Nicaraguan so I paid in that. However, I was still stumped for the Honduran $3 so off I went back to the money changer to get some change-he dutifully obliged even though there was nothing in it for him. Back to the Honduran counter again-my $3 paid. Then I had to register my bike for temporary import into Nicaragua. This went quite well and there was no charge for this, but as we finished I was reminded/told about the need for Insurance. It was obligatory, and even though I would only be here for three days, had to purchase the minimum cover of 30 days for $12. The insurance salesman had no change of my $20 note so gave it to me in Nicaraguan. The exchange rate seemed to favour him too much for my liking but I was getting tired and just wanted to get the whole process over with. So now I had all my paper work….and had a sense that I’d been ‘emptied and properly shaken down’ so it was off to the border to cross into Nicaragua. The lady who’d assisted in registering my bike for Nicaragua said I would need one more stamp from the official at the border on my paperwork. I gave two of the young boys who’d followed me around begging some money each and I had to pay my assistants (the 14 year old boys) their $10. I gave it to the main man of the two(they worked together as a team) and he looked disappointed. I reminded him that we’d agreed $10 and to share it with his business partner, and he seemed ok’ish. I left for the rope and asked for my final stamp, The official said I didn’t need any further stamps and showed me that I had sufficient. He looked like he knew what he was talking about so I set off. The whole process took less than 90 minutes ! As I drove along I considered all that had gone on and realised that the $10 the boys had originally asked for was not for them but the authorities $3 & $7 !! Doh !!!……..and I will now never know what they normally got !!
I was quite tired though and wanted some lunch, so after many hesitant looks at restaurants, decided on a comdeor which had a few guys sitting on stools drinking their beers. To cut a long story short, after sitting down, I was surrounded by two groups of men, one lot on my right, were already well drunk, and a second group on my left, who either were, or were on their way to being so. ..So their many questions, all in Spanish, weren’t really thought out and I became their sport for a while. I wasn’t altogether comfortable and could see there was the potential for deterioration into a less pleasant environment, so I found the toilet, got kitted up and left to the waves of a balcony full of youths playing pool on an upper level.
Later in the day it was the usual “where am I going to stop” so I decided on a large town I could see on the GPS but when I got there, it was big and grim, and despite my fears of ending up riding at night, that seemed a better alternative at the moment. Just as dusk was occurring, I chugged to a halt. The main tank had run out of petrol and I had to stop to drain some for the auxiliary. Whilst I was waiting I asked an old man walking his dog if he knew of any hotels locally. He told me there was one 4 kilometres away. I wasn’t sure if he’d got it right but I set off looking, and sure enough he had ! The staff were very friendly and I got to shake 4 hands and have a number of very hard conversations in Spanish about my trip etc.
I was told of a local restaurant which I ate at and settled down to watch the end of a DVD movie on the Laptop with Bob Hoskins…..who was in the movie !!…for those of you who couldn’t help yourselves !!
I was woken this morning at 05:45 by some sort of moving operation from on part of the hotels grounds to another. This was then followed by a juke box being blasted at disco level at about 07:00 so I gave up trying to sleep anymore. After sorting out the usual I managed to get on the road for about 10:30 and was contemplating what to do in Nicaragua. When John and I were last planning Central America we’d decided to do at least one thing in each country so’s not to have just been through it. Things were obviously a bit different now but I didn’t like the idea of just racing towards Costa Rica, so….I decided to visit the Island John and I had planned to visit. It is called Isla de Ometepe and is basically two volcanoes, one still active, joined in the middle by some land mass. The scenery is supposed to be spectacular with jungle and wildlife in abundance, so I headed towards the ferry port at San Jorge. To get there I had to pass very close to Granada which is supposed to be full of ex-pats who just can’t drag themselves away. I was very tempted as I know it has history but I was also aware how quickly time disappears in these jaunts so I stuck to my plans and arrived at San Jorge for about 15:45, with just the event of my bike being blow over at lunch time, and the whole family rushing over to help me right it. I learnt the word for help over lunch to show my gratitude.
Ferry to Isla de Ometepe.
The ferry port was what is becoming an expected disarray of who and what are going where and I ended up being directed off to someone who wasn’t interested and then to someone else who told me ‘embarco’ was at 17:00 so I bought myself and a couple of port officials a cold drink, and settled down to wait……however a few conversations later I decided to repair the damage from lunch-times fall, which was yet another front left hand indicator…the third in the trip so far !!, and the Perspex for protecting the headlamp. In further photos the more discerning(cum:nit-picking) will note that it is now formed of three pieces. I shan’t bore you with the ferry roll coming into dock so great it looked like it might capsize, nor the general way I was treated, or re-assured that my pannier rubbing against the side of the boat was ok.
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The ferry coming into the harbour, not quite as bad as it got but you get the idea.
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The reason some of your bananas are bruised !
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Isla de Ometepe from the ferry.
I did though get into a conversation with a local which lasted the whole trip, 1 hour, He Didn’t speak a word of English and I was exhausted and yet invigorated by the end of it. I managed to glean a fair bit of information of places and roads on the island. I disembarked and headed for the first decent Hotel I could find. The chap in reception showed me a room near the street but as the hotel was near the port, I wanted a quiet night..and morning. He showed me another room which was much better. I was in the process of confirming that the room had hot water when I was told I could have hot water near the street or a quiet room with cold water-I settled for a quiet room. I then asked the price-$25 !! I said “that is expensive” -he agreed ! I asked how much others were charging and he said he didn’t know….. I said he must…but he was silent. It was getting late- I took it !! I looked at the Lonely Planet guide and discovered that most are charging single figures in $’s !! so I will be moving on tomorrow.
Ascending Volcan Concepcion.
After continued consideration from yesterday evening I decide that I’d like to do the half day ascent (1000m) of Volcan Concepcion, the larger of the two volcanoes on the island, which takes about 6 hours. I would really have liked to go to the top to see the crater but it is a 10 hour journey up a very steep climb and I haven’t done any real exercise for a while. I go down to the local Expedition centre, which also happens to be the Tourist Information centre. After a quick chat with a prospective guide, who is concerned about bus availability to our point of starting, and me offering a lift on the bike, we agree to meet in 30 mins, a bit quicker than I expected but grateful for not having to wait for another day as the weather was overcast, ideal for making an ascent in the jungle. The road to the start was very bumpy, rutted and dusty. The two of us may well be singing soprano by the end of the day…I kid you not. For those of you who think this may be a bit of rhetoric, look at the set space on the bike with the spare tyres in situ. None-the-less, we made the 6km trip. My guide, Eric, knew a comdeor owner near the beginning of the trip and I was allowed to park my bike on their mud forecourt, such that it was.
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The bike on the mud "forecourt"...actually taken after the walk. My guide, Eric, is seen enjoying a coke.
We loaded up our rucksacks with water, food and camera and set off. The first 1km was ok apart from an increasing presence of lava rocks which made it a bit hard on the ankles, me wearing regulation running shoes !! Not far in I got my first sighting of a group of Howler monkies and I was quite impressed.
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First sighting of howler monkies. The deep sound they emit belies their relatively small size.
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Then it got a bit steeper and got a bit steeper and rutted with tree roots exposed in abundance. It was very hot(even with the clouds) and I was sweating buckets and buckets. Within an hour, at about 600m I was reduced to almost staggering a few steps and then resting. No matter how hard I tried to convince myself that walking slower would extend the gaps between stopping I was finally reduced to about 20-30 secs per climbing period. I wasn’t very pleased with myself and whilst the sweating and pain were genuine, I didn’t want to turn back(as others have apparently done) so I decided to count my steps and see if I could just keep doing the same number. I found I could manage 100 for some of the time or 50 if it was really steep and tricky, but I was surprised how even counting took my mind off the pain.
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This gives some idea of what the climb contained. At points it was much steeper and muddy.
However, on a few occasions when I had to push hard to make my 100 I though my heart was going to burst out through my chest… Finally Eric announced that we had passed the 900 meter mark, and whilst I can’t explain how, I had already realised that the worst was now over and that I should now make the viewing point I’d set out for at 1000m. Funny how these things work out, but the last 100m seemed to go on for ever, which was not aided by being out of jungle protection and in a very strong wind, and was now being accompanied by rain. We sat at the top, in the shade of some bushes, and ate our lunches.
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The top of Volcano Concepcion from the 1000m viewing point.
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Triumphant at 1000m !! and still able to raise a smile.
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The view down from 1000m. You can see the mainland on the other side of the lake.
15-20 minutes later we were on the descent. This was much more fun and I could actually see more of what there was about me as opposed to the pain being my main focus on the way up. I enjoyed the climb down and we were able to see some white faced monkies which are the only other type found on the island. (For the nature-lovers amongst you, both monkey types eat mainly leaves and some bananas.)
We eventaully got back onto flat terrain and finally back to my bike still parked on the ridge outside the Comodor. I bought Eric and I some cold cokes which we enjoyed as the sun started to set, paid the lady for the cokes and something for looking over the bike. I returned Eric to his office and set off for another part of the island, Charco Verde, which is apparently well liked for its beaches and large monkey population. I arrived in the dark and after a few minutes was shown to a cabin but told I would have to move into another room the following night as it was reserved-I was a bit hassled by the thought of moving my stuff but pleased to have a bed. I got quite a barrage of questions too from some of the staff which I was not so appreciative of tonight as I was dog-tired and just wanted to sit down to dinner. None-the-less, I chatted until I’d really had enough and set out for dinner. I was so tired I went to bed at 20:30 to watch a film on the laptop expecting fall asleep within a few mins but I was actually over-tired and so watched the whole film and didn’t actually get off to sleep for a while.
Woke up to the sound of wood being chopped (the root of a tree that had fallen over) just outside my room at about 7 so a bit disappointed again that they don’t consider their guests a bit more. At breakfast I started chatting to a Norweigen and Serbian lady, who had both travelled quite a lot on their own. The conversation was very pleasant and lasted until after lunch. I prepared for moving onto Costa Rica and sat out in the sun. Later I went for a walk to see some more howlwer monkies nearby and shot a few more photos. Watched the sun go down and had dinner. Spent the rest of the day preparing to leave.
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My view from Charco Verde....don´t all write your sympathy cards at once.
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A stork I saw when on a walk a few minutes from my room.
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The sunset.
Leaving Isla de Ometepe.
Leaving day morning arrives and my alarm went off in the midst of another night of not sleeping too well so struggled to get up. Finally prized myself out of bed at 06:30(ish) and managed to get rolling quite quickly. I was showered an the bike loaded and ready to leave by 07:30.….just in time for breakfast !! Nearly everybody this morning was asking me about the trip and it was actually too much for me to engage with so I felt a little awkward. A German couple asked me which ferry I was catching as they didn’t think there was one until 12:00, I said the 09:30 which my guide book had said but I checked with one the Managers who said the ferry actually left at …. 09:00 and I should just about make it…….as the drive was 20 mins to the port. Well, I made it with about 3 mins to spare.
I went down to the entry point and had to pay two fees, one for me and one for the bike…seems fair enough….except that when I got on the ferry I was charged again for me so I agued (before paying) BUT he showed me the receipt and I was charged a parking fee effectively on one, and the other was a transport charge for the bike. I paid for me as it was obviously due but I pointed out strongly that charging someone waiting to board the ferry for one minute was crazy…he just smiled………..and took my money. As soon as I landed I went straight to an Internet café I’d seen on my way out to the Islands and settled down to checking my mail and getting a few urgent e-mails off. That done I headed for Costa Rica, juggling in my mind whether to go for the known Penas Blancas, as recommended in Chris Scotts book, or to go for another which looked like it might be much quieter which showed up on the GPS but not my guide book.
I wasn’t in the mood for a detour and so settled for Penas Blanacs, despite my concern that it would be busy from coach day trippers. I’d been hoping that at this border I would be more in control. After all, all you have to do is check your bike and yourself out of one country, and your bike and yourself in the next !!….well, you’d like to think so……
Mike
